Pretty Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This film was representative of the early 1970's and ABC was taking full advantage of what was popular. Disaster movies like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. Passenger disaster movies like the Airport series. Finally, movies that featured the devil. The Exorcist was out that year along with all the cheap rip offs like Beyond the Door. This movie had a little of everything in it and I remember I had trouble sleeping that night. I must have had a guilty conscience and thought the devil would be tugging at my toes or standing over my bed as I tried to fall asleep. I bet the nuns at school were partially responsible as well.The movie of the week during that time was trying to take advantage of the popularity of devil themes however they usually were not that scary. I guess because it was 1970's TV, they were required to tone everything down. The Terror at 37,000 Feet was better than most other movies of the week because they had a fairly large cast of known TV actors like the disaster and airport movies that always had a large cast of known film actors. The story established quickly that almost everyone on board probably deserved to get hurt or die because they were not nice people, and that whatever evil was in the cargo hold was not going to let up until things were made right. Although I have to say that the Professor (Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island) and the dog, did not deserve to die in the first reel.If you saw this movie as kid I would recommend that you not see it again. The memory you have of it will always be precious and you are going to ruin that memory by seeing what a slow paced, hole filled plot, terribly acted movie this really is. I gave it 6 stars based on my memory from 42 years ago. You also may remember the Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black. I thought it would be fun to watch again and I was terribly disappointed. Most of the TV movies from this era were one long tease with 10 minutes of a payoff at the end. Sometimes.

I watched this years ago as a kid, on television, and only had vague memories of it. I just recently re-watched at and I have to say it's quite the turkey. A made for TV horror film staring Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen and William Shatner that takes place on a 747 airliner...at apparently 37,000 feet. There's a Druid stone on the plane (being moved from England to the U.S. to be part of a private bar of a successful architect. It's the solstice, the ancient Druid god's are angry and demanding a sacrifice. So, the movie is pretty weak, as one might expect for a made for TV movie of this time (1973), and I doubt many would like it. I enjoyed it mostly due to the memories it brought back and my weird love of crappy movies. If you want to relive some TV memories from the 70's or also like cheesy bad movies, then I say go for it... If you don't fit this mold, just walk away and don't look back. Trivia: Paul Winfield also stars in this movie - William Shatner and Paul Winfieled would later go on to be in Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan nine years later in 1982.

A waspish couple are flying to America with an altar from a convent. Travelling with them is a typical cross section of the public; a lone little girl, a woman obsessed with her dog, a black doctor in a bowler hat, a millionaire, a flirty cowboy and a model. Best of all though there's a priest who has lost his faith (Shatner!) and what seems to be his girlfriend.Not long into the flight some moss gets loose from the hold, you see that altar was sealing up some kind of evil spirit thing that looks like bubbling blob moss.When things start going wrong the passengers take about 30 seconds to decide that they should probably just offer the kid as a sacrifice, can the power of Shatner help them or will he just sit getting drunk through the entire movie while making cryptic comments about God? Although this film is pure hokum and the effects are seriously quite awful it's got a certain charm. Much like the plane though you may encounter some serious drag in the last half an hour or so.

Reasons to recommend this TV-movie:The story centres around an evil druid artifact that threatens the passengers and crew of an airliner in flight. Now how much more potential for good creepy fun could a premise hold? It's like something Matheson and Lovecraft might have put their heads together to come up with.Eerie phenomena galore as the windows on a aircraft suddenly frost over as if blasted by an arctic breeze, spooky sounds (borrowed from "Forbidden Planet") echo through the plane and a flight officer inside an on board elevator is turned into a frozen corpse. Great atmospheric music courtesy of Morton "Hawaii Five-0" Stevens. William Shatner in one of his best post "Star Trek" roles plays an ex-priest who reclaims his faith to combat the evil force threatening the plane. It's almost too good to be true seeing Shatner once again on a plane encountering the supernatural just as he did in the similarly titled "Nightmare At 30,000 Feet" episode of "The Twilight Zone." And he's really good in this, too.Roy Thinnes from "The Invaders" and "The Norliss Tapes" comes along for the ride playing the guy who brought the cursed artifact on board.Also on the passenger list: grabbing an extra pay cheque in between episodes of "Barnaby Jones" is the one and only Buddy Ebsen. Hmm, actually he coulda' stayed on the ground, but then with a cast so jam-packed with stars at least one actor's presence is likely to stick out like a sore thumb, right?Anyways, despite a little bit of questionable casting, a smidgen of scenery-chewing and a dash of dated effects, this is still quite an enjoyable little horror story that someone really ought to consider remaking.