NIGHTMARE IN BADHAM COUNTY 1976

Harrowing 1970's TV Woman-In- Prison 
with Deborah Raffin & Lynn Moody !!

                    

                     "The Terror Begins When Two Girls Find Themselves Alone In A Women's Prison!"

"Where Innocence is a Punishable Crime!"

    During the 70's/80's heyday of made-for-TV-movies, the networks would often jump on whatever popular bandwagon there was available to jump on while also keeping one-eye trained toward the exploitation/drive-in market all the while seeing how far they push the envelope related to broadcast standards and practices.
    Directed by the great John Llewellyn Moxey (THE NIGHT STALKER and CITY OF THE DEAD) 1976's NIGHTMARE IN BADHAM COUNTY (retitled NIGHTMARE for its theatrical version) remains one of prime time televisions sleazier entries in the small screen genre even giving the drive-ins a run for the money in the sordidness factor. Premiering Fri. Nov. 5, 1976, on ABC, it was shot on location in Greenwood, MS which lends itself to a humid sweaty atmosphere that's a rare departure from the usual dry arid So Cal settings of TV movies. Just like at the drive-ins, the woman-in-prison genre was a popular one on TV with the infamous BORN INNOCENT with Linda Blair in1974 and Susan Dey locked in a CAGE WITHOUT A KEY from 1975, both of which along with this film would make for one hell of a triple feature. CHARLIE'S ANGELS even get in on the action with the 1976 episode "Angels In Chains".
    Two UCLA students Cathy (Deborah Raffin GOLD TOLD ME TO) and Diane (Lynn Moody SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM) are on summer break and looking to "see America" on the way to Cathy's home in Philadelphia they take an iffy route through the deep south (Hey - what can go wrong here?!?). They end up on the road trip detoured through hell (ala' MACON COUNTY LINE) and after a flat tire on a rural country road, they run afoul of local psychotic Sheriff Danen (Chuck Connors THE MAD BOMBER) who promptly throws them in jail. Things escalate as we get a conspiracy theory seemingly involving everybody in town including car mechanics and that we learn later heads right up to the governor's office. Although it's never specifically stated where the story takes place (Badham is a fictional county), it's never in doubt that we're in the deep humid south.

    After a quick trial presided over by a crooked judge (Ralph Bellamy THE WOLFMAN) the pair are convicted of trespassing & prostitution sentenced to thirty days at a local work farm where Supt. Dancer (Robert Reed THE BRADY BUNCH) oversees things with help from prison guards Greer (an almost unrecognizable sans-makeup Tina Louise from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND) and Dulcie (Fionna Flanagan famous for her James Joyce stage adaptations). Among the other inmates are Sarah (Della Reese PSYCHIC KILLER) and Smitty (Lana Wood from DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER as Plenty O'Toole ). Reese's Sarah is the sympathetic friend to Diane as she fills the newcomer in on the bleak conditions inside the prison and the constant degradation that's forced upon the inmates. Cathy on the other hand has the sexual overtures of a guard forced upon her and the girls segregated by race which makes it impossible for them to communicate in addition to being totally cut off from the outside world.
     One of the more sordid & sleazier network offerings of the '70s with a really grungy & sweaty atmosphere (especially in regards to full hard version), it's also one of the better small screen films of the era with excellent work by the leads, a strong supporting cast, and the Mississippi locations help bring a bigger looking scale to it. It pushed the content to the limit of what was allowed for TV at the time and maybe because of that it's never got the critical accolades of something like a DUEL.

    ABC created an alternate version for theatrical showings with "R" rated content which inserted a prolonged whipping along with some full-frontal nudity and fairly extreme sexual content. This version was offered for distribution by Inter-Ocean Films which may have been a corporation set up by ABC to handle it. This "hard" version even gives the New World Filipino films such as THE BIG BIRD CAGE a run for the money and you almost expect Pam Grier & Vic Diaz to show up here. I'm not sure if the theatrical version had any play dates in the U.S. but there is overseas promo material floating around for it and the harder cut did surface on video and has recently been released on Blu from Kino on a disc that includes both cuts. Moxey's original TV version works best as it has a much tighter and leaner story without the obvious inserts.
     A very bleak viewing experience with a downer of an ending, the film shows literally the entire system corrupt (which maybe is a bit of a stretch plot-wise) as all the people we think would be on the side of "right" are in on the corruption with most of them being downright sadistic. The judge uses his powers to cover up for his nephew the sheriff who in turn passes the women on to the prison system run by Reed who's in turn protected by the government.

    The two leads are excellent as both Raffin & Moody bring a real sense of desperation to their roles and have great chemistry together as they actually seem like caring friends. Raffin also appeared in Larry Cohen's classic GOD TOLD ME TO as Tony Lo Bianco's girlfriend (and she would pop up in DEATH WISH 3) and after NIGHTMARE IN BADHAM COUNTY became a surprise hit in China, she became an unofficial Hollywood/ China ambassador helping arrange meetings to secure distribution deals. Moody would later appear in ROOTS (which would premiere just two months after this) along with her NIGHTMARE co-stars Chuck Connors & Robert Reed (both of whom would once again portray despicably evil characters). Reed who at the time was in the midst of yet another Brady Bunch reunion special (which I'm sure he despised doing) probably jumped at the chance to portray a dark character.
    The film was written by Jo Harris who did some writing duties on the Clint Eastwood vehicles PLAY MISTY FOR ME, BREEZY, and DIRTY HARRY and in addition cinematographer Frank Stanley also shot BREEZY, MAGNUM FORCE, THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, and THE EIGER SANCTION.
    Kino Lorber recently released this on Blu-ray which along with the previously mentioned choice of both cuts also has an excellent commentary on the TV cut from Amanda Reyes and Justin Kreswell. BTW, anyone interested in world of made-for-TV movies should check out Amanda's really cool & amazing Made For TV Mayhem blog and the companion podcast.

  

All above screen grabs are from the Kino Blu-ray 

70's T.V. Terror - THE NIGHT STALKER 1972

    On Tuesday night Jan. 11 1972 at 8:30 PM over half the T.V. viewers in the United States tuned into watch the ABC Movie of the Week, concerning a vampire stalking thru contemporary Las Vegas (which when you think about it is the perfect place to be a vampire). Scoring a 33.2 rating and a 54 share (which in TV talk is off the charts), it blew away the previous record holder BRIAN'S SONG and became the highest rated TV movie up till that time and still ranks among the top. A once in a lifetime confluence of "right time at the right place" talent including a literate script by Richard Matheson, production by Dan Curtis (TRIOLGY OF TERROR & DARK SHADOWS),direction by John Llewellyn Moxey (HORROR HOTEL) and of course a career defining performance by Darren McGavin as pain in the ass reporter Carl Kolchak . It became THE TV horror movie event of the decade and there is even an argument to make of it being the finest horror movie of the 70's including theatrical releases.

    Although the vampire & horror elements all presented with grim seriousness, the movie has just a light touch of humor thanks to the wonderful performance by Darren McGavin (can you picture ANYONE else in this role ?) and his interaction with a whole gang of familiar faces. One of the cool things about 70's TV movies is that they gave work to hosts of character actors, as by now with the decline of westerns & low budget gritty crime films work for those "faces" became network television. Oakland as Kolchak's long suffering editor is basically written as a one note character ("stand behind desk & yell"), but Oakland somehow rises above this and gives Tony Vincenzo depth and humor (plus you just know he secretly has a begrudging respect for Kolchak).

    It’s their fireworks together that gave the movie (and its subsequent sequel and later TV series) some of its best remembered scenes – excluding the monsters. Also in the cast are Charles McGraw, Claude Akins, Ralph Meeker, plus Carol Lynley, Larry Linville (M.A.S.H) and a cameo by Elisha Cook Jr. Watching it today it’s pretty amazing to see what a nail biting experience it still is and how truly creepy the film is as it ratchets up a considerable amount of tension with the horror elements pushed to the forefront as much as possible, including close-ups of bloody necks and a women kept tied to a bed and used as an ongoing source of nourishment. Plus some other elements that are broadly hinted at - such as what Carol Lynley, who as Kolchak's girlfriend, actually does for a living.

   Narrated by McGavin’s charctor the plot kicks in immediately with the first murder and proceeds thru to the conclusion at rapid fire pace with Kolchak butting heads with unbelieving officials along the way. The vampire killings are shown by both the actual attacks alternating with the aftermath of others and along the way we get a couple of pretty nifty brawls including an attempted blood theft at a hospital and later the police attempting to subdue the vampire in a residential pool.

    The movie does show its TV lineage at certain points including an obvious stunt double for Atwater in some of the fight scenes and depending on your TV screen you might catch a glimpse of the stuntman’s fall mattress during the hospital brawl. Although there is some establishing exterior shots in Las Vegas (along with some casino interior stuff) , the rest of the movie is rather set bound with those familiar Universal back lot streets filling in for residential Vegas (you keeping expecting to see ADAM-12 come cruising by). McGavin and Oakland would relocate to Seattle for 1973’s very worthwhile alchemy based sequel THE NIGHT STRANGLER (which substituted John Carradine for Elisha Cook as far as your horror cred cameo) and later both would appear in THE NIGHT STALKER TV series. With his seersucker suit, porkpie hat and tennis shoes McGavin’s presence makes all these worthwhile with the zombie episode from the TV series being a true standout.

Here's the Pussycat Go Go Bar where Raquel Welch was tearin' it up in 1969's FLAREUP