User reviews

"The Norliss Tapes" is a TV movie that was originally intended as a pilot for a TV series--one that never materialized. Dan Curtis (who created the original "Dark Shadows" and made some great monster films in the 70s) was shopping this show as well as "Kolchak" (with Darren McGavin) at around the same time. Both shows were essentially the same sort of thing--with very few differences. Curtis made two Kolchak pilots, re-arranged the show and made Norliss. Oddly, "The Norliss Tapes" aired only a few weeks after the second Kolchak film ("The Night Strangler"). Perhaps he was just trying to cover all the bases. Soon Kolchak was okayed by ABC and aired as a series for one season. Both involved writers who investigated so-called monsters--and in each, the monsters turned out to be true! The only major difference was that Norliss was a darker show--with a less comedic style.

This one begins with a writer, David Norliss (Roy Thinnes) disappearing. His publisher is worried and all they find are a stack of cassette tapes. When the publisher places one of the tapes in the cassette player, the story begins. Presumably, had the show been picked up, each episode would have been a flashback instigated by the playing of yet another of these tapes.

The monster in this one is a dead man. His zombie body returns--and naturally scares the crap out of his wife (Angie Dickenson) when it tears his dog to pieces and tries to kill her. However, no one believes her and the only one who will listen is Norliss--and at first he doesn't believe her. Not surprisingly, the local sheriff (Claude Akins) doesn't believe her stories about a giant smurf-like zombie! What does some magic ring have to do with this and how can Norliss help her? I would say that this show wasn't quite as enjoyable as the two Kolchak pilots ("The Night Stalker" and "The Night Strangler")--but it is quite enjoyable in a campy way. Worth a look to see what might have been.

I ordered this hard-to-find show on eBay and got an excellent copy of it. I'd been literally waiting years to finally watch the TV show that had left the greatest impression of terror on me since childhood. I mean, I wasn't let down when I acquired a DVD of Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black; that last episode with the freaky doll still creeped me out... kinda.

Well, last night I sat down, put the disc in my trusty old DVD player , and -- uh, found it to be a less-than-horrific experience. Of course I knew it wasn't going to have the same sort of effect on me that it did back then, so I prepared myself for a bit of disappointment.

It was okay I guess, and considering I'm much older and can follow the storyline infinitely better than I did when I was 9 helps too. I liked the shots of the Bay Area and the Pacific coastline, and a young and lovely Angie Dickenson is always easy on the eyes, but still -- I wasn't even so much as mildly surprised throughout the entire film. The evil manifestation that happened at the end of the film almost had me laughing -- and I scolded myself for mocking this beloved show.

As a made-for-TV film it is somewhat enjoyable and certainly above average, but as with all things nostalgic and memorable, don't get your hopes up too much like I did.

Okay, now I'm off to find some "ABC Movie of the Week" episodes that hopefully have aged a little better than this one did...

This film is a made-for-TV pilot movie. Sadly, the show never went into production; I think it would have made for decent horror fare. As it stands, The Norliss Tapes is an interesting enough story about an author who is writing a book to disprove the supernatural. His research, however, proves otherwise. The movie seems to have sort of a minor cult following but I honestly didn't think it was anything special at all (it was average at best), or even all that scary (despite the claims). Really, I believe it's one of those shows that linger in someone's mind if they had watched it at a younger age, nostalgia and all that.

I was channel surfing the other night and caught the last 20 minutes of The Norliss Tapes. I saw the film back in the 70's and it scared me and gave me nightmares for a long time. I thought it was very suspensful and scary. It is a movie that sticks in my mind. I hope they put it out on VHS or DVD!!!!

A busted pilot for a proposed TV series, 'The Norliss Tapes' may not strike the modern viewer as particularly scary. Still, it's absorbing all of the way, with a good, straightforward story (written by William F. Nolan, based on a yarn by Fred Mustard Stewart) and capable direction from Dan Curtis, very much THE name in genre television of the 60s and 70s.

The idea is that a writer / investigator, David Norliss (Roy Thinnes), set out to do a book that would debunk the supernatural. He spent a year gathering information, then gives his editor (Don Porter) an urgent call; Norliss is obviously scared. Then Norliss disappears. In an attempt to solve this mystery, Porter starts listening to the many recordings that Norliss made during the year.

The first tape deals with an investigation into the reappearance of the deceased husband (a memorably creepy Nick Dimitri) of Ellen Cort (Angie Dickinson). Now, the husband is existing in a vampiric state, and is occasionally killing people in order to fulfill some horrific purpose.

Curtis creates very entertaining shocks, the cinematography (by Ben Colman) is first-rate, and Robert Cobert (a frequent composer for this sort of TV fare) supplies a genuinely eerie score. The cast is full of solid, reliable actors: Claude Akins, Michele Carey, Vonetta McGee, Hurd Hatfield, Robert Mandan, George DiCenzo, etc. Thinnes does a good job in the lead, although it's Angie as the imperiled widow that really engaged this viewer. Dimitri makes for a compelling antagonist, a feral beast with a blue-grey face and yellow eyes. His relentlessness makes him a monster to reckon with.

It's too bad that this movie ultimately led nowhere. It does whet the viewers' curiosity to see more of the tales that led to Norliss' eventual panicked state.

Seven out of 10.

Heavily mined from the vein of Kolchak - not surprising given the Dan Curtis pedigree. Almost identical shot for shots in some cases (monster leaping through windows), skeptical police chief (and again acted by Claude Akins) and I swear the music has been lifted too!

But holds up incredibly well given its now 50years old and very scenic.

"The Norliss Tapes" relays the most recent case investigated by occult investigator Norliss who has recently disappeared and left behind an archive of tapes detailing his recent cases. In Monterey, California, he meets Ellen Cort, a widow who claims she was attacked by her recently deceased husband on their sprawling estate. Norliss's investigation leads him all around the bay as he uncovers increasingly dark information regarding Ellen's late artist husband.

A failed pilot-turned-television film, "The Norliss Tapes" was directed by cult TV horror icon Dan Curtis, and it has his stamp all over it. Running at a concise hour and ten minutes, the film is surprisingly absorbing and at times almost resembles a feature film. Though it shows its age, the production values given the era are surprisingly high, and the cinematography is top-notch. The relentless rain and misty landscapes of the northern California setting are phenomenally captured; I found myself completely drawn into the film in spite of its shortcomings.

The narrative is fairly routine in terms of the moves it makes to advance the plot, and it does seem stilted on dialogue a bit too much in areas (which I chalk up to the limited time slot), but it does maintain a considerable level of intrigue nonetheless. There are several fantastic scare scenes that predate Tobe Hooper's "Salem's Lot" in which the undead husband makes sinister appearances—the rainstorm chase scene at the estate is very memorable. A gruff Roy Thinnes fits the role of Norliss very well, and Angie Dickinson is likable as the flummoxed widow; Vonetta McGee is also memorable as the mysterious madame who knows more about Dickinson's reanimated husband than she initially lets on.

"The Norliss Tapes" seems to have amassed a following over the years, largely of viewers who saw the film as children and were terrified of it (as is the case with many of these television horror movies from the seventies). The nostalgia factor is absent for me as I was not alive when the film was released, but there is an appreciable establishment of atmosphere and substantial intrigue at work here given the film was never actually intended to be packaged as a movie. Curtis would usher in "Trilogy of Terror" and the feature "Burnt Offerings" a few years later, both of which show a demonstrable refining of his talents, but "The Norliss Tapes" is no less an effective, compact offering that is shamelessly entertaining and also offers up a handful of masterfully-crafted scares. 7/10.

It's not often that I'm left unimpressed by cult programmes or films. "The Norliss Tapes", however, is an exception to the rule. Had I watched this made-for-television pilot at a tender age in the '70s, I would have no doubt been impressed by the creepy goings on. Watching this today, the production is poor and uninspiring. Blue faced vampires that make strange roaring noises do not make thrilling or chilling television.

Fans may argue that this pilot is original for its time. Compared to the '70s plays by Nigel Kneale, this is horror by numbers. It lacks any real drama or substance. Even the presence of Angie Dickinson couldn't save this turkey.

In short, this is best avoided - a waste of 80 minutes.

When it came to dispensing chills on TV in the '60s & '70s, Dan Curtis was the man!

His Dark Shadows vampire soap opera was innovative, but it was THE NIGHT STALKER (1972) TV movie with Darren McGavin and its subsequent follow-up TV movie, THE NIGHT STRANGLER and Night Stalker TV series which earned him his reputation as a Big Time chill-despensing master.

Then came THE NORLISS TAPES...WHOA! This is one scary movie!

Up in beautiful, rainy Marin County, Roy Thinnes investigates the possibility that a recently deceased artist isn't necessarily dead.

I'm not going to give away a thing other than to say that if scary movies are your thing, this one will ring your bell! Do not miss it.

Roy Thinnes stars as author David Norliss, doing research for a book on the supernatural, who mysteriously disappears, but leaves behind a series of audio tapes detailing the case he was investigating, revolving around Angie Dickinson playing a wife trying to uncover the mysterious death of her husband, which takes a sinister turn as events unfold...

Roy Thinnes portrays Norliss with the same steely, no-nonsense determination he gave to David Vincent from his previous series "The Invaders". Some find his humorlessness off-putting, but I find it a refreshing change from the norm.

Made as a pilot film to a proposed series that was never picked up, which I think is a great pity, since I found Norliss and this case quite interesting, and would like to know what became of him, either with a sequel film and/or TV series.

As a consequence, this character remains an intriguing enigma.

Finally saw this after almost 40 years. I didn't catch it on its original network broadcast. I have to agree with other reviews that say it's an inferior version of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

They have much in common, but so many differences in the ways that count. Darren McGavin was a much better actor in a much better written role, delivering that snappy, sardonic voice-over narration and funny quips, all with the infectious energy that Kolchak always showed and the quirkiness that tied it all together. Kolchak was very much interested in his stories, while Norliss seemed like he was rather reluctant and bored. There was no depth to David Norliss and the proceedings just slogged on monotonously. McGavin's acting made Kolchak's episodes worth watching even when the scripts were bad, not to mention his great supporting characters, both recurring and guests. Norliss was essentially a lone wolf. What was most amazing of all is that Kolchak continued to entertain by slaying monsters (literally) and police officials (figuratively) alike despite McGavin's disdain for the scripts and his bitterness over having been cheated of his promised role as series executive producer. That's the mark of a true professional and a great actor. Thinnes wasn't given much to work with here. He seemed like he was almost sleepwalking through the movie. And unlike Kolchak, Norliss barely interacted with other characters, let alone spar verbally with them.

Worse, the blue-skinned zombie was every bit as bad as Kolchak's often embarrassing monsters. But without McGavin to distract from the situation, there was no disguising the silliness. Other similarities include Robert Cobert's creepy sul ponticello tremolando on the violin, so familiar from Kolchak episodes and opening titles, and the disbelieving sheriff.

All in all, I'll stick with my DVD set of the Kolchak series. When the Norliss pilot ended, I really didn't care what had caused his mysterious disappearance and wouldn't have watched had the show been picked up by a network. It was only marginally better than the Night Stalker remake of 2005.

It's a shame that this movie is not readily available, like "THE NIGHT STALKER" is....it is a very well done (KUDOS to Dan Curtis, DARK SHADOWS, etc)Occultish-Vampirish Horror movie (made for TV). The setting for this film (Carmel, CA, I believe) is as atmospherically driven as was the Dark Shadows Intro...if you can view this film, i wholeheartedly recommend it. A fine cast, with Roy Thinnes in the lead, investigator role, with Claude Adkins "reprising" his role as the unbelieving lawman....if you liked Carl Kolchak or Fox Mulder, this film is out there...find the truth for your self.....

I have a tremendous respect and admiration for Dan Curtis! Apart from the well-known cult series "Dark Shadows", Curtis also produced and directed a long list of modest but extremely professional made-for-TV horror films and thrillers that are ALWAYS atmospheric, well-acted, original and featuring a couple of genuinely terrifying sequences. "The Norliss Tapes" is perhaps not as legendary as, say, "Trilogy of Terror" or "The Night Strangler", but it's another worthwhile gem with a good story and memorable frights. Of these old 70s TV-movies, I always love reading the user-comments, because so many people write that the film in question scared or even traumatized them as a child. In the case of "The Norliss Tapes", I can easily understand how certain scenes induced a lot of nightmares among sensitive viewers, especially the ones with the eerie yellow-eyed ghoul who mysteriously wanders around and kidnaps young women. The title refers to lead protagonist and paranormal investigator David Norliss, who suddenly vanished prior to the completion of his new book but left behind a bunch of audio tapes for his publisher to find. The tapes narrate how Norliss got called upon by a beautiful young widow who witnessed her own deceased sculptor husband work on one last final statue in his studio. This bizarre call for help coincides with the alarming disappearance of a young girl and the discovery of an old myth in which Mrs. Cort's late husband firmly believed. The myth states that, if you sculp the hellish demon Sargoth out of clay and human blood, and then summon him, he grants you eternal life. The script perhaps isn't 100% waterproof, but Dan Curtis marvelously handles the tension building and perfectly times the efficient jump-moments. The scene at the raunchy motel, at night and during a thunderstorm, is surely of the finest moments in 70s TV-history! There are excellent supportive roles from the astonishing Angie Dickenson as the hysterical widow and the underrated Claude Akins as the down-to-earth Sheriff. And, if you are wondering why the ending is so outspokenly open and unusual, it's because "The Norliss Tapes" in fact served as the pilot feature for a TV-series that never got picked up.

A veteran newspaper publisher (Don Porter) listens to the personal tapes of investigative reporter David Norliss, (Roy Thinnes) . Through some twisted murders, he ends up investigating weird happenings , many of which involve supernatural forces that lead him to believe a modern-day vampire is stalking Carmel and San Francisco , California . Norliss turned his investigative skills to vampires , but he finds out that the stories weren't products of his own overworked imagination . The tapes tell the story of a bizarre investigation, involving a recent widow (Angie Dickinson) whose late husband has been seen working in his private studio . As Norliss and the widow investigate, they unravel a plot involving Voodoo and the walking dead . Once the demon is awakened he will be granted immortality! . One man's quest who has disappeared during an investigationto uncover the truth. A vampire killer loose in Carmel . It's hard to believe, isn't it? . A real horror story. Television's Greatest Chiller Movie Becomes a Weekly Series! Ultimately, rather than reporting on the crimes, he solves them.

Chilling and thrilling flick about a modern-day vampire stalking the streets of San Francisco from a story by Fred Mustard Stewart and script by William F. Nolan . This teleplay is suspenseful, intriguing and tight ; being competently directed in limited budget . This TV movie maybe the pilot film for a failed TV series , it contains thrills, chills, ghastly events and being quite entertaining. Dan Curtis's creepy film gets a spin on modern-vampires sagas with original results. The requisite scary proceedings appear including a suspicious wife, a violent bloodsucker who'll stop at nothing to get het his doses of blood , a scary demon and several others happenings . While it may not be as overtly chilling as other devils or vampires tales , this story displays some shudders that gets under your skin . This The Norliss Tapes bears remarkable resemblance to The Night Stalker by Dan Curtis , it finds reporter Carl Kolchak : Darren McGavin investigating a series of sinister murders . Here a similar role is played by Roy Thinnes , he is nice as the intrepid writer on the bloodsucker's trail . Main and support cast are pretty good. Thinnes's career developed specially for TV , standing out in The Invaders series (1967) , and Norliiss Tapes (1973) where plays an investigative reporter who stumbles onto an artist that has made a pact to come back after his death to sculpt a statue of a demon using human blood and clay . He's finely accompanied by a good cast giving adequate interpretations , such as : Angie Dickinson, Don Porter , Claude Akins, Michele Carey , Vonetta McGee, Bryan O'Byrne, Hurd Hatfield, among others .

It contains an atmospheric and colorful cinematography by cameraman Ben Colman , shot on location in Camel , San Francisco , California , though mostly filmed in studio : Universal Studios , Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California. As well as suspenseful and frightening musical score by Robert Cobet. The motion picture was nicely realized by Dan Curtis . He was a writer, producer and director of TV series , working from the 60s . Curtis was a specialist in terror genre as proved in ¨Dark shadows¨ about vampire Barnabas Collins , ¨Trilogy of terror¨, ¨Night Stalker¨, or ¨Scream of wolf¨ and successful wartime series as ¨Winds of war¨ and ¨War and remembrance¨. His most successful series was about the reporter ¨Kolchak¨in which he becomes involved with a trouble magnet for situations involving the supernatural beings as werewolves , vampires , zombies and all manner of legendary creatures, the series was the inspiration for The X - Files . The Norliss Tapes (1973) rating : 6/10 . Acceptable and passable terror film. Well worth watching for horror fans.

Here's a case for Darrin McGavin's Kolchak from "The Night Stalker": a writer in San Francisco, investigating the occult, disappears after helping a widow rid her estate of her dead husband, who had risen from his tomb seeking human blood to complete a demonic statue. TV-made pilot for a proposed NBC series was filmed on rainy Monterey locations by "Night Stalker" mainstay Dan Curtis. It barely gets by in the shocks department, with one padded sequence in a motel room echoing "Psycho" and the rest weighed down with talk. Claude Akins has a dire role as the unbelieving county sheriff determined to keep a lid on this thing lest the public be unnecessarily worried; considering that a young woman was recently drained completely dry of her blood from the front seat of her car, you would think Sheriff Akins would be a bit more receptive to the fact a vampire is loose! Open-ended final scene begs for an explanation, but the network wasn't interested. One can see why, this is just a Kolchak redux.

I remember seeing this tv movie twice in my early teens and remember it being very scarey at the time.The supernatural content was quite compelling and the acting for a tv movie was above average.I notice it is not available on VHS or DVD.I assume because of a lack of knowledge,popularity and possibly rights to the movie.I sure wish they would bring out a DVD version a.s.a.p.I'd buy a copy immediately.I'd love to see this movie again,especially because it was over 20 years ago since I last viewed it.Always a mark of a good movie if it sticks in your mind for that long!

A writer in the greater San Francisco area (Thinnes) is assigned to investigate supposedly supernatural happenings, which leads him to the case of a widow in Monterey (Angie Dickinson) who claims she was attacked by her deceased artist husband (Nick Dimitri). Don Porter plays his publisher and Claude Akins a skeptical sheriff.

A television production, "The Norliss Tapes" (1973) combines Noir fiction with a spooky story and is very similar to a few other Dan Curtis productions of the early 70s: "The Night Stalker" (1972), "The Night Strangler" (1973) and "Scream of the Wolf" (1974).

The story goes that Curtis was aiming for a trilogy of movies with Darrin McGavin as paranormal reporter Carl Kolchak, but McGavin wanted to turn the character into a TV series with him producing, which left Curtis out in the cold. So Dan took his production team and created this flick and "Scream of the Wolf" with Peter Graves as the protagonist, both wannabe pilots that failed to morph into series.

This one's not as compelling as those other three movies, but it's not far off and has its points of interest, such as the formidable Thinnes as the grim protagonist and the constant awe-inspiring vistas of the north-central California coast, as well as the presence of Dickinson and the stunning Michele Carey on the feminine front, not to mention Vonetta McGee.

The set-up is a little convoluted and so it takes a while for the mysterious story to become absorbing. But the second half is compelling enough and delivers the goods with an element that goes beyond clichéd vampirism. Speaking of which, you'd think Lou Ferrigno shows up in red clay but, no, it's someone else.

The film runs 1 hour, 12 minutes, and was shot in San Francisco, Carmel/Big Sur, West Hollywood (the Cort Estate) and Universal Studios.

GRADE: B-

If Dracula ever sees this garbage he will furiously drain every member of the cast and crew. Here we have a vampire who goes "AAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" as he attacks and strangles his victims, a terrified wife, the standard believer/unbeliever line, and lots of stormy weather[what else?]. Hammy acting, lackluster dialogue, and a stupid story offering a series of "surprises" one can see coming 15 minutes before their arrival made for 1 1/2 hours of total tedium. I was particularly offended by Angie Dickenson's way overdone high school drama club gasps, expressions, and dubbed in screams, however I did somewhat appreciate the final couple minutes of the film.

This was horror exponent Curtis' follow-up to the popular made-for-TV genre efforts THE NIGHT STALKER (1971) and THE NIGHT STRANGLER (1972), featuring Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, but with a new protagonist in Roy Thinnes' David Norliss. The overall style (down to the intermittent narration) and supernatural theme involved are remarkably similar – though the San Francisco-based writer hero in this case is much more somber than the wisecracking but dogged reporter from Chicago. These two elements actually spelt doom for the Norliss character as it seems that when it was time to create a full-blown series (even if it extended to just one season and 20 episodes), the choice fell upon the humor-tinged exploits of Kolchak…

In any case, the premise itself – dying sculptor turns to the occult and is allowed to 'come back' in return for 'giving life' through his work to a demon – is undeniably intriguing; the creepily effective zombie make-up (these scenes naturally constitute the film's highlights) resembles the one seen in DEATHDREAM (1972). Though the abrupt finale actually leaves Norliss' fate hanging, this can be excused – since the film was obviously conceived as a pilot, so that his story was intended to resume in subsequent installments! Incidentally, there are a couple of other illogicalities owing to the necessary streamlining: while the events related in the film are seen to fit on just one tape, the final session in the creation of the sculpture entails no more than a couple of brief strokes to the eyes!

Supporting Thinnes (by the way, I've just acquired Season One of the vintage sci-fi series THE INVADERS [1967-8], which had actually made his name – though I probably won't be able to include it in this Halloween challenge) is a good cast: Don Porter (appearing as Norliss' publisher), Angie Dickinson (the sculptor's wife), Michele Carey (her sister and a Norliss acquaintance), Claude Akins (the requisite disbelieving sheriff), Vonetta McGee (the occultist who gave the sculptor the magical ring which enabled his subsequent resurrection) and Hurd Hatfield (a debonair but shady patron of the arts with ambitions above his station). For the record, I'll be following this with two of Dan Curtis' feature-films – HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970) and NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS (1971); I had also intended to check out his TV version of THE TURN OF THE SCREW (1974), but I decided to leave it for an eventual triple-bill of adaptations of the Henry James source novel along with THE INNOCENTS (1961) and THE NIGHTCOMERS (1971).

From what I understand, this was a pilot attempt from Dan Curtis for another supernatural mystery series like The Night Stalker. Unfortunately, this one stars Roy Thinnes, who looked bored out of his skull in almost every scene. His monotone delivery and smug performance come close to ruining this for me. Combine that with a story that felt thin, a "mystery" that wasn't very mysterious, and an abrupt and less than satisfying ending, and I'm not surprised that NBC didn't pick it up. All the other performances are pretty decent, with Angie Dickinson and Claude Akins carrying most of the weight. Great filming locations, an okay "monster," and a pretty decent score added entertainment value for me as well. I'm a big fan of The Night Stalker and was hoping for something similar. To an extent, this is, but it's nowhere near as good.