Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann

They called this creep a "peeping tom", but that term doesn't fit as well as the more contemporary "stalker". This is the earliest of two true cases of so called "mountain men" abducting young women solely to satisfy their twisted need for companionship. It's a fascinating, never a dull moment tale. I'm a stickler for historical accuracy and there are mostly positives here: red lights (not blue) on police cars, a transistor radio and an absence of words and terms not used in the mid 60s. The one gaffe is a red, white and blue basketball next to the porch. It wasn't until the next summer that the ABA introduced the tri colored ball.

On May 11, 1966, a 17 year-old school girl from Shade Gap, Pennsylvania (Megan Follows), is kidnapped by some recluse hillbilly (David Morse) and forced to live in the wilds while on the run from authorities. David Soul plays an FBI agent while Dion Anderson is on hand as a Sheriff.

"Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann" (1991) is a TV flick that closely follows the true story with minor alterations. It was the most-watched primetime show of the week.

There are elements of "Deliverance" (1972), "First Blood" (1982) and another well-done TV movie, "Nightmare at Bittercreek" (1988). Of course it doesn't have the budget of the first two, but that doesn't prevent it from being a first-rate television film, realistic and compelling.

After watching, be sure to check out the 27-minute interview with Peggy Ann Bradnick on Youtube done on the 50th anniversary of the harrowing abduction in 2016. (The movie itself is also available on Youtube for free).

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Los Altos Hills, California, as well as nearby Cupertino & San Jose, at the south end of San Francisco Bay. While these locations are a far cry from south-central Pennsylvania, the producers did a good job of picking a lush, hilly area as a decent stand-in for the real locations.

GRADE: B

Ruthless and brutal immediately come to mind when describing David Morse's detestable mountain man character. But Morse is no dummy, he has food hidden strategically among the mountains near Shade Gap Pennsylvania, where this true story takes place. His preparation and outdoor skills are more than a match for the disorganized and squabbling local police, State Police, and F.B.I. In some ways the movie resembles "King Kong" as there is at times a faint sympathy factor regarding the damaged character that Morse portrays. Make no mistake, this is a strong performance by David Morse, while the rest of the cast simply revolves around him. An exciting and violent ending is an appropriate climax to the manhunt. Recommended viewing. - MERK

This film was quite surprising, it seemed like it was going to just be another thriller but because it was created with a true story witch gave it a chilling effect and true story's are always good to watch. The basic story line is that a girl gets kidnapped by a redneck and is taken into the woods the film follows the story of trying to find her and the strain it has on her family meanwhile you learn more about the demented mind of the kidnapper overall this movie is pretty good,acting is good and i aren't saying its a top hit but its definitely worth a watch

overall:7/10

it would have got higher but being a true story its best not to over exaggerate.

Peggy Ann Bradnick was 17 years old when she was abducted on her way home from school in the small town of Shady Gap, Pennsylvania by a deranged mountain man looking for "a woman" of his own. There have been a lot of stories over the years of young girls being kidnapped, but this was one I was not familiar with this incident. To be honest, I wasn't even sure if it was a true story or not, and had to do some research afterward to confirm that it was. I generally take the words "true story" with a large grain of salt, but after doing that supplemental research after the fact I became even more impressed wit this TV movie than I already was. It is very faithful to the details of the actual story, and it is both exciting and engrossing almost from the very start, as we're first introduced to Peggy Ann and her large and loving family, then to the kidnapper, who's already wanted for variety of offences, and then see the kidnapping and the search for Peggy, which takes up the bulk of the movie as the Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI co-operate.

The strongest part of the movie were the performances of the two main actors. David Morse (a very familiar face) played the kidnapper - known to locals as "Bicycle Pete," and whose real name was Bill Hollenbaugh. Morse, I thought, truly captured the mind and the persona of the kidnapper ans was quite convincing in the role. Megan Follows (a Canadian actress best known at the time for her portrayals of Anne of Green Gables) was also impressive in demonstrating a range of emotions as she sought to survive her ordeal and even developed a sort of sympathy for her kidnapper - who actually didn't physically harm her. The supporting case was very good. There really weren't any performances that detracted from the movie's quality.

There were, I suppose a couple of points that weakened this a little bit. I thought that at the very beginning of the kidnapping ordeal, Follows seemed a bit too calm given what had happened - although she could have been portraying the shock that Peggy must have felt at what had happened, and Peggy's written statement that she read to the media at the end after she was rescued was a bit too heavy on trying to explain Hollenbaugh's actions and get into his mind. But that didn't detract too much from the overall quality of the movie. As TV movies go, this was first rate. (8/10)