Weekend of Terror

Handsomely-produced TV-movie from Paramount has two desperate men, holed up in an abandoned house in California's High Desert, hastily rearranging their kidnap-for-ransom plan after their female captive suffers a fall and dies; they decide to kidnap another woman to take the dead girl's place, but end up with three nuns in the bargain (two in robes and habits, one in civilian clothes: a pleated mini-skirt and go-go boots!). Fairly entertaining yarn, written by Lionel E. Siegel with tongue slightly in-cheek, begins well but unravels completely by the third act. This holy trio of Sisters (Lois Nettleton, Jane Wyatt and Carol Lynley) is quite an unlikely group--as are Robert Conrad and Lee Majors as the kidnappers! The characters are not fleshed out by the writing, therefore we never fear for their safety. Lynley has a big dramatic sequence late in the film which Siegel squashes merely so he can continue along with his formula (this may not have been his fault, however, as most television dramas from this era were not made to be surprising or provocative--just routine). However, Jud Taylor's competent direction and the interesting rural locales manage to hold interest for most of this "Weekend".

One reviewer describes this as 'a pretty lame movie' and I am in total agreement. The film often makes little sense and you could certainly do better.

When the film begins, one of two kidnappers accidentally kills the lady they kidnapped. So they come up with a plan that makes absolutely no sense--to kidnap some poor lady and somehow convince the rich guy that the substitute is his daughter. Instead, the idiot kidnaps three nuns and what they do after that makes even less sense. But one of the kidnappers (Lee Majors) balks at his partner (Robert Conrad) when he plans on murdering two of the three nuns. Why only 2 of the 3? I have no idea.

There is nothing about this film that is good or excellent. It often makes little sense and the nuns occasionally behave like morons (especially when they are hiding and one betrays their hiding place by crying out!). Overall, a sloppy, silly movie that rarely does more than pass time.

WEEKEND OF TERROR is about a pair of kidnappers named Eddie and Larry (Robert Conrad and Lee Majors). After botching their abduction -Eddie's a bit homicidal- the two scramble for a way to get the ransom money, even though their abductee is dead! Their solution? Why, grab a trio of nuns (Jane Wyatt, Carol Lynley, and Lois Nettleton) of course!

The brilliant plan is to pawn one of them off as their former victim. While this may sound like the setup for a screwball comedy, it's actually a made-for-TV suspense thriller. As such, it's not a bad movie. This is mostly due to the "decent crook" / "crazy, eeevil crook" dynamic, between the two assailants.

Majors plays his role as the more sedate Larry with laid-back ease, and Conrad's Eddie is dangerous, always about an inch away from his next maniacal rampage!

A little more worldly than her Sisters, Ellen (Nettleton) benefits from her less naive nature. Can she use this against these men, before it's too late?

A flashback to a time when movies like this seemed to be on every night! A fun way to spend an evening. Watch for Gregory Sierra in an early role as a cop...

What an excitement for me to have here the two heroes - at least Robert Conrad as Jim West, for WILD WILD WEST - from my childhood TOGETHER and in villains roles. When I watched SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, I was actually not a child anymore but a young teen, but it's not important...I would have liked so much so see Majors in a COLUMBO episode, playing a wealthy crime mastermind.... In this very good suspense yarn, I am totally satisfied with with my younger years TV heroes playing bad guys. Jud Taylor was a prolific TV stuff provider and this one here proves his efficiency in terms of directing skills. However, I admit it could have been a bit better on some points...For instance the ending.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie. Usually I don't like the really really old TV movies, just the really old ones, LOL. The movie has a pretty decent pace, and the acting is good. Lots of well known actors in here. I thought Carol Lynley was kind of spaced out, but then she seemed spaced out in most of her 1970's films. Jane Wyatt really didn't seem to have much of a role. The only thing that really bothered me was that STUPID wig! That wig looked nothing like the Louise's hair, it was two totally different colors! When the guy sends the nun into the wig shop with a piece of hair to match up, you can see that it is so light it is hardly even brown. Louise's hair was chocolate brown. How hard was it to make the nun get a really dark brown wig?