Revenge!

I love Shelley Winters!!!!! I couldn't care less what anyone says. Some people ridicule her, but the fact is Shelley Winters is one of the most gifted and delightful actresses working in films today. How can you ridicule someone who has won two Academy Awards and has received two Oscar nominations besides that? If you're a bona-fide Shelley fan like I am, this is the flick for you! Shelley is an obsessive mother who avenges her daughter's rape by imprisoning the man she suspects of the dirty deed in a cage in her basement. Sound far-fetched? Nothing's impossible when Shelley's in charge, and this is her vehicle all the way, and be assured she gets all the mileage out of it she possibly can. Sure, you've seen this type of story before, but you've never seen it the way Shelley does it!

In REVENGE!, a seeming mix-up leads to a man (Bradford Dillman) being imprisoned in the dungeon-like basement of a woman (Shelley Winters). The man's wife (Carol Eve Rossen) grows increasingly concerned, eventually consulting a psychic (Stuart Whitman) for assistance.

This is an effective made-for-TV horror-thriller. It's a story of abduction with a paranormal twist. The action switches back and forth between the plight of Dillman's character and his wife's search for him. The suspense builds slowly until reaching the frenzied finale.

Ms. Winters is at her unhinged best, rivaling the magnificently macabre roles she played in her films for Director Curtis Harrington. She plays this vengeful psychopath with gusto, yet allows for some moments of poignancy...

Very basic thriller is a modest time-filler at best, with businessman Dillman incarcerated by unhinged Winters, avenging the death of her daughter for which she believes Dillman is vicariously responsible. Texturing the otherwise superficial plot is Rossen as Dillman's faithful wife whose premonitions brings her into contact with self-described clairvoyant Whitman, the two forming a somewhat symbiotic alliance hoping to discover Dillman's whereabouts.

Winters is suitably grieved but doesn't have enough material to showcase her talent, whilst Dillman as her unwitting victim is surprisingly insensitive toward her plight especially given his predicament. Does this behaviour implicate him? You'll have to wait to find out.

Whitman and the real star - Rossen - have possibly the best characters, but they're 'discovery' (and more importantly the plot device which gets them there) is just a little too contrived to really satisfy. Despite the plot weaknesses the cast has some depth, and it's good to see TV veterans Roger Perry and Gary Clarke in minor roles, and General Hospital alumni Lesley Charleson also featuring in the second act.

At just over an hour run-time it's compact and might've even served as a pilot for a subsequent psychic /medium type show; then again with a bigger budget and a few more plot twists it could also become a decent big screen thriller. Missed opportunities aside, it remains a watchable if not altogether logical minor thriller, featuring a contemporary A-list cast and some modest tension to keep a casual armchair sleuth mildly entertained.

I dug up this 1971 TV movie expecting to see the great Shelley Winters in a trashy, campy, bad 1970s TV movie. What a disappointment. It stunk.

Thin plot dragged out paper thin. No believable or likeable cgaracters. No scary and hateful ones either. A complete waste.

I will not add anything to the comments made by the other users. This feature is very efficient and the actors great for a TV product, especially Shelley Winters. She was, one of the most known Actor's Studio's former student. Jud Taylor is a specialized director for TVMs. I spent 75 minutes in a unforgettable way. Good film indeed. And I will only say that it reminds me a french movie, made two years later: Pierre Granier Deferre's LA CAGE - "THE CAGE" - in which a woman - I don't remember her name - gets Lino Ventura trapped in the basement of her house. I don't remember why. But that's not important.

I don't think there are so many movies with this very topic.

That's all, folks.