She Cried Murder

Anyone that knows and understands the Giallo subgenre of fright flicks will see right through this made for t.v., wants-to-be-a-giallo terror tale. Watered down telefilm has a 'Cat O' Nine Tails' plotted murder on a train and the identity of the killer as the catalyst of the female protagonist's dilemma. There is some style to spare in this film with a staircase scene in a restaurant that has the beautific visual style of Mario Bava and the camera movements of Dario Argento but alas THIS is the ONLY scene where any true workmanship is to be found. The makers of this little flick no doubt stayed up all night perusing older Giallo murder tapes to get this scene right. Otherwise this is routine yet watchable fare with Telly Savalas as the menace and Lynda Day George as the prey.

A model, while riding in the front car of a subway train, witnesses a woman being pushed in front of the train. But when the police come to interview her, she recognizes one of them as the man who did the pushing.

Lynda Day George is really good as the witness of a woman getting murdered, the desparation is well-enacted as the rogue cop comes closer in some nifty chase scenes. Telly Savalas is his usual reliable self as the cop who kills his blackmailer and is on his way to kill Lynda Day George. It's a straightforward suspense thriller with neat police work and well-directed chase scenes. Train buffs in particular would love the last fifteen minutes. Like all thrillers, there are implausibility and logic issues, but the pace and thrills are high enough for one not to focus on them too much.

It's pretty rare that I watch simple, straightforward thrillers, let alone particularly enjoy them, so She Cried Murder was quite a treat to me. As simple as they come, without a speck of fat, this is lean, keen stuff even by made for television standards, clocking in at around 66 minutes in length, a good six or seven minutes shorter than the average. The action starts immediately with model Sarah Cornell witnessing a man push a lady to her death in front of a subway train, and her nightmare really begins when encounters said murderer later, the nefarious individual being rather keen to keep her quiet after having seen her see him. From then on the film takes the form of a constant chase, mixed with a dash of paranoia and a few explanatory digressions providing context without slowing down the main pulse. The lovely Lynda Day George makes a good fist of the main role, she isn't the most convincing as an actress but looks the part and throws herself into the action with an agreeable determination that grows effectively frayed and desperate as her pursuer proves frightening tenacious. Telly Savalas is excellent as said pursuer, playing things low key, soft faced and even superficially charming, he menaces through the contrast of his actions and demeanour rather than playing things up as a baddie and is all the better for it. Nobody else really has big enough roles to make an impression, but Mike Farrel (BJ from M.A.S.H.) does have a nice turn as a sympathetic police officer. There's little more to say about this that would stray into the realms of spoilers, but director Herschel Daughtery does a sterling job with both the pace and set pieces, there are several moments of seat edge suspense and the finale is a minor marvel. At times the film is even somewhat reminiscent of Italian gialli, though the film only very seldom approaches the same heights of style and has almost none of the same twisted verve. As one might expect of a made for television production things are rather tame, and there are one or two nagging loose ends, but on the whole this is a splendid ride, one that never wears out its excitement and is hence well worth a look for vintage thriller fans.

I saw this made for TV movie when I was in grade school. It was a suspenseful cat-and-mouse story, and Savalas was very scary as the bad guy. I'm still trying to figure out why no one else in that busy subway station saw Savalas push that woman onto the tracks other than Ms. George. The murder that sets the story off is mean and horrific, even by today's standards. The fun is in watching Ms. George become more and more desperate as Savalas closes in on her. The final chase scene is a nail biter! As far as made for TV suspense flicks from the seventies go, this was one of the good ones. I wonder what ever happened to Lynda Day George? She was all over TV back in the day.

Mostly for the look and feel, scenery, cars, soundtrack, clothes. Must have been the inspiration for Night of the Juggler (1980). Mostly one long chase scene too.