Sutton Roley

Satan's Triangle - or, The Case of the Disappearing Crucifix. If you're going to face Satan, it helps to have a boat as well-stocked with liquor as this one. I would prefer to have a priest onboard who was a better actor than Alejandro Rey, however. It's like he is delivering his lines phonetically. But given how bad his dialogue is, maybe he just didn't have the energy to try harder. Nor is he a very good priest, since he tells Kim Novak that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, which is certainly not biblical, but rather something invented later by bored Christians to spice up Jesus's life story. But then, well, just wait. He is appropriately punished by failing to read the manual on how to safely fire a flare gun while clinging to a ship's mast. I also love how Novak and McClure get their hairstyles in such good shape so quickly after being dropped a long way into the water when the cable pulling them into the helicopter breaks. Of course, I'd try to get my hair in good shape if I was alone on a boat with Kim Novak, who still looks great at 40+. Those dead bodies on board, especially the one floating in the air, might cramp my style, however. McClure may come to wish his style HAD been cramped, since, well, just wait. The last 5 minutes almost make this mess worthwhile. As an alternative, while waiting for those 5 minutes, there are always Marlin to catch. And if we have time left over, we can pray for the soul of little Miguel--if there WAS a little Miguel. If the screenwriter had only given us a flashback-within-a-flashback, we might have gotten to know the poor tyke better. So much to think about here. At least producers Thomas and Witt would go on to much better things.… (altro)

Odd, but entertaining made-for-TV movie from writer Anthony Lawrence and director Sutton Roley that has Rachel (Stefanie Powers) losing her mind and being chief suspect in the death of her husband. ESP researcher Dr. Lucas Darrow (Alex Dreier) becomes involved in her case and is soon suspicious about Rachel's relations Lillian (Louise Latham) and Arthur Piper (Pat Hingle). ESP, telepathy and other such psychic shenanigans come together to help reach a (rather obvious) conclusion. "Sweet, Sweet Rachel" has some eerie and effective moments that are unfortunately diminished by the confused story and the some of the overly melodramatic moments. There are some nicely dressed sets, that give the film an arch, Gothic feel and Sutton Roley is fairly inventive with the camera during the nightmare / ESP sequences making the film engaging throughout. The acting is pretty poor, however, with an overweight, shuffling Alex Dreier making for a pretty substandard leading man.… (altro)