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The Horror at 37,000 Feet
USA 1973
produced by Anthony Wilson for CBS
directed by David Lowell Rich
starring Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen, Tammy Grimes, Lynn Loring, Jane Merrow, France Nuyen, William Shatner, Roy Thinnes, Paul Winfield, Will Hutchins, Darleen Carr, Brenda Benet, Russell Johnson, H.M. Wynant, Mia Bendixsen, Gerald Peters, Robert Donner, Peter Ashton, Veronica Anderson
story by V.X. Appleton, screenplay by Ronald Austin, James D. Buchanan, music by Morton Stevens
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Rich architect O'Neill (Roy Thinnes) wants to fly an abbey that has
been in the possession of his wife Sheila's (Jane Merrow) family for years
from the UK to America to rebuild it, and does so on a very luxurious
airliner with only a handful of passengers during summer solstice. Now
what he doesn't know of course is that the abbey also includes a pagan
altar that releases a demon every 100 years at (of course) summer
solstice, and guess what, the centennial event is set for today. The first
one who notices that something's wrong is the captain (Chuck Connors),
when he realizes that despite flying at full speed, the plane's not moving
an inch, and even turning around or changing altitude won't change that,
they're just stuck where they are. Then there's a pressure drop in the
cargo hold, and when the captain and his engineer (Russell Johnson) go
check, the engineer freezes to death rather instantly. It's here the
latest that the passengers notice something's not quite right - and the
passengers are a mixed bunch indeed, from selfish millionaire Farlee
(Buddy Ebsen) to self-doubting alcoholic ex-priest Paul (William Shatner)
and his hippie girlfriend Manya (Lynn Loring) to know-it-all Dr. Enkalla
(Paul Winfield) to over-confident cowboy Holcomb (Will Hutchins) to Mrs
Pinder (Tammy Grimes), who has been O'Neill's nemesis when it came to
flying the abbey to the US, and who apparently knows more than she lets
on. By the by, the evil whatever-it-is takes over the ship more and more,
killing some passengers and staff in the process, cornering the survivors
towards the front of the ship, and it eventually becomes clear
whatever-it-is wants a human sacrifice, and it soon becomes clear that
that would preferably be Sheila. And while Farlee and Holcomb are all for
sacrificing her for the sake of the others, it's ultimately Paul who
overcomes his self-doubt and holds off the evil till sunrise (when the
horror is to end), even if he loses his own life in the process ... Even
if the threat in this TV movie is clearly anchored in the horror realm,
the film plays out more like a disaster movie, where an ensemble cast (of
more or less well-known TV actors), all with easily readable character
traits, motivations and flaws, has to make it through whatever fate throws
at them, and as is to be expected, some will be punished, some will grow
with the occasion, some will overcome their shortcomings, and someone will
die a hero's death. Likewise, the focus of the film is not so much on the
horror of the situation and fighting it, but on the characters, going
through mostly by-the-number situations. The result is pretty much cookie
cutter TV entertainment with a light horror tinge - which is actually
rather entertaining from a nostalgic point of view, just nothing to write
home about.
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