HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (1972)

Walter Brennan is the ailing patriarch of his family, essentially on his deathbed, and he has called home his four daughters for Christmas: sweet young college student Sally Field, promiscuous playgirl Jill Haworth, alcoholic mess Jessica Walter, and oldest sister (and seemingly the most together of the four) Eleanor Parker. None of the women have remained close to their father because they blame him for the suicide of their mother years ago. But now Brennan has remarried (to Julie Harris, whose first husband died under suspicious circumstances), and he tells his daughters that she's slowly poisoning him—he wants them to kill her before she succeeds. Even though there's a (young and handsome) local doctor (John Fink) in town that the sisters are friendly with, Brennan won't allow him in. The daughters aren't sure whether or not to believe Brennan, though Harris does come off as a bit aloof and perhaps sinister. However, she breaks her composure when Haworth openly accuses Harris offing her husband; her reply: "The next time I'm accused of murder, I won't be the one to wake up screaming!" Old family tensions add to the oppressive atmosphere: one sister attempts suicide, and another decides to leave during a storm. But before anyone can get away, a figure wearing a yellow rain slicker starts murdering people with a pitchfork.

This is a good example of a genre that doesn't really exist anymore: the network TV-horror movie. More to the point, it has morphed into the Lifetime "women’s thriller," which isn’t quite the same thing. This is not gory, nor is it particularly holiday-themed—there’s a Christmas tree in the house, and that’s about it; even the weather is rainy rather than snowy. But it is atmospheric, and the acting is excellent all around, even if the visual style tends toward the close-ups you find in soap operas. Harris is underused and Haworth is just OK, but Field, Parker and Walter go full-tilt, stopping just before they go over the top. This was one of Walter Brennan's last roles before his death two years later, and he's good—albeit in a relatively small role—playing against type (either a friendly grandpa or a hayseed Western sidekick). Sadly, this only seems to be available in a murky print on YouTube, but it’s still worth watching. Pictured from left: Field, Haworth, Parker, Walter. [YouTube]