Dying Room Only (1973) Review

IMDB Review: Dying Room Only (1973)

Exact rating 6.5.

I spent some time going through the supposed classics of television horror, most of which were relatively mediocre (eg. Dark Night of the Scarecrow, The Norliss Tapes, Trilogy of Terror, which is 1/3 good) or weak (Gargoyles, Devil Dog, Don't be Afraid of the Dark). Certainly many folks have some sentimental attachment to these movies, but I don't.

Although I like the idea of atmospheric low budget seventies TV horror, I did not stumble upon anything nearly as good as Tobe Hooper's second best movie, Salem's Lot or Spielberg's Duel or the first Nightstalker movie.

Amongst the best of the bunch is Dying Room Only, a sharply written and well paced piece of rural paranoia, written by Richard Matheson, with an excellent and natural performance by Cloris Leachman in the center, giving gravity to the weird goings on.

This is very simple persecution horror, along the lines of Spielberg's Duel, which it thematically resembles (both were written by Matheson), and for a 75 minute movie experience and nice 1970s flavor, I can recommend this engaging and taut little piece over the many better known television films of this era.