Review of Scream, Pretty Peggy

Could curiosity kill the pesky female college student (Sian Barbara Allen)? Could giving maimed Bette Davis a bell to ring when she needs her drive her crazy? Will she heed Ted Bessel's advice and stay out of the room above the garage? Will you be able to make it through this unsuspenseful thriller made for 1970's T.V.? For me, the answer to this last question was just barely because I was bored out of my mind waiting for something to happen. I've always been curious about the first decade of the T.V. movie where fading veteran stars like Bette Davis took on projects that 20 years ago they would have sneered at. Wearing a wig that is obviously far too young for her face, Davis is perhaps the only reason to tune into this with sitcom veteran Bessell a combination of cheery and moody as the artist who hires the eager Allen to be their new housekeeper against his mother's will. Davis isn't thrilled by this news and even more so when she is injured. Allen becomes obsessed with the alleged presence of Bessell's supposedly insane sister living above the garage, and Davis accuses her of trying to steal her son out from under her nose. So for nearly an hour, there is really nothing happening, and it is on the verge of becoming sleep-inducing when the weak plot begins to wrap up.