Review of Summer of Fear

I don't usually review TV movies, but this is too much fun. Rachel (Linda Blair in her best Stevie Nicks wig) is hosting her mysterious long-lost cousin Julia (Lee Purcell, dead ringer for Molly Ringworm) after her parents have been violently killed in a suspicious car crash. There are dumb scripts and then there are dumb scripts. TV tend to be dumber, and this one rates pretty low on the IQ scale: Upon arrival, Julia asks what Rachel's parents do. Boy, she was REALLY long lost if she doesn't know what her aunt and uncle do! Rachel replies that they're stockbrokers, "but they probably told you all that!" Aren't you listening Rachel? She just asked what they do, so obviously no, they didn't tell her "all that" Then she tells Julia "You can take my bed, it's more comfortable." A couple of stockbrokers can't afford a decent guest bed?! and so on. Isn't it great when weird things start happening, there's always some "authority" on "the occult" conveniently on hand, just across the street, in this instance. This authority is a professor of anthropology who just happens to have done field work in the Ozarks, where Julia's from, A weird and wonderful place, hotbed of the occult , where Julia says they had a housekeeper that practiced voodoo, which is probably where she picked it up. The professor says she has that ""distinctive" Ozark "look;"."same features, same eyes.". I hope Rachel didn't feel slighted, as she comes from half the same gene pool, but never lived in the Ozarks, which apparently changes one's physiognomy. Miss Purcell is best in the showiest role, especially after she trades in her Amish dress for a smokin' hot pants ensemble, and in a Single White Female move par excellence, gets herself her own Stevie wig! The transformation's more than just physical, as it turns a shy introverted stranger into a seductive maneater, working her witcherly wiles on every man in sight, from Rachel's boyfriend to her brother and father--mind you, those are Julia's own cousin and uncle, respectively. As with the script, the TV effects are not special. When Rachel locks her in a room Julia screams and throws a lot of stuff around, but nothing at the door. Apparently 'she was just throwing a tantrum, as she then simply summons her magical powers to bust out the door without breaking a sweat. Apparently witches, like vampires in a mirror, can't be photographed, and luckily Rachel's rich parents have conveniently provided her with a darkroom to develop the proof. Best of all is Lee Purcell with Linda Blair's "Exorcist" eyes, the most amusing thing in a generally unintendedly hilarious but thoroughly enjoyable hour and a half.