This film essentially begins with a woman named "Marjorie Worden" (Sandy Dennis) convincing her husband "Paul Worden" (Darren McGavin) to buy a certain house in the Pennsylvania countryside even though it's at least two hours from where he works. At first, everything seems to go quite well and both Paul and Marjorie are extremely content. That changes, however, when Marjorie is awakened one night by a peculiar noise coming from the barn that sounds exactly like a young child crying. Naturally, being quite concerned, she immediately dons her robe and goes to the barn to check it out. It's then that she realizes the sound is actually coming from the house where her young son "Stevie Worden" (Johnny Whitaker) is experiencing a terrible nightmare. And although she manages to calm him down, what she doesn't realize is that there is a demonic force in the area and the nightmare is only beginning for all concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film turned out better than I initially anticipated due in large part to the solid performances put in by both Darren McGavin and Sandy Dennis. I also liked the fact that the director (Steven Spielberg) added a bit of suspense here and there which kept things interesting for the most part as well. Admittedly, the made-for-television format probably limited the overall effect, but even so it was good enough for the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.
Review of Something Evil
