Lou Reviews A Beloved Book

David Deal is my soul mate, my alter ego, my idol. Okay, at the very least, maybe we’d have coffee or something. While trolling Amazon for ancient VHS tapes of old movies-of-the-week, what do I stumble upon, like a virginal heroine running from a psycho through the woods, but a magnificent volume by Dave.

Even the title sends shivers: TELEVISION FRIGHT FILMS OF THE 1970s. It didn’t even matter if the book was good, I had to have it. But it’s very good. It’s an A-Z look at the top movies-of-the-week from that glorious heyday of - and shame on me, I had never heard this term before – telefrights. "The Screaming Woman," "Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell," "Ski Lift to Death." Glorious! There’s something like 150 in here and I’m not too proud to say that I haven’t even seen some of them. ("Snowbeast," how did I miss you?) But that’s what makes this treasure both an examination of an important genre - and a shopping list (I need my hands on "Women in Chains," asap.

The preface and contents are thorough and smart. You won’t find a lot of humor in his writing (which is why I think we should hook up for a sequel) but that’s a minor point in a book whose detail puts Leonard Maltin to shame. And it’s in hardcover. Finally, some respect.

Comments

[Carol]

Hi Jancee, greetings from Brasil! :)

I have just finished reading your book! It was so much fun! Cant wait for the next one!

Take care and congrats!

[Colleen G.]

That book has to mention "Trilogy of Terror" which is hands down the scariest thing ever made! That scared me more than "The Exorcist"! That zuni fetish doll is one evil dude!

[michael]

I'm guessing Snowbeast is the ONLY movie in that book I've seen. In fact, I played it at my office christmas party. Not really a christmas movie, but there's a lot of snow.