Something Evil

Spielberg Summer continues with Spielberg's second TV film. It is a bit debatable whether this should be included, but I watched it and I'm not letting that suffering go to waste.

Something Evil (1972) is Spielberg's second television movie...

Impressions
A family moves into an old country house that's possessed by the devil.

As you may be able to tell by the lovely title card, Something Evil is something awful. The version I watched was barely at the hour and a half mark, but managed to have two sets of the same credits in. This thing is entirely low budget and incredibly boring. I'm not sure how much of this can be put on an incredibly young Spielberg,especially given the skill shown in Duel.

Our Heroine?
The wife (you won't remember her name either) is fairly bland other than getting ready for etsy 40 years early. Perhaps I'm being too harsh since she does appear to be kind of a good mother, though she seems to forget her daughter in a few scenes. After she absolutely flips out we pretty much lose our semi-protagonist.

Coincidental Observers
Her husband is distracted by his job to the point of neglect. He also doesn't seem to react to his, clearly off her hinges, wife. He seems loving at the start and has no reason to believe the devil BS, but he could at least try to treat her as an insane person.

Ralph Bellamy is the old spooky guy who knows about these sporadic country devil infestations. He is sadly wasted on a very stereotypical old guy. Also, his son is in this to make the movie longer, I guess.

Original Foe
The Devil is our villain. He works through crying babies, glowing red jars, strange microphone noise and lots and lots of wind. Truly a foe to be reckoned with...

Country Atmosphere
The setting could have been creepy, if it had been used to any effect. There is a level of creepiness to

In the End
Wind, levitating children, and praying. Spoilers, I guess.

Overall
I feel I may have left the impression that this film has redeeming qualities. There are a few good shots which give this film that one out of ten. Otherwise, I can't recommend this be included in any Spielberg marathons even for die hard fans. Even I can't wait to see if even A.I. gets this low.
1/10

Next up, we look at Spielberg's second major movie: Jaws. We're doing this thematically, so I'll get to the Sugarland Express eventually.