SUMMER OF FEAR (also known as STRANGER
IN OUR HOUSE)
Based on a Lois Duncan novel that I've
never read, the 1978 project Summer of Fear (directed by Wes Craven
and originally broadcast by NBC under the title Stranger in our
House) is a drama with supernatural elements rather than a horror
film in the traditional sense, though the plot touches on assorted
horrific notions: the death of loved ones via a car accident, the
loss of a beloved family pet, and the effects of a stroke on one's
ability to function.
In his book Wes Craven: The Man and His
Nightmares, John Wooley quotes the director as saying that Summer of
Fear was “where I first shot in thirty-five millimeter. It was the
first time I ever used a dolly. I was working with things I never
realized even existed.”
With its decent production values, the
film showcases a teenaged Linda Blair as a young adult
named Rachel who grows to suspect that her cousin Julia is a witch.
Julia moves in with Rachel and her family after Julia's parents and
housekeeper die in a car crash. Turns out that “Julia” is an
imposter named Sarah who practices black magic and was the real
housekeeper for Rachel's late aunt and uncle; the actual Julia also
perished in the car wreck. For some reason, Sarah is hell-bent on
making life uncomfortable for Rachel and her family. After Sarah
declares her intent to kill Rachel and her mother, Sarah pursues
Rachel and her ex-boyfriend in a car chase that ends in the witch's
apparent death (an epilogue reveals that she survived).
I first watched Summer of
Fear on DVD in 2009 and at the time was not impressed: I wrote, “This
film is flat-out boring and riddled with flaws. Sarah's motive is
unclear, the characters are dull, and the plot plods along with
periodic incidents (Rachel gets a bad case of hives, for one) that
the protagonist attributes to her alleged cousin's use of witchcraft.
Don't waste your time.” Having just sat through the project two
more times (once while listening to the DVD's commentary track), I
now see the appeal of this tension-filled thriller. In addition to
being a time capsule that documents the hairstyles, wardrobes, bulky
telephones, and gas-guzzling automobiles of the late 1970s, the movie
plays to the universal fear of one's family life unraveling. On the
audio commentary, Wes Craven notes that “this is every teenager's
nightmare situation: you have everything worked out in your family
and with your boyfriend and everything else, and then somebody comes
in and starts gaining all the power away from you.”
One of the film's more unsettling
aspects is its overtones of incestuous relationships. Rachel's older
brother seems attracted to his cousin. “Julia” gives her alleged
uncle a neck massage and later (eighty-five minutes into the tale)
invites him to “unzip me” as she changes clothes. Julia/Sarah
claims that Rachel's ex-boyfriend always saw Rachel as more of a
“sister” even when they were dating. These moments make me
squirm in the present day and must have been exponentially more
controversial back in 1978.
Though hardcore horror fans may not
enjoy this entry in Craven's oeuvre, Summer of Fear has its share of
entertaining moments and is worth at least one viewing for Wes Craven
completists. If you go in expecting straight horror action, you'll
be disappointed. The script (adapted from the Duncan novel by Max A.
Keller and Glenn M. Benest) is relatively tame given that it was
developed for network television, but it pushes the envelope in
places and sports one particularly gut-wrenching scene (in which
Rachel's beloved horse dies just before the midpoint). Summer of
Fear is an atypical Wes Craven project. If you have one hundred
minutes to spare and want a glimpse of a nuclear family's trials and
tribulations in late-seventies California, check it out. It's a
surprise-filled ride.
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