Also called Stranger in Our House, Summer of Fear is a made-for-television movie by the one and only Wes Craven. Those expecting some real solid horror featuring blood and guts and so forth will be disappointed. One has to remember this would have aired on regular television so there would be very little and that is quite true. Instead, this horror movie is more thriller than anything else but it does make for some decent viewing.

Starring Linda Blair in the lead fresh off of The Exorcist 2, she is once again the victim and this time she is being targeted not by a demon or the Devil but by her cousin whom she believes is a witch. Having just moved in because her parents and her housekeeper were killed in a car accident, Julia as played by Lee Purcell takes stage opposite Blair and gives her a run for her money in the acting department until she finally outpaces her during the final act of the film. Julia is shy and beautiful and entrances everyone she meets to the point where it seems like all they want is her. Things around the house start to get a little strange as Rachel’s horse goes a little wild, she finds burnt offerings in her room in Julia’s stuff and Julia steals her boyfriend. Blair as Rachel gets suspicious that Julia might be more than she seems and so does a little investigating as things get more dire. By the end of it all, everything comes out in a nice little twist and Julia is revealed for what she is.

Craven lends a solid hand to the proceedings but there is nothing overly exciting about the movie as a whole. The acting by everyone involved is well done including by those who are not Blair or Purcell, namely Jeremy Slate, Jeff East, Carol Lawrence and Jeff McCracken and they definitely elevate the material. With there being a witch involved and clearly the main plot point around which everything revolves, it would have been nice to see some more ‘witchy’ things. A little creeping around, whispers of evil or spells or even a little death here and there would have gone a long way to liven it all up.  There is a little bit here and there, hinted at for the most part and one slightly disturbing scene involving Purcell’s character and her uncle.  As it is, most of the first hour is more drama than anything else with a very slowly rising tension that builds until that climactic final scene.

As far as budget movies go or films that would end up on the boob tube, Summer of Fear turned out to be pretty enjoyable. It might not have been Last House on the Left or The Hills Have Eyes but Craven would give it what it needed to get over, without going crazy. Blair and Purcell of course, were exactly why people would ultimately tune in and with everything else factored in, it would all make for a picture that people could while away a Sunday night with.

3 out of 5