Lack of good storyline.

Fantastic!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

BUT NOTE = UNMISSABLE TEN STAR ********** L. BLAIR ENTRY! This TV movie is now perhaps more fairly titled the same as its (Lois Duncan) book source, although was originally shown more accurately with the title 'Stranger in Our House', since it's an early example of the ' dangerous / nutter cuckoo in the nest' genre that became popular later (like Single White Female and Hand that Rocks Cradle etc.), and so, if not matched with such as some sort of double bill, is otherwise a fairly routine 'nobody believes me, I'm the only one who can see we have a destructive force right under our noses' more or less forgettable offering …Ah, that is UNLESS, in curio, you watch keeping in mind it was the late W.Craven's not only, only third film, but also his first in 35 mm apparently (Last House and Hills were in 16mm, did you know? - all gleaned from re-issue W.Craven collection direct from the, ah, horse's* mouth audio commentary), but even then seems dully devoid of any of his flourishes. (Being a TV film, certainly none of his more characteristic horror gore.)OR, for the real reason a must see watch, is if you are a fan of pint sized, cherub faced beauty dear Linda Blair, coz in which case, this becomes a simply unmissable TEN STAR film in her oeuvre, since she is not only in virtually every scene, but she sports an utterly magnificent 70's style big hair ringlet perm throughout by which to top some superb flashing eyes and smiles sessions (particularly when grooming her horse) - e.g. at one time slapped in the face by Mom that appears to be so realistically hard, that her subsequent burst into tears is surely genuine rather than acting. In short (opps, sorry about that pun there) she really is delightful in this one. (And in passing, I can imagine Wes was rather enamoured of her - rear end profile especially, too, as there are surprisingly many of her posed or walking away longueur takes throughout its running!)BTW:, once you settle down so to savour Linda, you can also look out for (I believe debut?) of future 'Nanny' Fran Dreschler, already almost incapable of disguising that idiosyncratic Bronx nasal drawl of hers.So, if not a L. Blair fan, beware, although, perhaps can also be fun double billed with another of the source material' s Ms. Duncan's 'summers' titles: 'I Know What you did Last Summer', too. *And apparently that's how they got horse-riding mad Linda to star, by changing the 'it can intuit a witch' animal from the book source, originally a dog.

Wow, you'd think a TV movie by Wes Craven would be pretty suspenseful, right? Wrong- this is a snooze-fest that plays more like an after-school special. I'm serious- there are no thrills to be found until maybe the last 10 minutes, if you can call the catfight between the two female characters thrilling. I saw this movie when it first aired and I could really only remember a scene where a horse freaks out. Guess what- that's pretty much the only scary thing that happens, and it's not even scary! I was so looking forward to seeing this again but now that I have, I can truthfully say it wasn't worth the $10 bucks I paid on ebay for it. A much much better movie in this vein was called Midnight Offerings. It starred Melissa Sue Anderson and was much more exciting, with a couple of confrontations between the two main characters and some real, actual thrills. The movie box said it was rated PG-13, but considering there's no violence, blood, nudity, or language, it could have been rated G. I'm not kidding. How Wes Craven could have made this is beyond me. I'm tempted to listen to the audio commentary he provides for this movie, but that would require watching the film again, and I can't imagine putting myself through that again.

Any horror movie starring Fran Drescher sounds petrifying to me, I don't care whether she stars as the supreme witch of a coven or simply appears in an insignificant supportive role. Growing up with a sister who insisted on watching that stupid show "The Nanny" over and over again, I've come to dread this unholy woman's quacking voice more than I dread all the serial killers in the entire world. My main motivation to watch "Summer of Fear" actually was the devilish bit of hope to witness Drescher die painfully on screen, but alas, this is a TV-movie so there's really not that much suffering going on. "Summer of Fear" is a modest, well-intended and remotely atmospheric little thriller, but it's far too tame to satisfy real horror fans and it honestly would have ended up in oblivion long time ago already if it weren't for the names of Wes Craven and Linda Blair parading the DVD-cover. Craven had already built up a solid reputation with the genuine 70's shockers "Last House on the Left" and "The Hills Have Eyes", and Linda Blair was undeniably one of the genre's best-selling faces since her unforgettable role in "The Exorcist". These three titles definitely qualify as rough and mature horror movies unsuitable for squeamish viewers, but here Craven and Blair team up for a "soft" story about a teenage girl who's the only one to realize her enchanting niece is really a deceptive and malignant sorceress. Sounds macabre enough, but the script actually spends most attention to the daily struggles of a prototypic teenage girl dealing with jealousy, (boy)friends, parents, sport competition, strict parents and flamboyant 70's hairstyles. The happy happy joy joy Bryant family welcomes an unexpected guest when cherubic niece Julia moves in after the sudden death of her parents in a tragic car accident. Rachel quickly suspects Julia of practicing witchcraft, but the rest of family thinks she's just jealous because Julia filched her lover and best friend and because Julia's butt isn't too fat to fit in a homemade dress. The competitive and notably hostile on screen chemistry between Linda Blair and Lee Purcell keeps the wholesome endurable – and even a bit entertaining – but "Summer of Fear" is overlong and unexciting. The conclusive 15 minutes or so are surprisingly effective (even including a bit of an unexpected twist) and suspenseful, but still they don't compensate enough for the disappointing foregoing. The infamous Fran Drescher stars as Rachel's (and subsequently Julia's) best friend Carolyn and, just in case you're wondering, that hyper-irritating nasal voice sound has been there since the late 70's already.

Lois Duncan's young-adult mystery novel "Summer of Fear" gets a fine, if low-budget, television treatment, capably directed by Wes Craven. Intriguing story features an appealing Linda Blair playing popular young woman and horse-rider whose family takes in her orphaned cousin--a perplexing girl who harbors secret evil powers. Craven's pacing is careful and sneaky, drawing the viewer in while mounting Blair's suspicions with just the right touch of creepy delicacy. Lee Purcell is excellent as cousin Julia, pulling off a showy role without lapsing into camp (although the make-up and special effects near the finish are somewhat cartoonish by today's standards). A compact thriller, very well done, and Blair--as always--is charming and makes her character easily identifiable to viewers.