The Stranger Within (1974 film)

Last updated
The Stranger Within
The Stranger Within.jpg
Genre
  • Horror
  • Mystery
  • Science Fiction
Written by Richard Matheson
based on his novelette Trespass [1]
Directed by Lee Philips
Starring Barbara Eden
George Grizzard
Joyce Van Patten
David Doyle
Nehemiah Persoff
Theme music composer Charles Fox
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers Philip Capice
Lee Rich
ProducerNeil T. Maffeo
Production locationsThe Burbank Studios, Burbank, California
Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California
CinematographyMichael D. Margulies
EditorSamuel E. Beetley
Running time74 minutes
Production company Lorimar Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseOctober 1, 1974 (1974-10-01)

The Stranger Within is a 1974 American made-for-television science fiction horror film that premiered as the ABC Movie of the Week on October 1, 1974. Written by Richard Matheson, and based on his 1953 novelette Trespass, it capitalized on Rosemary's Baby , but included a science-fiction twist [2] which Matheson originated in the novelette but was popularized by John Wyndham in his 1957 novel The Midwich Cuckoos.

Contents

The film was directed by Lee Philips and stars Barbara Eden and George Grizzard.

Plot

Ann Collins, a painter, and her husband, David, are expecting a baby. What confuses the couple is that David has had a vasectomy, and Ann is not supposed to be pregnant. Even though David suspects that Ann has been unfaithful to him, he stays with her. Because Ann had pregnancy troubles in the past that put her health at risk, David wants Ann to get an abortion, but every time the two try to go to get the procedure done, Ann experiences extreme labor pains and is unable to go through with the procedure.

Throughout the course of her pregnancy, Ann has strange cravings for black coffee, raw meat and massive amounts of salt. She also exhibits personality and physical changes, including wanting to read books constantly, enduring freezing temperatures, developing acutely sensitive hearing, taking long and strenuous walks in the mountains, an inability to listen to other people, and healing her injuries within minutes.

David wants Bob, a hypnotist, to see if he can obtain any information about why Ann is acting so strangely. Ann does not say a word, even when she is hypnotized. One day when Ann comes home from one of her walks in the mountains, she finds David, Bob, and Ann's friend Phyllis, waiting for her. She quickly drinks boiling hot coffee to catch her breath, and David notices that the coffee makes her drunk. Bob tries hypnotizing Ann again, and an extraterrestrial being starts speaking through her. The being says that his father banished him to this warm planet (Earth) and that he wants to go back to his home where it is "cool". He says that Ann was impregnated while she was painting in the mountains. After the alien stops talking through Ann, she finally falls asleep.

During the night, Ann sneaks out to an abandoned house in the woods, where she gives birth. She walks into the woods, where many other women are also walking with their alien babies. David looks at one of Ann's paintings, depicting the alien being's home planet. The painting starts to smoke. David looks out the window and screams Ann's name, as he watches a spacecraft take Ann to the alien's home planet.

Home media

The Stranger Within was released on Region 1 DVD on October 6, 2009 from the online Warner Archive Collection.

Related Research Articles

<i>Terror of Mechagodzilla</i> 1975 film by Ishirō Honda

Terror of Mechagodzilla is a 1975 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ishirō Honda, written by Yukiko Takayama, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka and Henry G. Saperstein, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects subsidiary Toho–Eizo, it is the 15th film in the Godzilla franchise, serving as a direct sequel to the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, the final film in the initial Showa Era of the franchise before Godzilla returned nine years later in The Return of Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda and scored by Akira Ifukube before their deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh Brackett</span> American novelist and screenwriter (1915–1978)

Leigh Douglass Brackett was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for The Big Sleep (1946), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Long Goodbye (1973). She worked on an early draft of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before it went into production. In 1956, her book The Long Tomorrow made her the first woman ever shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and, along with C. L. Moore, one of the first two women ever nominated for a Hugo Award. In 2020, she posthumously won a Retro Hugo for her novel The Nemesis From Terra, originally published as Shadow Over Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stella Stevens</span> American actress (1938–2023)

Stella Stevens was an American actress. She is the mother of actor Andrew Stevens.

<i>Stir of Echoes</i> 1999 film by David Koepp

Stir of Echoes is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written and directed by David Koepp and based on the 1958 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Erbe, Illeana Douglas and Kevin Dunn.

Pocoyo is a Spanish preschool interactive comedy computer animated television series created by Guillermo García Carsí, Colman López, Luis Gallego and David Cantolla, and is produced by the Spanish animation company Zinkia Entertainment, with the first two series were co-productions with Granada Kids, and the first series was a co-production of Cosgrove Hall Films, both in the United Kingdom.

<i>Stepsister from Planet Weird</i> 2000 American TV series or program

Stepsister from Planet Weird is a Disney Channel Original Movie which was released in June 2000. Directed by Steve Boyum, it stars Courtnee Draper, Tamara Hope, Lance Guest, and Khrystyne Haje. Based on the book of the same name by Francess Lantz, the plot follows a teenage girl (Draper), who discovers that her mother's fiance (Guest) and her own future stepsister (Hope), are actually strange aliens from another planet hiding out on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UFOs in fiction</span>

Many works of fiction have featured UFOs. In most cases, as the fictional story progresses, the Earth is being invaded by hostile alien forces from outer space, usually from Mars, as depicted in early science fiction, or the people are being destroyed by alien forces, as depicted in the film Independence Day. Some fictional UFO encounters may be based on real UFO reports, such as Night Skies. Night Skies is based on the 1997 Phoenix UFO Incident.

<i>3 Godfathers</i> (1948 film) 1948 film directed by John Ford

3 Godfathers is a 1948 American Western film directed by John Ford and filmed primarily in Death Valley, California. The screenplay, written by Frank S. Nugent and Laurence Stallings, is based on the 1913 novelette The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne. The story is something of a retelling of the story of the Three Wise Men in an American Western context.

Queen of Blood is a 1966 science fiction horror film produced by George Edwards and Samuel Z. Arkoff, directed by Curtis Harrington, that stars John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, Dennis Hopper, and Judi Meredith. The film is based on the screenplay for the earlier Soviet feature film Mechte Navstrechu. Director Harrington also reused special effects footage from that film, as well as footage from the Soviet science fiction film Nebo Zovyot.

<i>What Planet Are You From?</i> 2000 film by Mike Nichols

What Planet Are You From? is a 2000 American science fiction comedy film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Michael Leeson, Garry Shandling, Ed Solomon, and Peter Tolan based on a story by Leeson and Shandling. The film stars Shandling, Annette Bening, Greg Kinnear, Ben Kingsley, Linda Fiorentino, and John Goodman.

<i>The Terror Within</i> 1989 American science fiction/horror film

The Terror Within is a 1989 American science fiction horror film directed by Thierry Notz and starring George Kennedy, Andrew Stevens, Starr Andreeff and Terri Treas. It was followed by a sequel in 1991, The Terror Within II, with Stevens reprising his starring role while also handling the film's writing and directing duties.

<i>Banarasi Babu</i> (1997 film) 1997 Indian film

Banarasi Babu is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by David Dhawan. The film stars Govinda, Ramya, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoor and Bindu. The film was inspired by William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the 1972 Tamil movie Pattikada Pattanama.

Perspectives on the abduction phenomenon are explanations that are intended to explain claims of abduction and examination by apparently otherworldly beings. The main differences between these perspectives lie in the credence ascribed to the claims. Perspectives range from the assertion that all abductions are hoaxes to the belief that the claims are of objective happenings and separate from the consciousness of the claimants.

<i>Under the Mountain</i> (film) 2009 New Zealand film

Under the Mountain is a 2009 New Zealand film directed by Jonathan King starring Sam Neill, Oliver Driver, Sophie McBride, and Tom Cameron. It is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by New Zealand author Maurice Gee.

<i>The Baby</i> (film) 1973 American psychological thriller film directed by Ted Post

The Baby is a 1973 American psychological thriller film directed by Ted Post and written by Abe Polsky. The film stars Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill, Suzanne Zenor, and David Manzy. It tells the story of a social worker who investigates an eccentric family which includes "Baby", a 21-year-old man who acts like an infant. The film is considered a cult classic.

<i>Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders</i> 2000 American film

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated science fiction romantic comedy mystery film. It is the third direct-to-video film based on Scooby-Doo Saturday morning cartoons. The film was produced by Hanna-Barbera. It is the third of the first four Scooby-Doo direct-to-video films to be animated overseas by Japanese animation studio Mook Animation. Unlike the previous films and despite the grimmer atmosphere, it has a lighter tone since the real monsters are on Mystery Inc.'s side and the disguised human beings are the main villains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Wyatt</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Amy Wyatt is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Natalie Ann Jamieson. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 8 October 2010, played by Chelsea Halfpenny. Since her inception Amy has been central to main storylines and has been played as the serial's rebellious teenager. Halfpenny has said she enjoys playing the character's mischievous side. Amy's unstable upbringing in children's homes and foster care has impacted on her persona. She is a troubled character and protects herself by creating a hard exterior. Amy's biggest fear is embarrassment and she aspires to lead a normal family life with her foster parents Val Pollard and Eric Pollard. As her storylines have developed she has grown close to the pair, yet rebelled at various stages. Charlie Hardwick and Chris Chittell who play Val and Eric have expressed their delight with the positive impact Amy has had on their on-screen family.

<i>The Stranger</i> (1910 film) 1910 American film

The Stranger is an American silent film directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Robert Vignola in the leading roles, and produced by Kalem Company.

<i>Together Together</i> 2021 American comedy film

Together Together is a 2021 American comedy film written and directed by Nikole Beckwith. The film stars Ed Helms and Patti Harrison. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021, and was released on April 23, 2021, by Bleecker Street.

<i>Look Both Ways</i> (2022 film) 2022 American drama film

Look Both Ways is a 2022 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Wanuri Kahiu and written by April Prosser. It stars Lili Reinhart, Luke Wilson, Andrea Savage, Aisha Dee, Danny Ramirez, David Corenswet, and Nia Long. The film was released on August 17, 2022, on Netflix.

References

  1. "AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A SCIENTIST! - The Stranger Within (1974)". www.aycyas.com.
  2. "The Terror Trap: The Stranger Within". www.terrortrap.com.