Truly Scary Made for TV movies/television shows

[Jimmy Todd]

There are not a lot of movies I find really scary. There are those that are more thrillers than anything else. However there are a couple of made for TV movies and TV episodes that I actually found scary.
The UFO Incident with Estelle Parsons and James Earl Jones was really scary. Also Don't Be Afraid of the Dark with Kim Darby totally scared me when I first saw it. Both movies are from the 1970's.
Then there is the infamous "Home" episode of The X-Files
When I first saw it I couldn't believe what I was watching.
Those three scared me more than any movie, including The Exorcist.
Which made for TV movies or series episodes scared the candy corn out of you?

 

[Sarah]

A movie that I believe was made for tv but petrifies me to this day is Dateline with Lynda Carter, Steve Forrest and Monte Markham.

The killers voice and especially the rhyme he recites is enough to scare the bejesus out of anyone.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

A movie that I believe was made for tv but petrifies me to this day is Dateline with Lynda Carter, Steve Forrest and Monte Markham.

The killers voice and especially the rhyme he recites is enough to scare the bejesus out of anyone.

Is that the one in which she plays a character named Brianne?

 

[Sarah]

Is that the one in which she plays a character named Brianne?

Yes!

 

[Barbara Fan]

Salems Lot with David Soul, its so cheesy but I had to watch it with no sound, sub titles and I still leap 6 feet from my arm chair when the vampires are around!!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Salems Lot with David Soul, its so cheesy but I had to watch it with no sound, sub titles and I still leap 6 feet from my arm chair when the vampires are around!!

I wouldn't call it "cheesy" -- not for the time. Not for TV... It was genuinely creepy. The only thing that was cheesy about it was the glowing blue light thingy when they were in the church.

 

[Grant Jennings]

There were a lot of creepy made for TV movies during the 70s, when the networks (especially ABC) aired a large number of made for TV movies. A couple that stand out are Duel, starring Dennis Weaver as a driver being harassed by the unseen driver of an 18-wheeler; Duel was directed by Steve Spielberg. Another is Someone's Watching Me! starring Lauren Hutton as a woman who is being stalked, it was directed by John Carpenter right before he directed Halloween. Bad Ronald is about an awkward teenager (Scott Jacoby) who accidentally kills a girl; after he confesses to his mother (Kim Hunter) the two devise a way he can remain hidden in their house. Ronald's mother dies unexpectedly and another family moves into the house - while Ronald continues to hide inside.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

A made-for-TV sequel, coming along a decade and a half after the original sounds like a recipe for disaster. But the opening act of When A Stranger Calls Back creeps me out even more than the original thanks to some nicely subjective sound design that makes every knock of the door and every whispered word feel all-too-real:

 

[Willie Oleson]

Ghostwatch - Wikipedia

 

[Grant Jennings]

A made-for-TV sequel, coming along a decade and a half after the original sounds like a recipe for disaster. But the opening act of When A Stranger Calls Back creeps me out even more than the original thanks to some nicely subjective sound design that makes every knock of the door and every whispered word feel all-too-real:

I remember this, it's quite good. It helps that the original director, Carol Kane and Charles Durning all returned.

 

[Jimmy Todd]

There were a lot of creepy made for TV movies during the 70s, when the networks (especially ABC) aired a large number of made for TV movies. A couple that stand out are Duel, starring Dennis Weaver as a driver being harassed by the unseen driver of an 18-wheeler; Duel was directed by Steve Spielberg. Another is Someone's Watching Me! starring Lauren Hutton as a woman who is being stalked, it was directed by John Carpenter right before he directed Halloween. Bad Ronald is about an awkward teenager (Scott Jacoby) who accidentally kills a girl; after he confesses to his mother (Kim Hunter) the two devise a way he can remain hidden in their house. Ronald's mother dies unexpectedly and another family moves into the house - while Ronald continues to i

I saw Duel several years ago on DVD. Great movie!

 

[Ceindreadh]

Salems Lot with David Soul, its so cheesy but I had to watch it with no sound, sub titles and I still leap 6 feet from my arm chair when the vampires are around!!

I found this on AppleTV and rewatched it last weekend. Parts of it were a bit cheesy and not quite as scary as when I watched it as a kid, but the scene where the first victim is floating outside the window, scratching to get in....yeah, that was the point I paused and waited until daylight to finish it out!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I found this on AppleTV and rewatched it last weekend. Parts of it were a bit cheesy and not quite as scary as when I watched it as a kid, but the scene where the first victim is floating outside the window, scratching to get in....yeah, that was the point I paused and waited until daylight to finish it out!

Did you see the full movie, or the slashed-for-theatres version?

The scariest thing about it to me is how quickly David Soul lost all that beer-and-mashed-potatoes/I'm-wearing-a-smock-all-year weight from Season 4 of STARSKY & HUTCH just before doing SALEM'S LOT.

 

[Ceindreadh]

Did you see the full movie, or the slashed-for-theatres version?

The scariest thing about it to me is how quickly David Soul lost all that beer-and-mashed-potatoes/I'm-wearing-a-smock-all-year weight from Season 4 of STARSKY & HUTCH just before doing SALEM'S LOT.

It was a single 3 hour movie rather than split in two. I presume it was the theatre version, although I'm not sure what changes there were.
Just checked and it was definitely not the theatre version (theatre version cut out the opening and closing bits in Guatamala and those were in the version I saw)

 

[Snarky Oracle!]