CROWHAVEN FARM [1970}

 This is one of the things that made growing up in the 1970s so great: the proliferation of spooky supernatural made-for-TV movies.  

Aside from possibly providing the name for Laurie Cabot's store in Salem, Massachusetts, CROWHAVEN FARM tells the story of a couple (Hope Lange & Paul Burke) who have been unsuccessful at having children suddenly inheriting a Massachusetts farm in a town with a history of witchcraft. They inherit the farm after the primary inheritor met with a fiery one-car crash while a creepy blond-haired girl looked on and grinned. Add to this the fact that John Carradine is your handy man and I think you'd probably be wise to start getting a little worried. It seems that (in the grand tradition of other 70's witchcraft movies), the entire town seems to be made up of reincarnated witches who were put to death due to the testimony of Hope Lange's ancestor . . . and this bunch of irritated reincarnated witches aren't going to take that lying down. Carradine is wonderful but not given much to do and the entire cast turns in very nice performances; particularly child actress Cindy Eilbacher who is genuinely unsettling as the creepy reincarnated witch child. Trusty character actor Lloyd Bochner plays another of his patented smarmy characters who seemingly always wears a cravat while Virginia Gregg (always suitably witch-like) has a small role as well. A notch above the usual TV movie; even if astute viewers will notice more than a slight inspiration from ROSEMARY'S BABY at work.  This time around, I decided to rewatch this one on the new CREATURE FEATURES in the company of Vincent van Dahl, Livingstone and Tangella because . . . well, why wouldn't you?!?!?