In the mid-1980’s, prime time soaps like Dynasty and Dallas were still big news. I can see the meetings on this potential series in my mind: what if we took some Dark Shadows, a little bit of Satanic panic and then mixed them all in with the greed of the Me Decade? The potential for a series was here, but The Covenant only winded up being a strange TV movie featuring evil cats, José Ferrer and lots of fire.

The Nobles are a fabulously wealthy family but all their power comes with a secret: they’ve pledged themselves to the devil. Now, they’re grooming their youngest child to remain a virgin until she’s 21 — man, I thought Satanism came with lots of sex — so that she can be part of the blood sacrifice that must occur every hundred years.

The Judges are the only ones that can stop them, but it also turns out Diana (Jane Balder, who used to eat mice on V), the young second wife of the family’s patriarch VIctor Noble (Ferrer), has some secret machinations of her own that could cause even more chaos.

Want to know how evil Victor is? He used to advise Adolph Hitler. Yep. That evil. And his wife Diana is also his niece so we can check off Satanism, Nazis and incest all in one movie.

She also has a twin sister, Claire, who is played by Michelle Phillips. All of the women in the family have supernatural powers, such as the ability to set dudes on fire. Which comes in handy, trust me.

You’ve also got Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman!) in the cast, as well as Barry Morse as Zachariah, the leader of The Judges; Jennifer Cooke (Megan from Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives); Judy Parfitt (Vera Donovan from Delores Claiborne); Bradford Dillman; James Saito (the Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and even a quick part for a young Tia Carrere.

Director Walter Grauman also directed 53 episodes of Murder, She Wrote as well as the TV movies Are You in the House Alone? and Jacqueline Susann’s Valley of the Dolls. He was also a distinguished war vet, being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and eight other air medals for his 56 combat missions during World War II.

Dan DiStefano, who worked on cartoons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Flash Gordon, Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos, Mr. T as well as the short-lived TV series Misfits of Science, wrote this. He was joined by J..D. Feigelson, who was the writer of Wes Craven’s Chiller, Dark Night of the Scarecrow and Horror High.

Grauman, DiStefano and Feigelson also were behind another TV movie, Nightmare on the 13th Floor, which is all about a reporter discovering that a hotel has a hidden 13th floor where a murderer lives.

I would have been 13 or so when this show aired and while it would have intrigued me with its dark parts, all the machinations and soap opera would have probably bored me. Now that I’m old, I can see how this show could have worked. But then again, I’m also enough of a realist to know that it would have aired on Friday nights, the dead zone for horror and science fiction related TV.

Want to see it for yourself? I posted the YouTube video above and you can also buy it at True TV Movies.

Much like Trilogy of Terror, Dead of Night is made up of tales written by Richard Matheson (the first segment is based on a Jack Finney story) in a portmanteau format. Originally airing on March 29, 1977, this TV movie is not as well remembered.

There are three stories: “Second Chance,” where Ed Begley Jr. buys a car and goes backward in time; “No Such Thing as a Vampire,” which has The Avengers‘ Patrick Macnee as a doctor trying to deal with an undead man who keeps attacking his wife; and finally “Bobby,” which is all about a mother trying to figure out how to deal with the loss of her son (played by Ben‘s Lee Montgomery).

Of these tales, only “Bobby” is actually scary. Trilogy of Terror is much better overall, but that’s not to say that you won’t find some enjoyment watching this. Dark Sky put this out on DVD in 2009 and included the pilot, “A Darkness At Blaisedon,” for a TV series version that Curtis tried to sell in 1969.  The same music from that pilot was used when this movie was finally filmed.

There was also a British anthology series with the same name that aired in 1972, with seven episodes filmed and only three that still exist.

You can also watch Dead of Night on Shudder.

Here’s the IMDB description of this TV movie/pilot: “A road warrior vigilante avenges his brother’s death at the hands of a crazy motorist by using his souped-up pickup to apprehend drunken drivers and others who abuse their driving privileges.”

Sounds like a Mad Max clone, right? But what if I told you that it starred Ken Wahl pre-Wiseguy and was directed by Abel Ferrera (The Driller Killer, Ms. 45)?

Rick Benton (Wahl) is a mechanic that loves two things: working on cars and his little brother. However, a killer is on the loose named Skull, who uses a death car (Death Car on the Freeway!) to randomly kill other drivers. One of his victims is Rick as he’s teaching his brother to drive. The accident costs his brother his life and leaves Rick in a coma.

To get back, Rick becomes a vigilante that uses an armed pickup truck that can take on any car. He drives at night, making sure drunk drivers are off the roads and that the Skull can be found. He calls in citizen’s arrests but the cops don’t want his help. And the public is divided on whether he’s a help or a hindrance.

Originally airing on February 3, 1986, this film was shot as if it were to be a feature. It also has Nancy Allen as the love interest Susan Neville, who is also a talk show host that allows a Greek chorus of public sentiment to appear in the film. Robert Culp shows up as Lieutenant Frank Mason. Also, look out for 1980’s DJ and “Disco Duck” singer Rick Dees, Stan Shaw (Detective Sapir from The Monster Squad) and Robert Phalen, who played Dr. Terence Wynn in the original Halloween (his role was taken over by Mitch Ryan in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers).

If you’re coming to The Gladiator wanting The Road Warrior, you aren’t going to find it. That said, it’s a tale of one man wanting to avenge his brother’s death, more Frank Castle than Max Rockatansky.

Five of the 1969 Dodge Chargers used in The Gladiator had been General Lee’s from The Dukes of Hazzard. Two of the five survived production and were given to Smith Brothers Restorations by the original show’s stunt coordinator. Even better, John Schneider donated the engine from his General Lee to this restoration process.  

The Gladiator is available on Amazon Prime and TubiTv.

Originally airing on May 7, 1977, The Possessed is the kind of movie where you say, “This would be a good series.” That’s because it’s a back door pilot for a show that never happened. I really wish that it would have.

Kevin Leahy (James Farentino) is a Catholic priest who has fallen from his faith. He drunkenly smashes his car and dies, but God sends him back to our world to stop evil.

That divine mission brings him to the Helen Page School, where Ellen Sumner (Claudette Nevins, All the Marbles, Tuff Turf) is having issues dealing with her daughter Weezie (Ann Dusenberry, Jaws 2) and sister Louise, but soon has an even bigger problem — people and objects like her typewriter are suddenly bursting into flames.

The other schoolgirls play a prank on Weezie and are reprimanded, but soon, the curtains in Weezie’s room are on fire. Oh these bad girls! There’s Lane (Diana Scarwid, Christina from Mommie Dearest!), Alex, Celia (Dinah Manoff, daughter of Lee Grant and the first person to be killed by Chuckie in Child’s Play and also Richard Mulligan’s daughter on Empty Nest) and Marty (P.J. Soles!). Lane is the next to go up in flames at graduation practice, which brings Sergeant Taplinger around, investigating everyone.

There are plenty of subjects and people misbehaving, like Paul Winjam (Harrison Ford!), a teacher who has been romantically involved with Louise and now Weezie. And soon, Paul Leahy comes to help, but Paul soon dies when he catches on fire.

Soon, Louise has gone full Regan, spitting fluids and nails at our priest hero. He puts out her fire, saves her and disappears into a burning pool, one assumes to continue onto another occult adventure that will never happen.

The Possessed is pretty decent, taking it’s time to set up who the killer is and having a hero who really comes off as cold and cynical. It’s worth watching, even if it’s to spot the actor and see plenty of your favorites in early roles.

Sammy Davis Jr. battled racism throughout his career, even from the wings of the stage as his Rat Pack cohorts would call him racist names like smokey.

In an interview with Roots author Arthur Haley in Playboy, the entertainer talked about the first time he came up against his race: in the Army. He was beaten for looking at a white female commanding officer while she was giving him orders, with his body covered with anti-black graffiti and covered in turpentine. That night, as in every night he served, he was still asked to perform for the troops. That’s when Davis learned he’d have to fight to be respected. And once he was in, he’d stay in by any means necessary — even coming off as insincere.

Despite being a member of the Hollywood crowd, Davis still could never be a full member. His romance with white girls like Kim Novak rubbed people the wrong way. And even though he was a large financial supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, he still had a complex relationship with the black community.

For example, he earned plenty of ire when he supported Nixon in 1972. Although he was originally a Democrat and supported JFK in 1960 and RFK in 1968, John F. Kennedy would go on to revoke an inauguration invitation to “Mr. Show Business” because he married white actress May Britt. So maybe his conversion makes sense because Nixon invited him to be the first black guest at the White House.

Once, Jack Benny asked Sammy about his handicap on the golf course. He answered, “Handicap? Talk about a handicap. I’m a one-eyed Negro Jew.”

That said — it’s also believed that Davis was introduced to Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan at an orgy at the nightclub that he owned, The Factory. This also makes sense. There are plenty of stories about how Sammy loved the free-swinging sex scene of the 70s, even learning how to deep throat from the woman who introduced it to the zeitgeist, porn star Linda Lovelace.

Anyways — I could go on about Sammy Davis Jr. He was a fascinating man — who could smoke four packs of cigarettes a day, draw and fire a Colt Single Action Army Revolver in a quarter of a second and was able to both be a parody of himself and parody himself seemingly at the same time. But today, we’re here to discuss a strange TV pilot that Davis was in, one that would lead to him accepting an honorary second-degree membership in the Church of Satan.

Originally airing on February 14, 1973, on NBC, Sammy would star as Sammy in this series pilot. He’s a demon who has screwed up for the last thousand or so years and now wants to succeed and prove himself to his boss Lucifer, who is played by Christopher Lee. If you don’t immediately stop reading this and go watch this show, allow me to share this photo of Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee CBE, CStJ, with a gorgeous head of hair.

To win over his boss, Sammy has to convince Burnett J. Emerson (Jack Klugman!) to sell his soul. In return, he’ll get revenge on his boss (Adam West!) and gain wealth for seven years (and then go to Hell for eternity, which is a lot like Miami, only less humid). 

Davis would flirt with The Church of Satan for some time, painting one fingernail red, wearing the Baphomet medallion and flashing the horns from time to time before dropping out by the mid-1970s (around the time that Anton LaVey went into seclusion).

One wonders where this show would have gone if it had become a weekly series. Would the Devil tempt a new celebrity every week? Would Klugman stick around? Would LaVey make a cameo?

All we have is this pilot, which is filled with Satanic imagery, a lack of a laugh track and plenty of early 1970s strangeness. What a weird time to be alive, one that we’ll never truly comprehend today. Still, if all that came of this was this photo of Davis with LaVey and future Temple of Set leader Michael Aquino, I’ll consider it a success.

Occult investigator Norliss has disappeared, but his legacy lives on in a series of tapes that unfold the gripping narratives of his many escapades, such as his encounter with a widow and her undead artist husband. Originally developed as a series pilot by NBC, it was eventually broadcast as a TV movie on February 21, 1973.

Written by William F. Nolan (Logan’s Run, Trilogy of Terror, Burnt Offerings) and produced by Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Curse of the Black Widow and pretty much any TV horror you’d see in the 1970s), this was initially entitled Demon.

Sanford Evans, our guide into the mysterious world of David Norliss (Roy Thinnes, Airport 1975, TV’s The Invaders), listens to the tapes that explain Norliss’s sudden disappearance.

A recent case concerned Ellen Cort (Angie Dickinson of TV’s Police Woman), whose husband has come back from the dead. It turns out that before his death from a mysterious disease, he had become involved with Mademoiselle Jeckiel (Vonetta McGee, Blacula), who gave him a scarab that he was buried with. Sheriff Tom Hartley (Claude Atkins!) doesn’t believe any of this, even when James keeps draining the blood of young women and a gallery owner who tries to break into his coffin and take his ring.

Bullets won’t stop the undead man, who’s also created a sculpture made of human blood that will bring the Egyptian deity Sargoth into our world. Our hero, Norliss, is kind of ineffectual, as the undead artist kills Jeckiel, killing Ellen’s sister and raising the demon. He finally stops the monster by setting the studio on fire with everyone inside, the dictionary definition of a pyrrhic victory.

That’s when Evans finishes the tape and wonders if this is Norliss’ last adventure. Nope. There’s another tape, even if the series never happened.  That didn’t stop this TV movie from being aired in syndication and on the CBS Late Movie.