Originally airing on February 2, 1974, on ABC, this Theodore Spurgeon adaptation presents a unique premise that answers the question we’ve all been asking: “Who would win in a fight to the death—a man or a bulldozer?” Sure, a mysterious meteorite is behind it all, but this one is all about machine-on-man violence.

This one boasts a stellar cast including Clint Walker (The Phynx, as well as TV movies like Snowbeast and Scream of the Wolf), James Wainwright (TV’s Beyond Westworld), Carl Betz (Donna Reed’s TV husband), Neville Brand (Eyes of the Night and Without Warning), James A. Watson Jr. and Vega$ star Robert Urich. They all face off against an alien aura-possessed Caterpillar D9 bulldozer that takes them out individually.

The story and movie were so popular that Marvel Comics published an adaptation in Worlds Unknown #6, which was released the same year as the film.

Thanks to Conan O’Brien, this film has become a punchline and the name of a somewhat famous band. But beyond these pop culture references, Killdozer is a product of its time—a 1970s TV movie on a low budget—that has managed to entertain and intrigue audiences, earning it a place in the pantheon of cult classics.

UPDATE: This cult classic is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber, offering a new generation of viewers the chance to experience it in high definition.

Once upon a time, when network TV actually mattered, they’d gather all of their stars once a summer and put them in a TV movie. Or they’d grab the cast of Facts of Life and send them to France. It was a big deal to me when I was a kid. And there are kids growing up today that will have no idea how exciting it was knowing a 2 hour TV movie with all of your favorites was about to air. Even better — when stars of the past crossed over with the hottest stars of the present, I was always hooked.

Originally airing on October 16, 1983 on NBC, this film is all about Excelsior Union High School, where Beau Middleton (Anthony Edwards) rules over everyone as class president and quarterback. His father is even offering a $10,000 prize for best teacher, so every single one of them is trying to outdo one another.

J.J. Mathers (Michael J. Fox), however, is one of the few students to stand up to the preps. He’s never cared about anything before. That is, until he met Beau’s girlfriend, Beth Franklin (one of my first crushes, Nancy McKeon).

This one is packed with so many great stars. There’s a super young Crispin Glover two years before Back to the Future, playing a geek. Tony “Wally Cleaver” Dow, Frank “Lumpy Rutherford” Bank and Ken “Eddie Haskell” Osmond from Leave It to Beaver are in this, as are Elinor Donahue from Father Knows Best, Dwayne Hickman, Steve Franken and Bob Denver from The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Todd Bridges and Dana Plato from Diff’rent Strokes, Crystal Bernard (years before she’d be on Wings and in Slumber Party Massacre 2), Angela Cartwright from Lost in Space and The Danny Thomas Show, Jon Gries (who wasn’t just King Vidiot in Joysticks, but also Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, Lazlo in Real Genius, O.D. in TerrorVision and the Werewolf in Monster Squad), Lauri Hendler from Gimme a Break,  Barry “Ernie” Livingston from My Three Sons, the last surviving Munchkin (until May 24, 2018) Jerry Maren, David Nelson from Ozzie and Harriet, Cathy Silvers of Happy Days, Tom Villard (you know how much I love to get a Popcorn reference in) and Dawn Wells from Gilligan’s Island (but also from The Town that Dreaded Sundown). If you like spotting actors and wondering where you know them from, this is the movie for you.

It was directed by Rod Amateau, who has plenty of TV directing and production credits for shows like Dukes of Hazzard, Supertrain, the Dukes’ spin-off Enos, My Mother the Car, a failed TV series pilot for the Kenny Rogers vehicle Six Pack that didn’t star Kenny Rogers and The Garbage Pail Kids movie. Mr. Amateau even did stunts in Rebel Without a Cause and Mighty Joe Young.

This was so successful that a one-hour pilot for a regular series was made and aired on May 26, 1984. According to Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson, he was going to be one of the stars of the series but turned down the offer as the material wasn’t very good. The network thought he was just playing hardball and upped their offer. This is when he realized how shallow Hollywood is and left town.

It’s kind of funny to see Anthony Edwards be the rich villain when he’s so well known for being on the other side in Revenge of the Nerds. It’s not the greatest movie you’ve ever seen, but if you’re looking for something to make you happy at 2 AM on a drunken Saturday night, it’s there on Amazon Prime just waiting to be watched.

Based on the novel Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo, this movie was a backdoor pilot for further movies that was never picked up by the Lifetime Channel. And oh yeah — that leads me to the newest streaming service that we subscribe to: the Lifetime Movie Club. And you know my opinion on Lifetime: it’s all giallo without the boobs and neon blood. This one even has a black gloved killer scene!

Originally airing January 6, 2013, this movie is all about Painters Mill, Ohio — not a real Ohio town as they often discuss things happening in Cincinnati, Youngstown and Dayton, all areas of the state that are far apart at the very least — where there’s always been a divide between the townspeople and the Amish.

Katie Burkholder (Neve Campbell) knows all about it. Sixteen years ago, she survived the Slaughterhouse Murders that tore her town apart. As a result, she left her people and became a cop. Now, she’s back in town as the chief of police, just in time for a copycat series of murders to begin. Yet Katie has secrets of her own that could destroy both her life and her lost family.

I watched this entire movie with recognizing Pony Boy himself,  C. Thomas Howell. What a bad 80’s kid I have grown up to be. Noam Jenkins from the Saw movies is in this as a big city cop, too. So is Linda Kash from Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show.

You won’t see many — if any — Amish giallo. The end of this is pretty solid, with some real tension once the real killer is revealed. Check it out for yourself on Lifetime or on Amazon Prime.

Originally airing on Wednesday, October 10, 1973 — and also known as Nightmare in Europe — 45 years have done nothing to hide to hide the weirdness and ability to frighten that this TV movie possesses.

Sally Farnum (Kim Darby, who started her career in True Grit and has appeared in memorable roles in Better Off Dead and Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers) and  her husband Alex (Jim Hutton, Psychic Killer) have just inherited an old mansion from Sally’s grandmother.

There’s this great fireplace that’s all bricked in and Sally wants to do something with it. However, the handyman, Mr. Harris (William Demarest, Uncle Charley from TV’s My Three Sons) refuses as Sally’s grandmother had him seal it after her grandfather died. It’s just better to leave things the way they are. Sally doesn’t listen and uses the tools the old man leaves behind to pry open a small side door. This isn’t a fireplace at all — it’s gigantic basement. Sally leaves without hearing the voices calling her name, happy that she has set them free.

Of course, those voices can only get louder. Soon, they are constantly whispering her name and all manner of things are being broken in the house. At a dinner party for her always way too busy husband, she sees a small creature under the dining room table. Then, three of them try to attack her in the shower with razors!

The creatures are played by Tamara De Treaux, who was one of three actors who played E.T.; Felix Silla, who was Cousin Itt on TV’s The Addams Family and Twika on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century; and Patty Maloney, Lumpy from the Star Wars Holiday Special. They are uniformly unsettling in apperance. Go ahead. Just take a look.

Alex goes away on business again and tells Sally to stay with her friend Joan (Barbara Anderson, Eve from TV’s Ironside). But before she can go, the creatures trip  Sally down the stairs and kill her interior decorator! That’s when our heroine confronts them and asks what they want. The answer? They want her soul as payment for freeing them.

Sally’s doctor prescribes sleeping pills while Joan stays with her, slowly believing her tales. Alex, however, is a grump and unconvinced untol he speaks with the handyman. Sally is lured into slumber as the creatures have spiked her coffee and they cut the power (“What do you mean they cut the power? How could they cut the power, man? They’re animals!”).

The creatures drag Sally into the basement before she can be saved and the next time we hear her voice, she is one of them, waiting for the next people to move into the house.

A horror force no less than director Guillermo del Toro loves this film, going as far to produce and co-write the film’s remake. He claims that he and his brothers would follow one another around the house mimicking the creatures.

Directed by John Newland, who created and hosted TV’s One Step Beyond anthology and written by Nigel McKeand, who worked on TV’s Family and The Waltons, this movie still influences and frightens. Why? Maybe because Sally is stuck between the pre and post worlds of feminism and this movie was at the right time and place to comment on that. She wants to belong, whether to marriage or as someone who makes something, but in the end, these roles feel empty and shallow. The only thing she ends up belonging to is the house that causes her doom.

Regardless, the real testament here is that the film was created — including script approval by Lorimar, casting, special effects, voice-over and exterior shots — in two weeks, thanks to a looming writers’ strike.

I searched and searched for a copy of this movie and am happy to have it in my collection. You should do the same.

Deep Family Secrets isn’t just a strange movie. It’s a strange movie based on the true story of Gaylynn Morris, who eventually pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife Ruby. In this film, the names were changed to Clay and Renee Chadway. This may have originally aired on CBS, but it feels like a Lifetime film. And we all know that Lifetime movies are giallo minus the neon red blood and nudity.

Originally airing on April 15, 1997, this made for TV movie is packed with talent. The leads are Richard Crenna (the Rambo series of films) and Angie Dickinson (Dressed to Kill). Along for the ride are dependable actors like Meg Foster (Stepfather 2, They Live), Craig Wasson (Schizoid) and Tony Musante (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage).

Everything seems normal in the Chadway family until daughter JoAnne uncovers decades of lies, adultery, paternal fraud, criminal activities and so much more. She’s also a country singer who sounds a lot like Elliot Smith and no one comments that her insanely sad songs completely blow the mood.

Come for the true crime. Stay for Angie Dickinson having visions of white wolves. Seek it out on, well, YouTube.

On March 7, 1983, ABC presented this slasher movie of sorts that’s packed with plenty of great talent and enough twists to get you from commercial break to commercial break.

Stephanie Aggiston (Diane Franklin, Better Off Dead, Amityville II: The Possession) is spending the summer at Starkweather Hall, a rich girl’s boarding school. She’s a simple young lady, so she doesn’t fit in at first, but soon makes friends with Marita (Ally Sheedy), Calli and Shama, her Saudi princess roommate.

Everything seems to be going well until the murders start. Detective Russ Kemper comes to investigate and you know he’s a cop, because Larry Wilcox (Jon from CHiPs) plays him. Instead of waiting to learn who the killer is, Stephanie decides to play investigator with the help of stable boy Eddie Fox (Bill Paxton).

This movie is packed with red herrings, like the school janitor who thinks that Marita’s mother was his daughter. But the truth? It’s the cop! His mother, headmistress Miss Wade (Donna Reed!) abandoned him as a child. Therefore, he’s going to take away the lives of these girls that she loves and ruin her school.

Written by Jennifer Miller (who brought The Dark Secret of Harvest Home to TV) and directed by TV movie master William Wiard (This House Possessed, Fantasies), this is a fine way to pass some time and play spot the future star.

It’s not available on DVD, so visit YouTube or your favorite gray market source.

Originally airing on  March 6, 1983 on NBC, The Demon Murder Case was based on the trial or Arne Cheyenne Johnson, better known as the Devil Made Me Do It Case. It was the first court case in the United State in which the defense sought to prove innocence based on the defendant’s claim of demonic possession.

The story starts on November 24, 1981 in Brookfield, Connecticut when Johnson was convicted for the first-degree manslaughter of his landlord. The Glatzel family claimed that their 11-year-old son David was possessed and after the aid of Ed and Lorraine Warren (you knew they’d get involved here), as well as some Catholic priests, the demon was cast from their child’s body. Unbeknownst to them, it went into the body of their daughter’s boyfriend — Johnson — before caused him to kill said landlord after an argument.

The day after, Lorraine Warren informed the Brookfield Police that Johnson was indeed possessed when the crime was committed. Soon, the media got involved — fueled by the Warrens — who began working on a book, lectures and movie deals.

The major motion picture never happened, but Gerald Brittle, with the assistance of Lorraine Warren, published The Devil in Connecticut. While Lorraine Warren stated that profits from the book were shared with the family, it’s claimed that they only got $2,000 for the book.

Members of the family claim that the possession story was a hoax concocted by the Warrens to exploit a mental illness. The famous demonologists also claimed that the story would make the family millionaires and would help get Johnson out of jail.

For what it’s worth, Johnson and Debbie got married and still support the Warrens’ account of demonic possession and have stated that her family is just out for money.

I told you all that so that I can tell you about this.

You have to love a movie where a demon is described as looking like a cloven-footed man burnt from head to toes, wearing ripped jeans and a flannel. You also have to love this cast! Eddie Albert as an exorcist delivering priest? Cloris Leachman? Ken Kercheval? Kevin Bacon as the killer? Andy Griffith and Beverlee McKinsey as Warren stand-ins Guy and Charlotte Harris? And who is that doing the voice of the demon? Harvey Fierstein in his first screen role, just using his normal indoor voice!

For being a TV movie, this one has some pretty great VHS box art.

This also has good direction from William Hale, who was behind several Night Gallery episodes and the two Lace mini-series.

It’s not going to be the best demonic possession movie you’ve ever seen, but for a TV movie, it’s pretty fun. No one spits nails or anything. But it has some fun scares. I found it on YouTube, seeing as how it’s never been released on DVD or streaming. Come on — why are these great TV movies being withheld?

1974. Grove’s Mill, Minnesota. Widow Mare Blackburn’s (Kate Jackson, Charlie’s Angels) loses her 3-year old son and never sees him again. And that’s just how this movie starts!

For sixteen years, Mare has blamed herself for the loss. But now, she’s finally found love again with Dan (Chris Sarandon, Fright Night), who has moved to Minneapolis after the suicide of his son.

Then, her son (Rick Shroeder, Silver Spoons) shows back up. At first, she doesn’t believe that it can be him. But he quickly gains her trust, as he knows plenty of things only her son could know.

Mare is pregnant again and not sure she wants to have the child. And Dan still isn’t sure that Mark is her son. After all, Mark claims to be from Emerald City, Idaho. That town does not exist.

Mark falls off the house and Dan saves his life. They talk and Mark shows him a birthmark that matches up to his baby photos. But Mark starts being a creep, telling Mark about the baby and knowing about his son’s suicide. He has no idea how to keep a secret, despite having so many of them himself.

Everything goes wrong when Mark shoves Dan into the water while ice fishing, then cuts all the power and phone cords to the house. He even shuts down in Mare’s car, trapping her in the house.

Yet when a cop comes, Mare has to finally listen to reason and learns that even if this man is not her son — a fact she’d be fine with — he’s also a dangerous maniac. He attacks the cop with a hammer and then tells her that it’s her fault that his life is so bad.

There’s a moment here where Mark says that there were other kids — there have certainly been other mothers that he’s killed — and it’s chilling, because he may have known Mare’s son. There are no easy answers. And luckily, the cop’s father shows up to save the day.

This TV movie — which originally aired on November 27, 1990 — was directed by Tom Holland, who also brought us Fright Night and Child’s Play. This is a tight movie, packed with drama and well worth seeking out. However, like most TV movies, you’re stuck looking on the grey market or YouTube.

PS – This is the first movie I’ve ever watched where Chris Sarandon’s character didn’t sell everyone out or prove to be untrustworthy. I still will never, ever fall for him in anything he does.

The most basic way for me to describe the second season of Channel Zero is this sentence: a group of friends visits a haunted house only to find themselves wondering if it’s a tourist attraction or something much more. However, like all of the Channel Zero, the story only starts there.

Based on the Creepypasta story No End House, this season is all about Margot Sleator, who is mourning the loss of her father (John Carroll Lynch, one of my favorite character actors) to suicide. She’s dropped out of life and drawn away from her best friend Jules. That night, while drinking at a bar, they learn of the infamous No-End House, a haunt that randomly shows up in a new place every year, targeting people through viral ads. Their friend J.D. seems to know all the answers, but he’s easily shown up.

The house itself is all black, foreboding and just standing in the street daring people to enter. The goal: conquer all six rooms. We see the results as numerous people exit the building in tears or vomiting. Whatever is inside is the real deal. And as Margot finds herself falling for Seth — and discovering that perhaps her father isn’t as dead as she believed — everyone begins to realize that leaving the house may not be all that easy.

The part that keeps coming back to me in this season is that the house literally eats memories out of your head. Once they’re gone, you don’t remember them and the house slowly devours every single thing in your head before disposing of you. Then, the house just moves on — another town, another country.

While a completely different story, this season continues a lot of the themes of the first: childhood’s loss, the fears that come with growing up, the tests that young friendships must endure as they move toward adulthood and dream sequences that are ready to disquiet you through their imagery and gore.

I’m so excited that more people are discovering this show thanks to Shudder, where season two debuts today. We’ve been buying the DVD box sets as soon as they come out and watching all six episodes in two nights, much like the hungry ghosts within this ominous black home.