THE DAY TIME ENDED

Dorothy Malone and Jim Davis

THE DAY TIME ENDED (1979. Director: John "Bud" Cardos.

When a triple super-nova occurs 200 light years away, it finally has an effect on earth, particularly a family living in an isolated home in the desert. Strange space ships fly through the air, there's a weird little stop-motion Gumby in the little girl's bedroom, and two giant pudgy behemoths have it out outside the living room. It occurs to Grant (Jim Davis of Monster from Green Hell and Dallas) that the property is in the middle of a time-space warp or vortex, which is why so many bizarre things are happening. It all leads into the family traveling to a new world or dimension -- as well as to a rather stupid ending. There is some decent stop-motion animation (Randy Cook; David Allen; Paul W. Gentry), uninteresting monsters of mediocre design, and assorted light shows over the desert. One too many scenes are illogically staged (who just stands there when you think the family car is being stolen?). The best scene has Grant stepping outside and discovering dozens of missing aircraft of all kinds in the front yard, but even this is sort of borrowed from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. One might wonder how Dorothy Malone [Written on the Wind] wound up in this 99 cent production, but she gives a solid performance, and the others, including Christopher Mitchum as her son-in-law, are okay. To say this is far, far below the level of a Ray Harryhausen production is a major understatement. Cardos also directed The Dark the same year.

Verdict: Some good things and a bit of suspense in this. **1/2.

THE DARK

William Devane and Cathy Lee Crosby

THE DARK (1979). Director: John "Bud" Cardos.

Los Angeles is beset with a series of horrific murders in which random victims are beheaded. The killer is dubbed "the Mangler," and ex-con turned novelist Steve Dupree (William Devane) is the father of the first victim. A psychic named De Renzy (Jacqueline Hyde) has visions of a young actor who may be the next victim, but detectives Mooney (Richard Jaeckel of The Drowning Pool) and Bresler (Biff Elliot of I, the Jury) are dubious. An ambitious reporter named Zoe Owens (Cathy Lee Crosby) teams up with Dupree in order to expose the killer, who is not quite what everyone expects. Most of the actors in this just seem to be going through the motions, and Devane's [Family Plot] performance is especially poor and irritating. Vivian Blaine has a couple of minor scenes as a wealthy hostess, Keenan Wynn is Zoe's boss, and dj Casey Kasem plays a pathologist. [Dick Clark was co-producer.] There are some creepy scenes, but the suspense is not maintained and there's no real explanation for the Mangler's actions.

Verdict: This had possibilities that mostly go unrealized. **1/2.