That movie gave me the chills for three days.
I'm hoping eventually to find a decent copy of it.
Don't try to cram me into a mold and everything will be alright.

___I did not see this in '82, but just now on YouTube. I mainly looked it up to watch one of Ruth Gordan's final performances. What I found was a pretty taut little TV film, surprisingly suspenseful. I wished they had used Gordan more, and Valerie Harper looks younger now than in 1982, hum? ___Yes, some of the storyline truly stretched credibility, but then again most horror films do.

Yes, that final scene with Jennifer's Ghost was supreme creepiness, thanks, by the way, to a very nifty special effect in which Jennifer's lighted face, filmed separately from her silhouette, is superimposed onto the shot of her silhouette. Very clever trick that forces the shot inside your mind like a surreal worm. It's a great little trick in that film that deserves some praise, imo.

The thing about Jennifer's "EYES" is it's a simple (EFFECTIVE!) lighting and shadow trick. Now they spend thousands in CGI to get the same affect
Another thing people forget is how good Ruth Gordon was in this movie. Very HILARIOUS and eerie. But she's also a sad character in a way. She basically WORSHIPED her granddaughter and acted like Mary was some random kid in the neighborhood.
Grandma didn't even care she was tanking up her Son-in-law who was driving!
Also if you examine the story Grandma might have been the one to cause the whole thing. Let's say it was an evil spirit, Jennifer or not. At the beginning the family was trying to move on after the tragedy. But Grandma kept Jennifer's spirit alive but not moving on and coveting her Granddaughter.
How do you like them apples

i didnt think the grandma was sad.. i loved ruth gordon in this movie by the way i thought she was kind of mean, a witch. treating the other kids like they didnt have feelings her worship of jen was just based on jens looks in my opinion..

The thing about Jennifer's "EYES" is it's a simple (EFFECTIVE!) lighting and shadow trick. Now they spend thousands in CGI to get the same affect
Another thing people forget is how good Ruth Gordon was in this movie. Very HILARIOUS and eerie. But she's also a sad character in a way. She basically WORSHIPED her granddaughter and acted like Mary was some random kid in the neighborhood.
Grandma didn't even care she was tanking up her Son-in-law who was driving!
Also if you examine the story Grandma might have been the one to cause the whole thing. Let's say it was an evil spirit, Jennifer or not. At the beginning the family was trying to move on after the tragedy. But Grandma kept Jennifer's spirit alive but not moving on and coveting her Granddaughter.
How do you like them apples

I've seen so many message board entries all over the net from people who saw this film when they were a kid. Some remember certain parts, others remember something different. EVERYONE remembers Jennifer appearing at the end of the bed with that insane smile and the devil eyes.

I would say, after watching this movie's ending, as well as the ending of "Satan's Triangle" (another creepy tv movie), I am surprised I didn't need therapy as a kid!!!

This message has been deleted.

Well, look at it from the mom's point of view. The grandmother is dead. Her son is dead. Her husband is dead. She didn't kill them. Who's left?? Just process of elimination.

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dale

I dont remember that scene at all. I saw the movie in 1990. Could you explain me the whole scene, if you dont mind?

I think if you watch everything over again you will realize that the scene in facts makes perfect sense. Mary was seeing a psychiatrist after all and they knew she was troubled, plus the incidents leading up to it gave the mother no other choice but to suspect it was her murderous daughter. Did you forget, Mary did cut the phone wire seconds before appearing in the bedroom.

Although, I must say, that whole scene where the mother figures everything out seemed to be put together wrong.
"Oh, it's been you all along! I don't know what I'm basing that on, but you've got a pizza cutter, so you MUST have killed everyone! Yes, I gave you the pizza cutter, yes, the deaths looked like accidents that happen everyday, and yes, I don't have a stitch of proof at all, but still, IT WAS YOU! I'm running away now! Huh? What stairs? Oh,
those
stairs!"
I just didn't see any reason why or how the mother could have suddenly pieced everything together out of thin air like that. It almost seemed like there was a part missing from the middle of that scene. I mean, if I just found my husband dead in the tub, electrocuted by a radio, and my daughter walked into the room holding the pizza cutter
that I gave her not even 5 minutes beforehand,
ny first thought would definitely not be to accuse her of murdering the whole family.
I don't need to "get a life." I'm a gamer, I have
lots
of lives!

I hear ya! I believe I was 9 or 10 when I first saw the movie on TV in the 80s (82? 83?). I slept on the FLOOR of my sister's room that night (and for a few nights thereafter)!
"FRA-GEE-LAY. That's Italian!"
"I think that says 'fragile', honey."