kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** Re-make of the 1962 thriller "Cape Fear" that goes so far as inserting into it a houseboat, like in the 1962 version, docked in the middle of the Arizona Desert for authenticity!It's when convicted murderer and rapist, unlike the just plain rapist in the original, Teddy Jakes, played by the wide eyed and crazed looking William Watson, is released after serving seven years behind bars, he must have had a real good lawyer, he heads straight for hospital administrator Dr.Yale Carrington's, Lloyd Bridges, home to settle a score he has with him.Working in the hospital morgue before his arrest conviction and sentence Jakes now wants his old job back which under the circumstances there's no chance of him, being a convicted murderer & rapist among other things, getting it. Not only that Jakes has in in for Dr. Carrington in him not providing an alibi for him in that that the two at that time of Jakes' crime were shooting craps at a Reno casino when he was on trial. Now in Jakes deranged mind it's payback time and it's not only Dr. Carrington but his entire family who are going to do the paying!***SPOILERS*** It seems that while behind bars Jakes, in educating himself in the rule of law, has not only passed the bar but has become an expert in guerrilla & psychological warfare as well survival tactics and is going to use them against Dr. Carrington in destroying him and his entire family! After driving the Carrington family out of their house and into a locked and secure boathouse Jake, with Dr. Carrington out to buy groceries, makes his move on his unprotected wife Maggie, Pat Crowley, and 14 year old daughter Cindy, Eve Plumb. Who in order to hurt Dr. Carrington where it hurts most plans to drive his wife insane and brutally rape his daughter.***MAJOR SPOILER***The conclusion of the movie has a somewhat twist ending that in how indestructible Jakes is you could see coming from a mile away. In him not only being swept away at sea while in a puddle of mud no more then two feet deep but somehow despite his criminal record, they seem to hire anyone now a days, ending up with a job at UPS the United Parcel Service!

merklekranz Taken for what it is, a 1977 TV movie, "Force of Evil" is above average entertainment. I'm not going to kid you though, believability is not one of it's strong points. Lloyd Bridges plays a doctor, and while Lloyd Bridges may not be able to tell when someone is dead, a doctor definitely should. The entire last half of the film pivots on this point, and drags everything down a notch. The acting is scattered, although William Watson is memorable as the villain "Teddy Jakes". There are definitely some scenes, such as the mom and daughter discussions on the houseboat, that I could have lived without. I actually rate this less than IMDBs 7.7. To me it's a 6.0 at best, because it seriously challenges believability. - MERK

Rick-245 This was produced back in the late 70's, back when they still made suspense movies for TV that were entertaining (remember the 90-min. ABC movies of the early 70's? This film is in a similar vein but better). Like others have said, this is one that you remember all through the years if you originally saw it as a kid or teen. It had some pretty memorable shock scenes for it's time and especially for television. It also features very good performances from the actors: Lloyd Bridges, William Watson as the bitter ex-con Teddy Jakes, and veteran character actor John Anderson as Lloyd's brother & sheriff trying to find ways to catch Jakes before he hurts Bridge's family. I found this on VHS back in the early 90's but I'm sure it's out of print now - I'm glad I picked it up when it was available because it's almost as good now as it was 27 years ago. Hopefully, a re-make of this will be produced at some point down the road, although the plot is quite similar to "Cape Fear".

ghost-9 I still remember this creepy movie. It was creepy in a subtle sort of way like most episodes of Kolchak, The Night Stalker. I wasn't very sophisticated as a child but I think this must have been something for me to remember it all these years later. If anyone knows where you can get it on VHS, I would be interested in seeing if it were still as disturbing after all these years.