Coventry Instead of snakes, it's "malicious druid-spirit on a Plane" in this overall pitiable, sluggish and dreary attempt at supernatural horror/thriller. I'm usually ecstatic when stumbling across made-for-TV thriller from the blessed year 1973, because this period brought forward some of the absolute best and most atmospheric horror stories in history (like "The Night Stalker", "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", "Scream Pretty Peggy"), but "The Horror at 37,000 Feet" clearly doesn't belong in the same list of honor. Instead, it's a poor attempt to cash in on two contemporary popular film genres at once, with a cast that is full of famous faces but a screenplay that is even more full of imbecilic content. Director David Rowell Rich and his crew simultaneously try to benefit from the successful disaster-movie formula ("Airport 1970" is the obvious role model) as well as from the hype of demonic/satanic possession chillers (like "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist"; - although I'm not entirely sure the latter one was already released). They seemingly forget, however, that they are working with a TV-movie budget and the inevitable TV-movie restrictions. The result is a totally anti-spectacular disaster movie, with laughable images of a plane supposedly "stuck" in the air and stewardesses desperately trying to look hysterical, mixed with an embarrassingly lame horror picture with ordinary play dolls being sacrificed to the evil demon and allegedly possessed women babbling words in Latin. An obnoxious architect has chartered a plane from London to New York to transport pieces of an abbey - including an ancient altar - that belongs to his wife's family heritage. There's also a small dozen of other passengers on board, including a former priest turned drunkard (the one and only William Shatner), a religious freak, a young model and a black doctor. Oops, the altar apparently homes the vengeful spirit of a druid! The invisible demon attempts to possess one specific passenger while the plane is stalled in the sky and largely covered in frost. Shatner's performance as the foul-mouthed ex-priest is hilarious! I'm not sure if he depicts the arrogant drunkard perfectly because he's so naturally talented or because he also thought the script was sheer rubbish and got drunk for real. The script is a mess and clearly nobody had any bright ideas for the climax. The ending is a vague hodgepodge of miserable special effects and a ridiculously random self-sacrifice. Oh well, at least it deserves two extra points for Shatner's wonderfully hokey performance and the cool DVD-cover.

Wizard-8 There are two ways to view a movie like "The Horror at 37,000 Feet". The most obvious way is to see it as an embarrassing artefact of the 1970s. Obviously not given a lavish budget, the production values are sometimes laughable, such as with the menace on the airliner represented by what appears to be pea soup. The cast is made up of actors who were in career doldrums at the time, most of whom give off pretty hammy performances. The script is often laughable, with a story filled with contrivances and vague plot or character points.But that's not how I chose to look at the movie. I knew the movie would be cheesy and silly before watching it, but I chose to look at it at a non-think entertainment angle. And you know what? Looking at the movie that way, I was entertained. The movie is lean (73 minutes long), and briskly moves from one plot development to another. And it certainly isn't BORING; I was interested at every point to see what on earth would happen next. Yes, as I said, the movie is often ridiculous. But it's a FUN kind of ridiculous. A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men, as the saying goes. If you're not in a serious mood, and you have nostalgia for Hollywood entertainment made in the early 1970s, this movie is a perfectly acceptable way to pass the time.

agore3 I first thought this was going to be a parody.The production values (no nonsense setups, lighting, costumes, camera angles, dramatic close ups, soundtrack) reminds me a lot of Airplane with the overly dramatic acting style when there is not that much suspense.In fact, with a slight dialogue change it could be very funny in Airplane style. This would be a candidate for MST3K or a redo like What's up Tiger Lily would be even better.Shatner and Connors from Airplane II add to the feel. It is not great but when you think in the above context it is bearable.

Obarr777 This film was representative of the early 1970's and ABC was taking full advantage of what was popular. Disaster movies like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. Passenger disaster movies like the Airport series. Finally, movies that featured the devil. The Exorcist was out that year along with all the cheap rip offs like Beyond the Door. This movie had a little of everything in it and I remember I had trouble sleeping that night. I must have had a guilty conscience and thought the devil would be tugging at my toes or standing over my bed as I tried to fall asleep. I bet the nuns at school were partially responsible as well.The movie of the week during that time was trying to take advantage of the popularity of devil themes however they usually were not that scary. I guess because it was 1970's TV, they were required to tone everything down. The Terror at 37,000 Feet was better than most other movies of the week because they had a fairly large cast of known TV actors like the disaster and airport movies that always had a large cast of known film actors. The story established quickly that almost everyone on board probably deserved to get hurt or die because they were not nice people, and that whatever evil was in the cargo hold was not going to let up until things were made right. Although I have to say that the Professor (Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island) and the dog, did not deserve to die in the first reel.If you saw this movie as kid I would recommend that you not see it again. The memory you have of it will always be precious and you are going to ruin that memory by seeing what a slow paced, hole filled plot, terribly acted movie this really is. I gave it 6 stars based on my memory from 42 years ago. You also may remember the Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black. I thought it would be fun to watch again and I was terribly disappointed. Most of the TV movies from this era were one long tease with 10 minutes of a payoff at the end. Sometimes.