SATAN'S TRIANGLE 1975 (SINISTER CINEMA)

This scared the crap out of me when I was young and saw this on ABC.

Back when times were much better the networks actually made movies that scared and entertained people, and this is one of them.

Doug McClure stars as Lt. Haig, a Coast Guard man sent to rescue a small boat that has run into a sudden storm and sent out an SOS. He and Lt. Commander Pagolini (Michael Conrad) arrive at the boat and find a woman as the lone survivor on the boat.

Another storm kicks up and the rescue line snaps so Haig is left with the survivor on the boat. The woman named Eva (Kim Novak) recounts what happened for Haig and we are told in flashback what happened.

Haig puts all of the clues together and has a rational explanation for everything. He knows they are in an area known as "The Devil's Triangle" but does not believe in the Devil. He even manages to seduce Eva into bed on the boat and the next morning everything seems fine.

Several rescue ships have arrived and both Haig and Eva are hoisted onto a helicopter again piloted by Pagolini. All seems well until the rescue team radios back to the copter what they have found on the boat.

That is all I will tell you about the film because if you haven't seen it I don't want to spoil the great and terrific twist ending that scared me to death when I first saw it. It was the talk of the grade school I attended the following morning.

The TV movie works on many levels and it's perfect the way it pulls the rug out from under the viewer in the final 10 minutes, and the final shot with the closing credits still sticks in my mind.

The rest of the cast for this Danny Thomas production includes Alejandro Rey in a key performance as a priest, Jim Davis, Ed Lauter and Titos Vandis.

I wish movies were still like this, but alas, times have indeed changed. If you haven't seen this I recommend you do so. It was ranked #13 in my year end list of DVD releases. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!