I recently saw a clip on youtube for a 1973 made for tv movie called Outrage. It has Robert Culp and his family is terrorized by a group of punk teenagers in hot-rods. It looked like a fun flick.

Anyone know of any other entertaining "made-for-tv" movies of the 70s & 80s? Heck, even the early 90s? Also, their availability, be it DVD or VHS?


ETA: See also:
looking for TV Movies on DVD

Name your 5 titles of movies made for *TV* that you want on DVD

Duel (Spielberg - 1971)

Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story

I've always loved this one. Robert Urich as Rocky Bleier - great casting all around in this movie. It's definitely a product of it's times, and it's clearly a TV movie, but that's part of what makes it great.

If you like sports movies this is one of the best. Sadly, it's not available on DVD...

Salems lot

Helter Skelter, I know they made a version a few years ago but I also like the one from the 70's.

Bad Ronald. VHS only

First movie I thought about was Gargoyles. Haven't seen it in many years but I remember it scared the crap out of me.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068622/

Also just thought of this one. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069992/
Another one that I remember scaring the crap out of me.

Don't know if either are available as anything other than bootlegs but they are great if you can find them.

Siege, a sort of Rolling Thunder/On Golden Pond hybrid where Martin Balsam plays one of a group of inner-city senior citizens that are preyed upon by gang leader Dorian Harewood. When the gang causes the death of Balsam's lady love, played by Sylvia Sidney, it's time to dole out some justice - cranky old man-style. The final scenes, with stayed with me for a long time. No legit version on DVD, unfortunately.

The Wave (1981) was a good movie, but it is not available on DVD or VHS.

Another good movie from that era was The Bourne Identity with Richard Chamberlain, 1988. The Day After (1983) is also available on DVD, caused quite a stir when it was released (pretty graphic for the time).

Are you also interested in TV miniseries?

On The Beach, 2000 (a remake of a 1950’s era movie)
The 10th Kingdom, 2002 (10 hour miniseries)

And of course the Lonesome Dove movies.

Special Bulletin

A couple more movies (not mini-series):
Born Innocent, a highly controversial movie from ‘74
Cheaters, a true story of a high school in the Chicago area, movie is from ‘00.

This is my specialty. Outrage is OK escapism.
These are the best I have seen:
Suspense/Horror:
-Duel (1971) ***** (out of 5)
-Dying Room Only (1973) ****1/2
-Mousey (1974) ****
-Bad Ronald (1974) ***
-Brotherhood of the Bell (1970) ***
-A Cold Night's Death (1973) ****1/2
-Trapped (1989) ***1/2
-Dr. Cook's Garden (1970) ***1/2
-Guilty Conscience (1985) ****1/2
-Home for the Holidays (1972) ***
-How Awful About Allan (1970) ***
-The Night Stalker (1971) ***
-The Night Strangler (1972) ***
-Victim (aka Out of Contention)(1972) ****
-The Plumber (1978, Australian) ****
-Salem's Lot (1979) ***1/2
-The Screaming Woman (1972) ***
-The Longest Night (1972) ***1/2
-Someone's Watching Me (1978) ****
-Trilogy of Terror (1975) ***
-Run a Crooked Mile (1969) ***
-Visions of Death (1972) ***
-One of My Wives is Missing (1976) ***1/2
-Reflections of Murder (1974) ***
-Love Hate Love (1970) ***
-Crawlspace (1971) ***
-No Place to Hide (1981) ***
-In Broad Daylight (1971) ***
-The Last Child (1971) ****
-You'll Never See Me Again (1973) ***1/2

Drama:
-Special Bulletin (1983) ****1/2
-The Glass House (1972) ****
-Countdown to Looking Glass (1984) ***1/2
-Turning to Stone (1985, Canadian) *****
-Train of Dreams (1987, Canadian) ****
-The Forgotten Man (1971) ***

There are also a few notable ones from the early '90s, but I omitted them. I may have overlooked a couple of others here and there.

Das Boot

Hider in the House - featuring Gary Busey as a crazy guy (go figure) hiding in the attic while a family goes on about its business. It's not on DVD in the US, but I believe there's a Region 2 release.

Spielberg's Something Evil... Made right after Duel, unfortuantely not on DVD.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069298/

More Dan Curtis horror films THE NORLISS TAPES and DEAD OF NIGHT....the Robert Bloch penned THE DEAD DON'T DIE is a really good horror film....

Dan Curtis made a couple of exceptional TV movies in the late 1970's...WHEN EVERYDAY WAS THE FORTH OF JULY and THE LONG DAYS OF SUMMER...

The Terry Fox Story
John Carpenter's Someone's Watching Me
Isn't It Shocking?

Riding With Death

I like to see these three made for tv movies on DVD.

The People (1972)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069072/

The Love War (1970)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066012/

Sole Survivor (1970)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065007/

Thanks for the responses, everyone! A lot of these sound really interesting/good. Now I'm off to track down what I can and read up on the rest.

Night Slaves -Aliens are using the inhabitants of a small town to help repair their crashed ship. Townspeople all go off in a trance every night. James Franciscus is unaffected because of a steel plate in his head from a recent auto accident.
Devil's Triangle -Doug McClure is captain of salvage boat. Come across a deserted liner in middle of ocean. He goes on board, sending his boat and crew off for help. He finds a girl and priest(Alejandro Rey) on board. Creepy things start to happen. Great ending.
The Last Child -I believe it's called. U.S. passes population control law that couple can have only one child. A couple loses their kid so she gets pregnant again. They are on the run trying to get to Canada, being chased by population control cop Ed Asner.
The one about the planeload of blind people that crashes in mountains. Pilot killed. Blind people try to make it down mountain on their own.
The Immortal -This one became a short lived tv series. Christopher George is a guy who has somethihng in his blood that he never grows old, gets sick, and heals real fast. A rich Howard Hughes type guy who is old and dying just happens to get a traqnsfusion of his blood at the hospital which temporarily cures him and makes him younger. The transfused qualities are temporary so the rich guy wants to keep George locked up in a cell so he can get regular transfusions and live forever. George is on the run from the hired guns working for the rich guy trying to track him down and capture him.

The Jericho Mile 1979-starring Peter Strauss and directed by Michael Mann. There is a region 2 version on DVD.


From Amazon:

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Dutch (Subtitles), SYNOPSIS: Rain Murphy is a man sentenced to life in prison, choosing to do his time in near-isolation, and engages in distance running when given the opportunity for free-time. While his form and speed capture the attention of prison officials who believe he could be competitive for the Olympics, Murphy expresses disinterest. But when the one man he has befriended is taken advantage of by political groups within the prison, Murphy decides to pursue the opportunity presented to him in his memory. This action not only has profound changes on him, but also on the atmosphere of the inmates in the prison and their outlook on the accomplishments he can make.

If you're including television mini-series, I'd highly recommend The Decalogue.