William Shatner Week: The Horror at 37,000 Feet

Hidey ho Shatner fans and welcome to Day 4 of William Shatner Week.  We start off with a film from the far away time of 1973…my mom hates when I do that.   This film involves demons, Christian faith and a steadfast plane.  Sounds like a hybrid of Incubus and Snakes on a Plane I know but fasten your safety belts, keep your tray table in the upright position and place your oxygen mask on first before assisting others.  This is The Horror at 37,000 Feet.

Dammit Trekkies, I said no autographs right now!

I don’t understand. Why did spoiler do it? For those people? You talked to him last. Why?

Similar to the themes of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark and Salem’s Lot, this TV movie comes to us as a telefilm that was described to me as The Exorcist meets Airport.  A disturbing concept altogether; our plane bound for hell leaves Heathrow Airport commanded by Captain Slade (Chuck Connors of The Rifleman, Branded, Soylent Green and Airplane II: The Sequel) and his copilot Frank Driscoll (H.M. Wynant of Perry Mason, Branded, The Search for the Evil One, Gunsmoke and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes) as they embark their way back to L.A. with ten whole passengers and 11,000 lbs of an almost reliquary in the cargo hold.  This would explain the lack of extras on the plane. 

SLEEEEEEEEP!

Architect Alan O’ Neil (Roy Thinnes of The Invaders, Black Noon, The Manhunter, From Here to Eternity, Falcon Crest, Mind Benders, Dark Shadows and Spectropia) and easily irksome wife Shelia (Jane Merrow of The Girl-Getters, The Lion in Winter, Hands of the Ripper, Airwolf and Lovejoy) have returned from Shelia’s ancestral home to wit they faced baseless lawsuits, back breaking labor disputes and finally removed a sizeable chunk of the home to add to their existing home in L.A.   I believe this woman has either a sugar imbalance or does not suffer fools lightly.  Along for the ride is spokesperson of the lawsuit impending mob Mrs. Pinder (Tammy Grimes of Can’t Stop the Music, The Last Unicorn, Loving and High Art) grumbling from coach and causing more migraines than bleach.  A slightly inebriated and cynical former priest Paul Kovalik (William Shatner of Barbary Coast, Perilous Voyage, A Whale of a Tale, T.J. Hooker, TekWar, 3^rd Rock from The Sun and Osmosis Jones), a cantankerous millionaire Glen Faree (Buddy Ebsen of Northwest Passage, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones), a fashion model Annalik (France Nuyen of South Pacific, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, St. Elsewhere, Knots Landing and The Joy Luck Club) and a philosophical physician Dr. Enkalla (Paul Winfield of Blue City, The Terminator, 227, L.A. Law, Babylon 5 and Dead of Night) are all accounted for the flight from/to Hell. 

This film does not even wait for the plane to take off as Shelia hears a Gregorian chant with her name through her headphones, a freezing wind travels through the cockpits chilling our captain and pilots and one of the stewardesses is trapped between floors in the automated dumb waiter.  What will happen next and to whom?

 

Hmm the script says you an ungrateful cow.

A few notes about the film I thought you might find particularly interesting.  This film has a Lovecraft feel to it from the foley sound effects from Forbidden Planet, the cut scene frost effects against the windows and the amazing music score of Morton Stevens (The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O, A Man Called Horse and Police Woman).  The tension is properly ratcheted, the characters are on edge and the story develops nicely.   The cast was very impressive and each performance was rather good.