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The Norliss Tapes (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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30 reviews in total

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16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Another Terrific Movie by Dan Curtis Productions, 18 June 2004

Author: marianna1776 (marianna1776@hotmail.com) from Huxley, Iowa

The Norliss Tapes is another terrific production of Dan Curtis Productions.Dan Curtis Productions made the early made for television series, The Night Stalker,and the early horror soap opera, Dark Shadows to name a couple.I saw this when I was a young teenager for the first time, and I was really scared.I saw this again recently, and it had the very same effect on me that it did when I was young.The movie's soundtrack plays the very creepy music that is in all of Dan Curtis Productions.The music is very effective, and that is one of my favorite parts.This movie's cinema photography was so beautiful.The setting is in the San Francisco area of northern California.The mist and the fog give this movie a sinister look when called for.The actors were excellent. Angie Dickinson as the scared widow was first rate in her role. Roy Thinnes as the part of the investigative reporter was top notch.This movie grabs you from the beginning to the very last moment.If you like very scary movies, then you should see this if you get a chance. I gave this a high rating.I highly recommend this to fans of horror.

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12 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
One of the best movies of the 70's, 19 April 2001
Author: mn1953

This was one of the best made-for-tv-movies of the 70's. Why it wasn't continued into a series or trilogy is a mystery, as the ending left you dangling! Superb acting made this a true thriller. If anyone knows where a copy of this movie can be obtained, please post on this comment board. It is never shown on television, which is a shame indeed! Such a waste of some wonderful entertainment!

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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
YIKES! One of the greats!, 17 September 2003

Author: estabansmythe from Azusa, CA

When it came to dispensing chills on TV in the '60s & '70s, Dan Curtis was the man!

His Dark Shadows vampire soap opera was innovative, but it was THE NIGHT STALKER (1972) TV movie with Darren McGavin and its subsequent follow-up TV movie, THE NIGHT STRANGLER and Night Stalker TV series which earned him his reputation as a Big Time chill-despensing master.

Then came THE NORLISS TAPES...WHOA! This is one scary movie!

Up in beautiful, rainy Marin County, Roy Thinnes investigates the possibility that a recently deceased artist isn't necessarily dead.

I'm not going to give away a thing other than to say that if scary movies are your thing, this one will ring your bell! Do not miss it.

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9 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
A great TV movie., 12 April 2001

Author: mike kent (mike@marshom.freeserve.co.uk) from London, England

I remember seeing this tv movie twice in my early teens and remember it being very scarey at the time.The supernatural content was quite compelling and the acting for a tv movie was above average.I notice it is not available on VHS or DVD.I assume because of a lack of knowledge,popularity and possibly rights to the movie.I sure wish they would bring out a DVD version a.s.a.p.I'd buy a copy immediately.I'd love to see this movie again,especially because it was over 20 years ago since I last viewed it.Always a mark of a good movie if it sticks in your mind for that long!

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
THIS MOVIE SCARED THE HECK OUT OF ME WHEN I WAS LITTLE!!1, 2 October 2002
Author: JD11779 from United States

I was channel surfing the other night and caught the last 20 minutes of The Norliss Tapes. I saw the film back in the 70's and it scared me and gave me nightmares for a long time. I thought it was very suspensful and scary. It is a movie that sticks in my mind. I hope they put it out on VHS or DVD!!!!

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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Chiller That Producers Forgot, 10 April 2003

Author: (kelvnel@hotmail.com) from Leigh England

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I recall seeing this TV movie twice as a child and it scared me more than the Exorcist! I have'nt seen it on British TV for at least 15 years. The way it is set up and ends seems like it is a continuing series. I don't know if this was the original intention, or just to make it spookier.

Roy Thinnes, made one or two movies like this at the same time and was excellant in both. In this he is the 'goody' but in the other ( Satan's School For Girls ) he was the ultimate baddy. From his Invaders Days he always had the ambivalent look of always looking like the opposite of the character he played.

This film had that early seventies supernatural feel of many TV movies and series of the same ilk, but I thought this quite original. Thinnes investigates a disappearance or death of a woman's sculpter husband. Meanwhile people are being killed and drained of blood. Through numerous chills mainly because the monster/vampire in this looks like a proper scary version of a Scooby-Doo monster, it transpires that the sculpter is a devil-desciple who is making an effigy of Lucifer out of clay and human blood, in order to bring him to life. The scene at the end when Lucifer comes alive is numbing. Don't know why all the Hollywoood rip-off merchants dont remake this. Would be a smash

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6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Excellent made for TV film., 30 September 2002
Author: (bsizeluv@pacbell.net) from San Francisco

I finally caught this one earlier tonight on the FOX movie channel. I'd been wanted to see this since I first learned of its existence some 20 years ago. It certainly struck me as a precursor to "The Night Stalker."

I managed to record this onto DVD-R, so if any of you are still looking for a copy, simply email me.

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Excellent Roy Thinnes Movie....in same class as Night Stalker, 7 May 2000
Author: Thomas C. Gibbons from Palm Springs, CA, USA

It's a shame that this movie is not readily available, like "THE NIGHT STALKER" is....it is a very well done (KUDOS to Dan Curtis, DARK SHADOWS, etc)Occultish-Vampirish Horror movie (made for TV). The setting for this film (Carmel, CA, I believe) is as atmospherically driven as was the Dark Shadows Intro...if you can view this film, i wholeheartedly recommend it. A fine cast, with Roy Thinnes in the lead, investigator role, with Claude Adkins "reprising" his role as the unbelieving lawman....if you liked Carl Kolchak or Fox Mulder, this film is out there...find the truth for your self.....

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Well, it was scary in the 70s..., 2 September 2005

Author: pembriar from United States

I ordered this hard-to-find show on eBay and got an excellent copy of it. I'd been literally waiting years to finally watch the TV show that had left the greatest impression of terror on me since childhood. I mean, I wasn't let down when I acquired a DVD of Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black; that last episode with the freaky doll still creeped me out... kinda.

Well, last night I sat down, put the disc in my trusty old DVD player , and -- uh, found it to be a less-than-horrific experience. Of course I knew it wasn't going to have the same sort of effect on me that it did back then, so I prepared myself for a bit of disappointment.

It was okay I guess, and considering I'm much older and can follow the storyline infinitely better than I did when I was 9 helps too. I liked the shots of the Bay Area and the Pacific coastline, and a young and lovely Angie Dickenson is always easy on the eyes, but still -- I wasn't even so much as mildly surprised throughout the entire film. The evil manifestation that happened at the end of the film almost had me laughing -- and I scolded myself for mocking this beloved show.

As a made-for-TV film it is somewhat enjoyable and certainly above average, but as with all things nostalgic and memorable, don't get your hopes up too much like I did.

Okay, now I'm off to find some "ABC Movie of the Week" episodes that hopefully have aged a little better than this one did...

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
An enjoyably creepy 70's made-for-TV horror shocker, 14 October 2006

Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Roy Thinnes of "The Invaders" TV series fame gives a typically fine performance as David Norliss, a cynical and skeptical investigative reporter working on a book which debunks various supernatural occurrences and paranormal phenomena as phony baloney frauds. While researching his book Norliss crosses paths with widow Ellen Cort (the ever-lovely and appealing Angie Dickinson), who claims that her recently deceased husband (an impressively robust turn by Nick Dimitri, who sports some truly ghoulish make-up and uncanny yellow eyes) has come back to life as a murderous gray-skinned zombie. Norliss finds out much to his dismay that this particular case is all too real and by no means yet another far-fetched hoax.

Expertly directed by the late, great Dan ("Trilogy of Terror") Curtis, with a smart and compelling script by William F. ("Logan's Run") Nolan, an arrestingly creepy and mysterious atmosphere, an eerie and rousing score by Robert Cobert, a snappy pace, polished cinematography by Ben Colman, genuinely shocking and stirring outbursts of surprisingly brutal violence (Angie blasts the zombie with a shotgun!), and a thrilling fiery conclusion, this failed pilot for a possible spin-off show sizes up as an often quite scary, always engrossing and overall superior made-for-TV fright feature. Moreover, the sound acting from a solid cast counts as another major asset: Both Thinnes and Dickinson are strong and sympathetic, with bang-up support from Claude Akins as a hard-nosed sheriff, Don Porter as Norliss' concerned publisher, Vonette ("Blacula") McGhee as a helpful occult store owner, Stanley Adams as an excitable truck driver, and Patrick ("The Cheerleaders") Wright as a deputy. Short (it's only 72 minutes long), spooky and extremely well-done all around, "The Norliss Tapes" is definitely worth checking out.

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