Thriller (TV Series) One Deadly Owner (1974) User Reviews

Wonderful Memories

[skyking-14 · 7/10 · 10 June 2010]

For the writer of "For ultra die hard fans of "ALL" movies only!, 29 June 1999" and the only other person who panned this movie: #1 "ultra die hard" either didn't watch this one or forgot the plot. The car doesn't kill people, it leads to the killer.

#2 Don't criticize the "video quality" because this was the early 70's folks and in England. Geesh! That's irrelevant as any film should only be judged within the context of what was available to the director at the time.

It was a great plot, special actors (early in their careers) and for people who can sit through much of the absolute trash being marketed as "film" today, where do YOU get off complaining?

Average

[analoguebubblebath · 6/10 · 6 September 2005]

Donna Mills makes her second Thriller appearance as the model Helen Cook in another supernatural effort called 'One Deadly Owner'. While not a favourite of mine, the episode is well-produced and never dull.

Cook becomes drawn to a white Rolls Royce in a car showroom and instinctively purchases it against the wishes of her photographer boyfriend Peter (played by Jeremy Brett). The car rapidly develops a mind of its own (somewhat like Stephen King's 'Christine') and Cook decides to carry out some investigation into its previous owner - in which she learns that the lady disappeared quite recently.

The atmosphere in 'One Deadly Owner' is effective although the remainder of the story is somewhat contrived in its narrative and execution.

Overall - average.

The Haunted Car Mystery!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 14 May 2013]

I once saw Brian Clemens interviewed where he explained the profusion of American stars in his "Thriller" series by saying it was a sure way to have it sold in America. I always think the episodes that worked best were the ones that didn't have American actors in prominent roles ("File it Under Fear", "Sign it Death", "A Coffin for the Bride" etc). Donna Mills though was easy to take (Clemens indicated that she was a favourite which was maybe why she starred in three). Not every episode was terrific, this one in season 2 was middling.

Mills played fashion model Helen Cook who is drawn toward a vintage Rolls Royce in a car yard and impulsively buys it. Boyfriend/photographer Peter Towner (dishy Jeremy Brett long before his "Sherlock Holmes" period) is not keen on it and his arguments are sound - she really can't afford it, she doesn't even use cars and Helen comes across as a petulant brat ("I want it Peter"!!!) but it seems the car wants to tell her something about the past owners. It has a mind of it's own, it drives her to the same out of the way place (even when she needs to be at an appointment) and the car radio plays the same program and news reports from several months earlier. She tracks down the previous owners and finds a reclusive man with a missing wife and Freddy, who seems to know exactly what said wife was really like and is keen to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

As with a lot of these "Thrillers" there are plenty of odd bod characters to choose from and the one behind the badness is not usually in the frame at all. Freddy is keen on Helen and also to help, so Helen now has two eager beavers willing to get to the bottom of the haunted car mystery although Peter only wants to sit back and ridicule her efforts.

Another thing I love about this series is the Oh so 70s fashions -what with the slinky bell bottom culottes (remember them) and the psychedelic flower prints, I've seen a lot of my teen wardrobe in these shows!!!

One of the best of Season 2

[ivegonemod · 31 December 2012]

I really enjoyed this one. I found it to be one of the better ones from season 2, Once the killing starts was also very good. One deadly owner is quite scary in my OP, but it doesn't take much to scare me. I just loved looking at all the clothing from the 1970's, and the car was something to behold as well. I would certainly suggest watching this one if you like a scare along with your thrills. This is one of the episodes that I know I will watch again, it's that good and exciting. I loved the apartment that was featured too.

I did wonder if the wife's body would be that fresh looking after three months of being dead, perhaps not?

Entertaining As Long As You Suspend Disbelief

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 13 September 2013]

Model Helen Cook buys a new Rolls Royce on a whim . She quickly realises there's something strange about it . Turning on the radio she hears a news flash that shots have been fired in The Houses Of Paliament , an incident that happened several months earlier and is frightened to hear a womans scream from inside the car . She also finds a diamond earing in the boot and decides to find out who the car belonged and get to the bottom of the mystery

This is the type of episode that can be best described as utterly bonkers but fair goes to Brian Clemens for writing a supernatural mystery involving a car . The premise has been superseded by Stephen King's CHRISTINE but this is very much a precursor to that when the idea would have been much more original and is for the most part a rather entertaining tale reinforced by a rather showy performance by Jeremy Brett playing his role in much the same way as Paul Darrow would have played a medallion man

You can perhaps guess that the problem with a story featuring a haunted car will be in finishing the story in a convincing manner which unfortunately Clemens fails to do and will have you shaking your head saying " yeah right " . Not to be totally unfair it is a relatively engaging episode as long as you don't think about it in any great or critical detail

When Christine Met Herbie

[IanIndependent · 7/10 · 30 July 2021]

This is a Thriller episode that divides those who watch it. Personally, I enjoyed it. If you ignore the main premise which is a cross between 'Christine' and 'Herbie' and watch for the whole especially it's script, direction and acting then it is a lot better than others - take for example S2 E4 with it's poor stage sets and script.

In her second 'Thriller' appearance Donna Mills adds glamour but also plays her part perfectly and without over acting a difficult role to make believable.

The episodes runs at a pace that builds up a tension and is always intriguing even if the ending is made over complicated.

Pre-"Christine"!!!

[kathy5353853 · 10/10 · 11 October 2003]

This fun little murder mystery "car" ghost story predates the Stephen King novel of "CHRISTINE" by nine years. Makes me wonder if Mr. King watched the series!!! No, it is a different story, but the use of the car . . . well. .. I watched this simply for the pleasure of seeing a pre-Sherlock Jeremy Brett. But it is American Donna Mills who stars in this British TV production. British standards of producing TV shows took a number of years to catch up to the American art. So, in 1974 you will see that difference. Reminiscent of a home video to some people who were not used to watching the early British imports on PBS. But, the writing is good, the mysterious feel is present, the acting just right, and a twist at the end for good measure! Other commentaries have outlined the plot, so I will not add to that. But it was an enjoyable hour to spend for me. I would recommend it for those that don't mind the British production levels of the 70's. And I don't. Many other wonderful plays and shows would be sorely missed if we cared too much about that.

Someone drive her to buy this expensive car.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 29 June 2022]

The British TV series "Thriller" is a collection of TV movie of the week length mysteries that featured an international cast and ran for 3 years and 6 seasons. American movie of the week star Donna Mills appeared in several of these, and in the second of those co-stars with Jeremy Brett as a model who purchases a beautiful old car that she had stopped by to see everyday, and when she gets it home and shows it to her photographer boyfriend Brett, discovers that there is a horrifying secret to it through the scream of a woman that she hears when she gets into drive.

Researching the history of the car, she's mystified by events that occur surrounding her ownership, and that leads her to a horrifying discovery that makes her realize that something unworldly drove her literally to purchase the vehicle. This is very similar to many American movies of the week from the '70s which I have become familiar with through research. The series itself had a running time of over an hour so they are feature length, and the "Thriller" title is there to entice the viewer for the type of atmosphere they know they are going to get.

As the first of these movie of the week length episodes I've watched, I found this one to be intriguing but somehow predictable. It's not how it concludes that's the mystery, but the path that Mills takes to drive the story to that conclusion. Still, it was intriguing enough to get me interested in the series of films to make me want to see more. Mills as always is a great heroine, and Brett is quite good as well.

The White Rolls Royce....

[alesi-2 · 10/10 · 26 December 2006]

I remember the trailers for the first series of thriller in 1973 where a fish eye camera lens would shatter and a woman's mouth "lipstick and all" would open ejecting a piercing echo'y scream..

I remember the first series being screened on Friday's at 9.00pm moving to Saturday nights at the same time for the second series possibly due to the high viewing figures of the first..

Being nine years old at that time i skipped the first series due to total fear already instilled by the aforementioned trailers.The episode i remember most vividly is "One deadly owner".The white rolls Royce would cut out in the isolated countryside without warning or lighting,leaving the vulnerable lady in peril !.

I watched this episode in Feb 1974 when it was first aired..All i can say is that watching it as a child was a frightening experience.

I really don't remember anything as suspenseful or as scary as this being produced by the American networks at this time for comparison.At least nothing that came to the UK..

The entire thriller series is now available in a pal DVD boxed set containing all the episodes from 1973-1976 so i can't wait to watch them all and see which other episodes i remember..

Passable TV chiller, one of the earliest examples from the 'possessed-car' sub-genre.

[barnabyrudge · 5/10 · 8 July 2013]

Part of the Brian Clemens' "Thriller" series – snapped up and used in "The Wide World Of Mystery" series in America – One Deadly Owner is a decent but unremarkable chiller involving that favourite old chestnut in the world of horror: a possessed car. In fact, apart from a couple of Twilight Zone episodes featuring weird vehicles, this is one of the earliest examples of the form… certainly pre-dating films like The Car and Christine by a good few years. The difference here is that the car itself is not possessed by a lifeforce that intends to kill; it is possessed instead by the ghost of a murder victim who wants her death to be solved. The car isn't the killer; it's trying to help the characters expose the killer. A neat enough little concept which works quite nicely over the hour-ish duration of the film.

Bored American-model-living-in-Britain, Helen Cook (Donna Mills), finds herself mysteriously drawn to a grand Rolls Royce in a nearby showroom. She impulsively buys the vehicle; not because she particularly wants it, more because she feels a strange, compelling urge to make the purchase. Her photographer friend Peter Tower (Jeremy Brett) is dismayed to see her throwing money away so flippantly and encourages her to take the car back to the salesroom, but for some reason she just cannot seem to let it go. Later, weird things happen – the car seems to drive itself where it wants, resisting her efforts to turn corners or slow down; the radio keeps broadcasting a news bulletin from April 2nd; and a woman's scream makes itself heard from the back seat of the car even when there is no-one in it. Helen seeks advice from the previous owner of the vehicle and discovers that it belonged to a wealthy businessman, John Jacey (Laurence Payne), whose wife disappeared, presumed-eloped, on April 2nd… It isn't long before Helen concludes that Mrs Jacey has probably been murdered, and that her ghost is haunting the car, perhaps trying to guide its new owner to her final resting place so that the crime can be exposed.

One Deadly Owner is short enough not to tax the viewer's patience, but long enough to generate an air of mystery and suspense. The performances aren't exactly great – they're very typical of the standard TV-acting-of-the-era style – but they're not hopelessly bad either. Brett comes off best as the dubious photographer. Several possible solutions to the mystery are thrown into the mix, and the eventual denouement might be possible to predict from early on but isn't boringly predictable by any means (there's a difference between having a possible solution in your mind, or simply KNOWING what the solution will be before it is revealed). A few scenes are quite eerily done, with clever lighting and subtle atmospheric touches, and the whole thing emerges a neat little time-killer. Hardly a classic, certainly not a lost masterpiece of the 'possessed-vehicle' sub-genre, but it's enjoyable entertainment while it lasts. You could do a lot worse.

I always said Rolls Royces have more extras then other cars.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 8 January 2018]

When a model buys a White Rolls Royce, she gets more then she bargained for, the car seems to have a mind of its own. This has been one of my favourite episodes to date, of course it's bonkers in terms of plot, but this was made in the seventies, and I think holds up really well today, that said the storyline is incredibly imaginative. The car holds the key to a heinous crime, plenty of sinister characters and suspects, and a strong turn from Donna Mills as the lead. The most surprising thing I found watching the episode was the presence of Jeremy Brett, being a huge fan of his definitive Sherlock Holmes, I always knew he had something, but it is his on screen presence, his voice, his looks, he really does make this episode. It looks super stylish, the decor, clothes, cars, it's a visual feast.

Diehard Mills Fans Only

[Esther-6 · 1/10 · 28 April 1999]

Wow! This really stinks. It appears to be shot on video. Mills plays an American supermodel living in London, who buys a Rolls Royce on impulse. Turns out the car drives itself. Murder is involved.

OK, so it's probably shot on video...

[CatherineChang · 8/10 · 20 July 2010]

Let's get the cons out of the way first: the sound and picture quality aren't that great, and the sets look stagey.

But the plot is fast moving, the acting very good, and the ending...not quite expected. For me, that makes for good viewing. I couldn't quite get over Jeremy Brett (a decade before Sherlock Holmes) in full-blown 70s brown flares, platform shoes, tight t-shirt, and incipient love handles - this had me in unholy laughter for a good few minutes, but he turns in a rare performance as the ambitious, stop-at-nothing, photographer boyfriend, whose 'disapproval' at his model girlfriend's choice of transport (white Rolls Royce, later haunted), does not quite mask his shock and disquiet.

For ultra die hard fans of "ALL" movies only!

[yenlo · 1/10 · 29 June 1999]

Imagine this scenario. You're a police detective and you have a tough customer who won't break under questioning. You've tried everything. A-ha you tie them up and play this movie over and over in front of them. Guaranteed they'll cry "STOP IT I'll CONFESS. JUST TURN OFF THIS MOVIE" This poor film is that bad. It's obviously filmed on video and stars Donna Mills. It involves an auto that starts committing murder on it's own. If you can sit through this one your a true die hard movie fan.

WOW Finally

[kwilson-6 · 16 September 2003]

I never though I would fine anyone who watched these series of movies. I loved them. I saw One Deadly Owner and Someone at Top of the Stair about 17 years ago and have been waiting for them to come on ever since. I paticularly enjoyed One Deadly Owner. Can I get this series on video? Does anyone know?