1974's "Till Death" is a rarely seen low budgeter produced and directed by actor Walter Stocker, best remembered for his starring turn in the infamous "They Saved Hitler's Brain," coproduced by his daughter Pamela and scripted by his son, Gregory Dana. Filmed around 1972-73, this was the film debut of beloved cult actress Belinda Balaski, but went unreleased until quietly slipping out in early 1978, falling into near total obscurity following its few TV screenings. A lengthy precredits sequence depicts a prophetic nightmare for Paul Ryan (Keith Atkinson), on the eve of his impending wedding to lovely Anne (Belinda), which finds him trailing a mysterious woman in white leading him to Anne's crypt, where she appears as a horrible decayed corpse. Alas, the newlyweds enjoy only a few hours of bliss before a tragic auto accident leaves her dead, and Paul in traction for some months afterwards. Once he is able to walk again, he immediately journeys to her grave (an amusing turn from Jonathan Hole), and is inadvertently locked into the crypt overnight. Regaining consciousness, he amazingly hears her call for his help, breaking into her sealed tomb to find her seemingly alive and well. They spend the night together, despite ominous warnings that all will not end well at dawn, reminiscent of the second story from the 1964 Mexican anthology feature "100 Cries of Terror," expanded to feature length, with a black cat representing the supernatural, and a genuinely shocking climax. The reunion takes up the second half of the film's 71 minute running time, padded with slowly paced scenes that fail to create much resonance in the characters' grief stricken situation. Like other genre efforts from the era such as "Stanley" and "Horror High," there is a memorable theme song, composed and sung by Chick Rains, sounding not unlike Don McLean's hit single "Vincent." Despite the presence of the bewitching Belinda (yes, even in a white shroud), this seems to have escaped cult status, appearing on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater on Jan 3 1981 and Dec 25 1982 (not the happiest movie for a Christmas viewing).
Review of Till Death
