Thriller (TV Series) Nurse Will Make It Better (1975) User Reviews

An enjoyable, if out of place episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 20 May 2018]

I've been working my way through the series, and loving it I must say, some good episodes, some great, and some below par. One that sat uneasily with me was series one's 'A Place to die,' the supernatural element somehow not suited to the show, Nurse will make it better is a better episode, but still somewhat of an oddity. I love the Hammer House of Horror series, and if you'd told me it was from that series I'd have well believed and enjoyed it. It's a good episode, enjoyable and well made, it just doesn't compare well to the slick crime thrillers like Coffin for the Bride and Someone at the top of the stairs.

Best thing about this episode is the chilling, measured and brilliant performance from the wonderful Diana Dors, she is absolutely brilliant as Bessy, so sinister, but in a subtle, almost underplayed way. She could have easily hammed it up, but refused the temptation, delivering a memorable, scary performance.

It's good, one you need to be in the mood for.

nice little horror tale in a large house

[didi-5 · 6/10 · 27 May 2009]

'Nurse Will Make It Better' is a Thriller episode which feels more like a Hammer House of Horror - Diana Dors, completely de-glamorised, is Bessie, a nurse who works miracles wherever she goes. When she visits a new family affected by tragedy and helps paralysed Charlie to walk again, is she working for good or for evil? Weird and more than a little chilling, this tale starts with a nurse branding her victims with fire, before we see a boozed-up Patrick Troughton having nightmares about the past. This leads us to Charlie's family (father, boyfriend, and two younger sisters Ruth and Susie) and the arrival of Bessie, who is all smiles in public and a broody pipe-smoker in private. It's a great role for Dors.

Of course we know early on that Dors is really the manifestation of the Devil, and also figure out that the ending is likely to return Charlie to paralysis, and the evil nurse to ashes. But it's interesting watching it happen, and this is an unsettling episode.

The Evil That Dors Do

[analoguebubblebath · 8/10 · 10 September 2005]

The second episode of Thriller's fourth series was a supernatural effort entitled 'Nurse Will Make It Better'. Naturally Thriller had gone down this route previously - see 'A Place To Die' and 'Spell Of Evil' (from series 1) - but this was a far better story.

Diana Dors is the malevolent force here, a role she would later reprise in Hammer House Of Horror's 'Children Of The Full Moon' in 1980. She arrives to the Harrow house (father a diplomat, three daughters Charley, Ruth and Suzy) as Bessie - a nurse for Charley who has been paralysed as a result of a riding accident. Charley has been a particularly difficult patient to a sequence of previous nurses but Bessie soon has her under control. As the action progresses we learn that Bessie is a force of evil intent on stealing souls. A couple of nasty incidents take place which serve to rid the suspicious from her path while the mantle is left to Ruth (played by a strikingly beautiful Andrea Marcovicci) to combat Bessie's destructive influence which has spread to Suzy (and many other people over the years - watch out for Ruth's encounter with Mrs Fuller. Nasty) Patrick Troughton (who would appear in The Omen a year later) is summoned to battle Bessie in an overblown climax. Yet 'Nurse Will Make It Better' is a well-crafted story with some genuinely chilling moments. It continues the strong start to the fourth series and is well worth seeing.

Nifty little thriller

[thomandybish · 3 April 2001]

The former bombshell Diana Dors stars in this British film as an elderly woman who arrives to care for the paralyzed daughter of an American diplomat abroad in England. After she arrives, Bessy becomes part of the family. Miraculously, the daughter walks under Bessy's care, but sinister goings on begin to happen. The daughter's personality changes to cruel and devious, and the youngest sister also comes under Bessy's spell. Only Ruth, the middle daughter, is skeptical. As she searches for an answer, we learn that Bessy is not who she seems nor is she so benign . . .

Great little low budget British horror flick, known in the US as THE DEVIL'S WEB. And great, sinister background music. If you like the Hammer or Dark Shadows movies, you'll like this one.

Decent TV horror fare

[The_Void · 6/10 · 4 November 2007]

There were a lot of horror flicks made for TV in the seventies, a lot of them are fairly decent. This is another not brilliant one; but it's not bad either. The film was apparently made as a part of a TV series named 'Thriller', which I've never heard of. The plot is fairly well strung together, and focuses on Satanism. After a horse accident, a headstrong young girl finds herself paralysed. Her saviour arrives in the form of a plump nurse named Bessy, and she's soon promising to get the paralysed girl back up and on her feet...but only at a price. At just seventy minutes, the film doesn't really have time to explore the plot in much detail, but for a little TV movie it's not bad. Diana Dors excellently holds attention as the sinister nurse, and makes the film worth watching on her own. The action is pretty good and the film features a few interesting set pieces. The interplay between the supporting characters is decent enough too, and it boils down a silly but somewhat satisfying conclusion. I can't say that this is a great film and there have been better films based on the same subject - but it's not terrible and I'd say that The Devil's Web is worth a look.

Above Average "Thriller" Episode

[plgrief · 6/10 · 23 January 2011]

A superb Diana Dors is clearly enjoying herself as she chews up the scenery in this excellent supernatural-themed "Thriller" episode. The lovely Andrea Marcovicci provides an understated performance as one of a diplomat's three daughters who suspects that the new nurse (Dors)hired to care for her invalid sister is not entirely what she appears to be. After such an interesting set-up, the episode is strangely devoid of any real suspense and the expected climax comes a bit too pat. However, the remarkable Patrick Troughton finally makes an appearance in the episodes final minutes (other than his brief turn in the opening prologue); and his encounter with diabolical forces is almost as interesting as his memorable performance in "The Omen" a year later. Recommended.

Digitised Diana Dors creeps out the DVD generation

[nick-863 · 9/10 · 12 December 2007]

One of the best remembered episodes in the UK, when Thriller was Saturday night prime time telly. Diana Dors creeped out a generation of school age children who got to stay up past their bed time for the privilege, and many of us still remember her with a shudder, years later.

I thought it stood up pretty well. The supernatural side was largely played with subtlety, with some nice unseen moments in the Jacques Tourneur tradition. Denouements of supernatural episodes were usually anticlimactic in Thriller, and this one is better than most, with a well spoken epilogue.

The supporting cast is solid. All of the female victims of Bessie get their moments, as does the underrated Ed Bishop, and there's a bonus treat for fans of Patrick Troughton, and his repertoire of seedy characters (see The Omen and Inspector Morse).

It's Dors' show though. Her timing is spot on, she is by turns hammy, and understated, and I just know I wouldn't want to be left alone with her - even at the ripe old age of 47. It remains an inspired piece of casting.

There are a couple of plot holes, and this could actually have sustained 90 minutes worth, but otherwise, a pretty strong effort.

Good fun

[Wirefan122 · 7/10 · 21 June 2019]

Good fun as the 'nurse' is actually the devil harvesting souls! Diana Dors stars as the harvester and seems to be enjoying the role. Patrick Troughton also here as former leader of evangelicals (rest of which may have been killed by the 'nurse' also but that is just my guess). Ed Bishop of UFO fame has a small role also.

All in all not as predictable or dragged out as many previous episodes. Good time!

I'm happy to add my two-cents about this movie.

[waynec4348 · 8/10 · 17 October 2000]

Gripping tale of good verses evil! It is unknown until the very end which force will win out. Well acted, and well written. One scene in the car is particularly interesting. Diana Dors is powerful in her role as a house-nanny. The beautiful Linda Liles steals the show!

Camp Supernatural Tale

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 12 September 2013]

Interesting that this episode has the title of The Devil's web when in fact it was broadcast in Britain under the title of Nurse Will Make It Better which is an ironic title because nurse will make it anything but better . Americans don't do irony and this has syndicated for America written all over it . When ITC held the rights for the Thriller series they redid the title sequence to make it look like the episodes were one off TVMs and this episode has a very OTT title sequence of Satanists complete with American accents building a bonfire chanting " Black of night and moon return spirit enter and fire burn " which is completely ridiculous and OTT

The story itself is obviously made with an American audience in mind since it revolves around an American family - the Harrows - headed by Edgar Harrow an American diplomat living in the rural countryside . His eldest daughter Charley is crippled in a horse riding accident and a live in nurse arrives Bessy Morne and right away Bessy seems to have an agenda . You can never trust these affable caretakers

This is an unrepentant supernatural story with zero ambiguity . Bessy is the devil incarnate . The premise isn't necessarily bad and even though you have to suspend any disbelief there's something not quite right about the episode which is difficult to put your finger on . I think my own problem with it is that it's probably not stylised enough almost as though the producers are scared of making it an out and out horror tale . For a series of anthology tales an episode like this tends to jar with the rest of the show and might have worked much better in the later HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR . The climax also suffers from being shot in a studio on videotape which is a poor medium for the type of ending seen here . I also found a lack of explanation frustrating . What for example was Bessy's reasons for picking the Harrow family ?

You get the feeling that the cast are taking the parts on to merely have some fun and let their creative hair down . Amazing to think that twenty years earlier Diana Dors was being touted as the British Marilyn Monroe . Not to be disingenuous Dors was a very versatile actress and here she camps it up with a broad acting performance complete with West Country accent , and has there ever been a role for a woman with a broad West Country accent where she wasn't a witch ? Patrick Troughton will of course be forever remembered as playing the second incarnation of The Doctor but he was also an accomplished character actor and here he plays a drunken priest similar to his show stopping role in THE OMEN . The final scene of good versus will split opinion but I thought it as totally ridiculous as Dors and Troughton had a contest to see who could over act the most whilst spouting delightfully dreadful dialogue but credit to both of them for managing to keep a straight face

She's one hell of a nurse

[sherondalewis-20531 · 8/10 · 8 March 2023]

This a another great story from Thriller called "Nurse Will Make it Better" as Bessy Morne (played brilliantly and with great evil glee by Diana Dors), a "nurse" that is "called upon" from the agency to take care of a paralyzed young girl, the eldest daughter, Charley Harrow (Linda Liles) of an American diplomat (Cec Linder) who was hurt in a horse riding accident. His two other daughters, middle child Ruth and 16yr old Susy (Andrea Marcovicci and Tiffany Kinney) are trying to figure out how to help her, since one by one, nurses are leaving at a fast rate because of her anger over her condition.

Nurse Bessy introduces herself, goes upstairs to calm Charly down, and punches her to sleep. The silence is reassuring to all...except for middle sister Ruth, who finds something not quite right with Bessy. And in this story, we see that this Nurse is more into your soul than healing.

Soon, Charly can walk and, is more devoted to Bessy and young, impressionable Susy gets real comfortable with her as well, to the chagrin of Ruth and her father's bodyguard, who's dog was rid of quite quickly because animals can sense evil.

Now the oldest and youngest daughters are the new disciples to the devilish Bessy and is told to, "Be Faithful" as they run amuck, stop going to church, disobey and it is up to no good. What can Ruth do? And who can help her?

This episode was great in showcasing the great Diana Dors (whom you would never suspect it was her because she is soo glammed down) and how she didn't ham it up or chew a scenery. She played with a calm yet, scary touch as the nurse from hell, and when she is on screen, she takes command of the screen with her presence. The other actors in this story are very good, especially Andrea Marcovicci as the middle child who sensed immediately something wrong, Wendy Williams who played another disciple that was "nursed" by Bessy, Patrick Troughton as the Rev. That is trying to stop her and the bodyguard and boyfriend, Michael Culver and Ed Bishop (respectfully), are also on board trying to save the souls of Charly and Susy.

This was a very good episode...one of better ones (well, anything is better than "K is for Killing").