Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Spooky yet fun light mystery
Cons: 70's elements
The Bottom Line:
Spooky mystery
Yet enough fun elements
To entertain all
Spooky Second Episode for the Hardy Boys
During the late 70's, there was a three season series inspired by the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books for young kids. Before season DVD sets were widely available, some of those episodes were released on VHS. The Mystery of Witches' Hollow is one of those episodes.
This is the third episode of the series and the second one
to feature the Hardy Boys (the first season alternated between the two sleuths
each week). In it, Frank and Joe Hardy
(Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy) are planning a camping trip with their
friends Callie Shaw (Lisa Eilbacher) and Chet Morton (Gary Springer). On the way, they are going to make a stop for
their father Fenton (Edmund Gilbert).
Callie's uncle has called and asked for some help. The boys are going to stop by and see what's
going on.
The gang arrives on a dark and stormy night (naturally), to
find only the housekeeper in the cabin.
She is ranting about the curse of Witches' Hollow and how that is what
has happened to Callie's uncle. A quick
look around the cabin makes it obvious something has happened to the man, but
what? Will anyone even believe them?
Both of the Hardy Boys mysteries to this point have been
spooky (the pilot took place at a haunted house), but this one is definitely
spookier. The storm adds to the
atmosphere for the first scene, and a good portion of the story takes place at
night in the nearby woods with people stalking our heroes. No, it's nothing too scary, but for TV at the
time, the atmosphere is pretty decent.
Like the books themselves, the mystery is fairly light. There are no red herrings but a series of
strange events that unravel once the Hardys start investigating. That doesn't make it any less fun seeing
where things lead.
This is also the first appearance of Chet. He seemed the most like his character from
the book, always frightened and hungry.
He provided some fun moments to help lighten the episode. I also like the relationship between Frank
and Joe in the series. They are a bit
more relaxed and fun, even lightly teasing each other. You don't see that too often in the books.
Being the late 70's, there's a healthy dose of cheese with
the story. Also, the scenes in the dark
are often poorly lit, so it's sometimes hard to follow the action.
The acting is certainly adequate. I'd be hard pressed it call it outstanding,
but it works for the mood of the story and there was nothing to through me out
of things.
I thought the lighting was fine, the acting not so much. Shaun Cassidy being especially poor. I didn't think Chet resembled the character in the book either but I'm going by a 35 year old memory. I don't recall him being that bumbling. I'll continue to watch the rest of the series on Netflix to see how they turn out.
ReplyDeleteWhat you see here is pretty much what you get. It's 70's cheese, but if you keep that in mind as you watch, you'll find it's fun.
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