Lee Grant

Susan Myers

Lelia Goldoni

Helen Hunt

Jack Colvin

James Olson

James Greene

Wright King

Barbara Bostock

Doney Oatman

Richard Carlyle

Kathleen Hughes

Robert Gibbons

Arthur Peterson

Marneen Fields

Leoda Richards

Lee Phillips

Brian Taggert

Don L. Cash

Shirley Crawford

Michael Westmore

Joseph M. Ellis

Toby Lovallo

Rich Valesko

Barry Thomas

Marvin Kerner

Lila Finn

Thomas Fries

Milton Hubatka

John Fresco

John Mick

Tommy Tedesco

Peter Hubbard

Linda Sony Kinney

Richard Berg

Charles W. Fries

David Manson

Gerald Fried

Matthew F. Leonetti

David Newhouse

Eddie Foy III

Robert MacKichan

Norman Rockett

Larry Roberts

Yvonne Kubis

Ed Sunley

Lily La Cava

Horror

TV Movie

The Spell

Stonehenge Productions

Charles Fries Productions

United States of America

_**Television “Carrie” knockoff fused with witchy elements**_  

An outcast girl in high school is teased because she’s a little hefty (Susan Myers) but she seems to have a way of getting back at her persecutors. What’s her secret? Lee Grant plays her caring mother while Helen Hunt is on hand as her rival younger sister (at 13 years of age). 

"The Spell" (1977) is TV horror that mixes “Carrie” (1976) with a dab of witchcraft, paving the way for similar television flicks in the future, e.g. “Summer of Fear” (1978) and “Midnight Offerings” (1981). 

While this is easily the least of these due to the unlikable protagonist and a curious, slapdash tone, there are several highlights beyond the cast, such as the believable family dynamics, a well-done horror sequence involving a hex and a surprising curveball in the last act. 

The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, with a shorter version running 1 hour, 13 minutes (the latter does a good job of editing out the fat). It was shot at Universal Studios, Universal City, California.

GRADE: C+/B- (5.5/10)

English

Gym Class