The plot is average and the outcome is very predictable. What keeps it interesting is Mr. Lansing acting. I appreciate how shows in the past kept actors working by using them in anthology shows. This is a ok episode with the cheating spouse out to murder his or hers other half. Why don't they file for divorce or just leave.
2 Reviews
How About A Nice Trip To The Lake, Sweetie?
JasonDanielBaker1 February 2015
Successful businessman and socialite Arthur Randall (Robert Lansing) can't secure a divorce from his domineering misanthrope wife Ellen (Anne Haddy - Rosie Palmer on the Aussie soap opera Neighbors). Having an affair with his secretary Cynthia (Anna Bowdon) he would like to be rid of Ellen to marry the cheerful, lovely and considerably younger receptionist.
Arthur decides to kill Ellen and make it look like an accident. On a vacation to their lake house he takes her boating. With the motor going full speed he shoves her over board whilst she is being particularly hostile. He gets away with it and is soon sipping champagne with his mistress/soon-to-be wife. The celebration is short-lived as unexplained things begin to happen.
The acting performances are good but the facile and derivative conclusion to this badly written ghost story ruins it. This also featured dialogue which suggested, for the benefit of American audiences, that what we were seeing was happening in the United States when quite plainly it was shot in Australia.
This was the very first episode in the 26-show, single-season run of the Australian TV series the Evil Touch. Hosted by English actor Anthony Quayle, it was much like various other shows in the vein of the Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, Night Gallery et cetera. But the emphasis was on horror rather than the science fiction and philosophical irony of the Twilight Zone.
To maximize appeal to foreign distributors American actors were flown over to star in each episode flanked by veterans of Australian theater and the burgeoning film/TV industry Down Under. An American setting was implied even though it was quite obvious that almost everything about the production was Australian. Far from the best that Australian TV has had to offer domestic or foreign viewers it was nevertheless a guilty pleasure for some.
Canadian productions of the day flew American actors in far more often due to geographical proximity. Similarly to the Australian offerings, production value in Canadian productions was to be found in the outdoor scenery rather than the infrastructure and technical sophistication offered by the Hollywood motion picture machine.
An American actor, whether they happened to be any good or not, could inject credibility due to their presence in Hollywood works audiences had seen. Foreign shows with lower budgets and home-grown talent didn't go over as well.
Arthur decides to kill Ellen and make it look like an accident. On a vacation to their lake house he takes her boating. With the motor going full speed he shoves her over board whilst she is being particularly hostile. He gets away with it and is soon sipping champagne with his mistress/soon-to-be wife. The celebration is short-lived as unexplained things begin to happen.
The acting performances are good but the facile and derivative conclusion to this badly written ghost story ruins it. This also featured dialogue which suggested, for the benefit of American audiences, that what we were seeing was happening in the United States when quite plainly it was shot in Australia.
This was the very first episode in the 26-show, single-season run of the Australian TV series the Evil Touch. Hosted by English actor Anthony Quayle, it was much like various other shows in the vein of the Twilight Zone, the Outer Limits, Night Gallery et cetera. But the emphasis was on horror rather than the science fiction and philosophical irony of the Twilight Zone.
To maximize appeal to foreign distributors American actors were flown over to star in each episode flanked by veterans of Australian theater and the burgeoning film/TV industry Down Under. An American setting was implied even though it was quite obvious that almost everything about the production was Australian. Far from the best that Australian TV has had to offer domestic or foreign viewers it was nevertheless a guilty pleasure for some.
Canadian productions of the day flew American actors in far more often due to geographical proximity. Similarly to the Australian offerings, production value in Canadian productions was to be found in the outdoor scenery rather than the infrastructure and technical sophistication offered by the Hollywood motion picture machine.
An American actor, whether they happened to be any good or not, could inject credibility due to their presence in Hollywood works audiences had seen. Foreign shows with lower budgets and home-grown talent didn't go over as well.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews