Rating: 
Summary: Fun TV movie!!!
Review: When young Julia's (Lee Purcell) parents are killed in a car accident, she moves in with cousin Rachel (Linda Blair) and her family. At first, things are seemingly normal, but Rachel quickly comes to believe that the distant newcomer is a witch who's out to steal her boyfriend, her father, and her new party dress.The story is based on Louis Duncan's (I Know What You Did Last Summer) well-regarded young adult novel. For Linda Blair, the role marks a transition between her prepubescent "Exorcist" character and the flashy roles she'd play a few years later. In the same way, for director Wes Craven, the film is a huge step away from his early exploitation attempts (Last House on the Left, The Hills have Eyes) and toward mainstream respectability (A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream). Produced for CBS television in the 70's, as A Stranger in the House, standards and practices at the time didn't allow any gore or extreme violence -- a pair of demonic eyes and a car crash or two is all you're gonna get, so don't expect any more than cheesy 70's PG-13 violence. But comparing Wes Craven's early efforts, Summer of Fear is actually his most accomplished film, at least technically. His first feature shot on 35mm, Fear looks slicker, is generally better acted, and comes from acclaimed source material, which it sticks pretty closely to. That's not to say Summer of Fear is an undiscovered classic. The film is very campy, and offers plenty of unintentional laughs. Craven's direction is often rough and amateurish, but he shows some flair with background/foreground compositions and even throws in a few classic Craven-ian dream sequences to appease the Elm Street gang. I also like the fun supporting cast, including an appropriately bitchy Lee Purcell as the bad girl, a young Fran Drescher as Blair's best friend, and even Superman himself, Jeff East, complete with a bad perm.
This is a fun film to say the least, recommended for fans of the novel and those anxious to see Craven's Pre-Scream films. Don't expect anything special and you will have a good time. Thank you Artisan, for releasing this forgotten, but never lost, TV movie.
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