Home for the Holidays (1974)

Fantastic!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I remember seeing this movie once as a kid. Three items present made an impression on me: the yellow slicker or rain coat, the gloves, and the dark blue Mercedes Benz 300 SEL. I was positively surprised to see this movie online and the sentimental journey of seeing it anew was quite a charge to me!HFTH is perhaps not too original, being a kind of family murder mystery, but childhood nostalgia is childhood nostalgia, and the musical score is actually breathtaking - almost as if composed by some neoclassical master. Very well suited for this rather 'gothic' melodrama. The composer was George Aliceson(!) Tipton - a prolific creator of soundtracks back then.Two household names of the 70s appear in this ABC movie of the week: Sally Field and Jessica Walter. Having been somewhat type-cast as a neurotic, Walter plays an alcoholic here, and she does not survive to the final credits.A feel good drama for the frequently boring Christmas/New Year's Holidays, I dare say.

When the film begins, Benjamin (Walter Brennan) has brought his four daughters home using various pretenses. His real goal is to gather them together to ask them to do him a favor...murder his wife Elizabeth (Julie Harris). He's convinced she's trying to poison him and although he's been a poor father, he tries to use guilt to get them to do the deed. Not surprisingly, they don't....but soon the daughters start dying off one by one. Who is responsible?This is a good made for TV film with one big problem...the casting of the daughters. You are expected to believe Sally Field (26) and Eleanor Parker (53) are sisters! A mother and daughter, maybe...but not sisters. Some just be able to look past this...I couldn't. It's a shame as with a more believable cast, the film would have been even better. The plot is interesting and the film worth your time...though I did predict the ending.

Four sisters come 'Home for the Holidays' when it appears that their father is dying. Their father tells them that his new wife Elizabeth is slowly poisoning him to death, and that he summoned them all there to kill her before she kills him! They just think he's a silly old man, but eventually the sister's begin being stalked (and some of them even killed) by a person in a bright yellow raincoat. This new wife of his was also suspected years ago of killing her first husband, but was never charged. It's a Christmas murder mystery, and with seemingly unhinged Elizabeth as the main suspect... will anyone survive?I enjoyed 'Home for the Holidays', it's even become a Christmas tradition here at my place to watch it. However, it's not the best "Made for TV" movie put out there that's for sure. It drags on just a little too much, so some people might lose interest with it early on. Some of it plays off like a soap opera, with all of the in fighting with the sisters. It can get a little tedious, but I enjoyed the family squabbles to be honest. The acting was very dramatic and over the top, perfect for 1972. Sally Field puts in a good performance as the good sister Christine, and Julie Harris does well as Elizabeth.'Home for the Holidays' has an interesting twist to the end of the mystery, which most people could probably see coming a mile away. Nevertheless, it's a good one and adds up to the story we get from the four sister's and how messed up they all are (minus Christine). I'd check this one out if you find it, it's a good addition to the "Holiday Horror" sub-genre.7/10

The plot = Four sisters are summoned back to they're family home by their sick father who suspects that his current wife is slowly poisoning him Though the sisters disagree on the validity of their Father's rantings, it soon becomes clear that someone wants to silence the girls as well! But who could it be? There's nothing like a good murder at Christmas time. An old Gothic mansion, mystery and suspense are all the makings for a good horror, in this early 70's TV movie. Although not bloody or gory, it's the performances that makes this movie work, especially from the 4 sisters, we get Alex played beautifully by Eleanor Parker whose the oldest sister who watches over her three younger siblings ever since they're mother died, then we have the party girl Jo (Played by British Actress Jill Haworth), Freddie the tragic pill popping alcoholic whose never got over her mother's death (A wonderfully hammy performance by Jessica Walter) and the youngest sister the sweet naive Christine (Played by Sally Field) who would go on to bigger and better things. We also have Julie Harris who plays the step mother who was once accused of poisoning her last husband, could she be doing it again.The dark eerie settings of the mansion and the tension between the sisters really makes this movie work mixes up the horror/thriller themes of the 50's and 60's and before (old dark house; sibling rivalry; American Gothic; grand inheritances and murderous motives) and what was to become the slasher standards of the 80's. Sally Field makes a wonderful heroine like when she's getting stalked in the hoods by someone with a pitchfork and yellow raincoat. This movie was very low budget and it does show in some parts and also, this movie does get quite boring at times, but other than that, this relatively unknown thriller makes for good viewing.