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      The Norliss Tapes

      TV-PG 1973 1 hr. 14 min. Horror List
      Reviews 36% 50+ Ratings Audience Score David Norliss (Roy Thinnes) is a reporter hard at work on a book that he hopes will debunk many supposedly supernatural and occult phenomena as hoaxes. In the process, he meets Ellen Cort (Angie Dickinson), a well-to-do widow who insists that her dead husband has come back to haunt her as a zombie. No one has believed her story, and David is no different until, after more investigation, he learns the horrible truth. Once a doubter, he decides to help Ellen prove her story is real. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Sabrina F The Norliss Tapes is a Dan Curtis movie-of-the week in the vein of the great Kolchak movies. In The Norliss Tapes we follow David Norliss, a famous writer who specializes in debunking all things occult and paranormal. We follow his first case involving a recent widow who claims to have been attacked by her late husband. Through Norliss' investigation he learns that the widow's late husband became fascinated by the occult, while he was terminally ill. Another girl is killed, and the body is drained of blood. Are the two attacks connected? Does the widow's late husband have anything to do with the attacks, and, if so, how is a dead man still alive? I enjoyed The Norliss Tapes. Though it was fairly predictable, giving away everything pretty early on, it was still an easy watch. Roy Thinnes, who played Norliss, is a charming presence. He has an intensity about him. None of the other characters are dynamic, but the actors who played them did a serviceable job. There was a cute couple who owned a motel that were a highlight among the supporting cast. That brings me to what makes The Norliss Tapes not quite a 4-star movie. I could not help but compare this movie to The Kolchak films. What makes the Kolchak films and the series something I like to revisit from time to time is the characters. The creative team behind Kolchak gave us interesting characters, especially the lovable rogue Carl Kolchak. There is good banter between the characters, and I love the noirish city atmosphere. And Darren McGavin, who played Kolchak, is just a top-notch actor. The Norliss Tapes did not really give any dimension to the characters. There were just flat, and all of the characters in Kolchak have life to them, even if they are only on screen for a minute or two. I was never bored watching The Norliss Tapes, just a bit underwhelmed at the end. Don't expect great special effects, if you watch the one. I have a feeling Curtis and crew were on a tight budget, Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/27/24 Full Review Sau r Outstanding tv horror film, a extremely well directed Dan Curtis production. Some of the most frightening scenes ever on tv. Must see movie! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/20/23 Full Review glenn p Scared the heeby jeepys out of me when i was a kid Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review delysid d this movie is so lame! what a piece of junk Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/02/19 Full Review Audience Member A prototypical 1970s television spooky movie-of-the-week, THE NORLISS TAPES follows in the footsteps of THE NIGHT STALKER and is one of the better made-for-TV genre entries I've seen. Its premise is intriguing: a writer (and paranormal debunker) goes missing, and the only evidence that exists is a collection of cassette tapes on which he dictated his most recent case. In that sense, the story's a mystery within a mystery, and it works well on that level. It's a well-paced 72 minutes of supernatural shenanigans, and it's directed well by Dan Curtis; the staging and blocking of scenes is consistently interesting, there are a couple of nifty long(ish) takes, and the film makes nice use of its San Francisco-area setting. If there's a criticism to be made, it would be that THE NORLISS TAPES is pretty much right out of NIGHT STALKER's playbook, from the subject matter, to the overall look, to the premise, to the voice-over narration. This is not a bad thing in and of itself, but it does leave things feeling just a little bit familiar to those who've seen THE NIGHT STALKER (or its follow-up series, KOLCHAK). Still, it's an above average slice of '70s genre television. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Scary, Spooky and Eerie--A film that qualifies as a genuine "creepie"!! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Debi Moore Dread Central If you go into a movie like this expecting it to hold its own against the standards of today's fare, then you're only asking to be let down. Rated: 2/5 Sep 30, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis David Norliss (Roy Thinnes) is a reporter hard at work on a book that he hopes will debunk many supposedly supernatural and occult phenomena as hoaxes. In the process, he meets Ellen Cort (Angie Dickinson), a well-to-do widow who insists that her dead husband has come back to haunt her as a zombie. No one has believed her story, and David is no different until, after more investigation, he learns the horrible truth. Once a doubter, he decides to help Ellen prove her story is real.
      Director
      Dan Curtis
      Rating
      TV-PG (L|V)
      Genre
      Horror
      Original Language
      English