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Just perfect...

Good concept, poorly executed.

Best movie of this year hands down!

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS is the story of the Morgan family, and their Christmas reunion. Patriarch, Benjamin Morgan (Walter Brennan) is near death, which is the only reason his daughters, Frederica (Jessica Walter- PLAY MISTY FOR ME), Joanna (Jill Haworth- IT!), Christine (Sally Field- SYBIL), and Alex (Eleanor Parker- CAGED) have reunited. They have reason to believe that his current wife, Elizabeth (Julie Harris- THE HAUNTING) just might be trying to speed up Benjamin's departure. The sisters already suspect that Elizabeth had something to do w/ their mother's untimely death, and are now asked to commit their own unspeakable act, in order to save their father's life. Stranded by a severe storm, w/ the phone line dead, what unfolds is a story of family dysfunction, bitterness, and insanity. Not surprisingly, nothing is quite as it appears, and no one is above suspicion! Oh, and there are murders as well! Several murders in fact. Sort of an updated "old dark house" suspense / thriller, this made-for-TV movie is a wonderful example of the above average quality of such movies of the period. It also has a fairly menacing killer, straight out of a giallo! Annnnd, the final twist is perfectly... executed!...

Revisited this after two decades since my only recollection of it was that it featured a lot of rain. Family matriarch Benjamin Morgan (Walter Brennan) has his three estranged daughters - Frederica (Jessica Walter, Christine (Sally Field) and Joanna (Jill Haworth) - join him and his fourth daughter, Alex (Eleanor Parker), for Christmas. His reason is simple - he wants them to kill his new wife Elizabeth (Julie Harris), who he believes is slowly poisoning him. This is an effective holiday horror with great performances by all of the leading ladies. The mystery by writer Joseph Stefano might be easy to figure out, but there are still some great moments of suspense. Some of it is pretty shocking for a early '70s TV movie. For example, there is one great bit where Benjamin is dressing down his daughters and he flat out says Frederica was a hussy in junior high. Don't think that would fly today. Director John Llewellyn Moxey does a great job creating the trapped, rainy night atmosphere and gets the most out of their location (which is the same farmhouse where Spielberg shot SOMETHING EVIL).

I just bought this movie used on VHS. It was kind of slow and boring at times, but towards the end, the movie starts getting better overall. It is a good little thriller but not enough for little tiny kids to watch. Great acting and great plot. My rating of this movie is seven stars out of ten stars.

Four daughters return to the old homestead when they receive a note from their elderly father saying his new wife is slowly poisoning him to death. The daughters are an eclectic bunch; an alcoholic obsessed with the memory of their dead mother, a many-times married blonde, the eldest sister who constantly frets over them and the youngest who doesn't seem to know what's going on through most of the film, played by a very young Sally Field. The rain has washed out the road (hate when that happens)the phone is dead and someone is bumping off the family one by one. For an older tv movie this one is actually done pretty well. Decent writing and well acted, it will have you guessing. **1/2