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Sally is haunted by more than a trilogy of terrors: a diminished
housewife under the spell of patriarchal authority, she seeks fulfillment by
decorating the empty spaces of her life. One of the creepiest made-for-TV
movies ever produced, director John Newland transmutes a woman’s struggle for
liberation into an existential supernatural thriller.
The plot is basic enough for a familial melodrama, as stay-at-home wife
Sally and her upwardly mobile husband Alex inherit an old decaying house. This
demesne becomes a status symbol, a show piece to suggest to Alex’s superiors
that he deserves membership into the “old boys” club, where a promotion means a
spiritual demotion for his lovely spouse because his career is more important
than his wife. Sally begins to disappear at home, to become an echo in some
vast conspiracy of ghosts…or something worse. Sally’s independence leads her to
self-destruction when she looks behind the earthly façade and into the abyss,
releasing three tiny trolls that torment her but ultimately want to subsume her
very soul.
The film is chock-full of scary moments: shrill taunting whispers, tiny
bug-like creatures scurrying just out of sight, dark shadows with things
bumping in the night, an old man and his dire (though ambiguous) warning and an
ancient door bolted closed for no apparent reason. A great setup for a haunted
house flick! But it’s the subtext that becomes chilling, as Sally begins to
question her status quo in the marriage; the rude beginnings to an uncivil war.
She has become a trophy to Alex, a thing that represents his achievements and not
hers, a union of one. Her friend is the ultimate Beverly Hills housewife,
married to a successful businessman who deals in synthetics, a superficial and
plastic sham where her womanhood, no her very humanity, is molded by another’s
desire and sacrificed for creature comfort. But Sally’s creatures only offer
fear and murder, and the immortal darkness as reward.
The marriage bleeds with normalcy as the story begins but soon dissolves
with only the slightest instigation. Alex is often angry and controlling as
Sally begins to question her surroundings and seek answers on her own. Her
independent actions lead to punishment, both by the little trolls and her
controlling husband. The creatures become a metaphor for children, released
from the black womb and into a marriage that is already beginning to diminish.
Though Sally and Alex never talk of children it is naturally the next step in
the progression. And Sally, if she stays in the marriage, will be devoured by
the burden, become invisible to Alex and a stranger in her own strange land of
identity. She wants out but cannot escape, trapped in a prison of marital
remiss. But the “children” finally capture her and drag her back into the ashes
and dust, while Alex is lost in misunderstanding. Finally, Sally becomes victim
to a patriarchal altruism: a woman’s place is in the home. Forever.
Final Grade: (B)
