Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Michael_Elliott The Norliss Tapes (1973) *** (out of 4) Another effective winner from Dan Curtis has writer David Norliss (Roy Thinnes) preparing a book that will expose all sorts of fake supernatural elements but he then meets a woman (Angie Dickinson) whose husband has came back from the dead as a vampire. THE NORLISS TAPE was just one of several made-for-TV products from Curtis and there's no question that he was a master at this type of film. It's pretty fun to watch all of these made-for-TV films from this era and see how much better the films of Curtis are and it's fair to call him the master of these movies. There's a lot of good stuff going on here but what I enjoyed most was the dark atmosphere created by the director. The scenes at night with the vampire stalking around were quite effective and you can almost feel the creature breathing down your neck. There were several good jump scenes where the viewer is expecting something to happen but Curtis perfectly builds up the tension before having the monster jump out at you. Another good thing was the make-up of the actual vampires. THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN features a very green monster and the vampires here are quite similar and I found this to be an effective and good look for them. It also doesn't hurt that the film is told in a mystery-style format that allows the viewer just to sit back and go along for the ride as we try to figure out why the husband has come back to life. Thinnes is very good in the lead role and he makes you believe this character and the situation. Dickinson doesn't give a great performance but she's always fun to watch as is Don Porter and Claude Akins. Fans of the vampire genre or made-for-TV movies will certainly want to check this one out.

holderdj I saw this when I was maybe 8/9 years old and for YEARS afterward had many problems with closed curtains at night. I was more afraid of the dead artist guy than the devil coming to life part. I was afraid that he'd be standing there like in the film, with his dead, white eyes, ready to jump through the glass.Great film - haven't seen it in maybe 30 years. If i see it again, I hope it matches up to the original terror. Someone made the comment that the 70's TV horror films were just much scarier than anything new coming out. Maybe it was poor budgeting and cheesy special effects that made them focus on story and atmosphere. In any event, I haven't been scared by anything of the screen since those years. The Norliss Tapes, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark... sigh

Golgo-13 This film is a made-for-TV pilot movie. Sadly, the show never went into production; I think it would have made for decent horror fare. As it stands, The Norliss Tapes is an interesting enough story about an author who is writing a book to disprove the supernatural. His research, however, proves otherwise. The movie seems to have sort of a minor cult following but I honestly didn't think it was anything special at all (it was average at best), or even all that scary (despite the claims). Really, I believe it's one of those shows that linger in someone's mind if they had watched it at a younger age, nostalgia and all that.

senchokid The only reason "The Norliss Tapes" deserves ANY stars is the presence of Angie Dickinson in the cast. Other than getting to see Angie Baby in a pre-"Police Woman" performance, there's nothing else worth seeing here.THE SYNOPSIS: *** MINOR SPOILERS *** David Norliss is tapped to write a book on the supernatural. One day he mysteriously disappears after phoning his publisher and suggesting he has stumbled across something that has placed him in mortal danger. The entire series for which this miserable pilot was written was apparently intended to be a series of flashbacks via the "Norliss tapes" -- a set of audio tapes the writer recorded while investigating cases of the supernatural. In the pilot episode, a wealthy sculptor dies -- but not before purchasing an ancient Egyptian scarab ring from a local occultist who assures him the bauble will give him immortality after death. We soon discover the ring itself doesn't grant immortality. Instead, it only reanimates the sculptor's corpse, allowing him to escape his crypt so he can run around town draining pretty girls of all their blood. Blue-faced, yellow-eyed and growling out ARRRGHHHHHHs you haven't heard since you last watched "Scooby Doo" cartoons, the sculptor attacks his wife (Dickinson) one dark night. She escapes and, via a mutual acquaintance, contacts Norliss to get his assistance in solving the mystery behind her late husband's uncanny reappearance on her estate. So is this guy a vampire? No. There's no vampire in this story despite what you may have read or heard. The sculptor doesn't drink his victims' blood -- he collects it. How? Don't know. We only see him attacking, never collecting. Why? To fulfill the second part of his bid for immortality. It turns out the reanimated sculptor will only be allowed to live forever if he builds a life-size statue of a demon named Sargoth out of a mixture of clay and human blood. Once it's finished, Sargoth plans to inhabit the statue, using it as his gateway into our world.THE FINAL ANALYSIS: "The Norliss Tapes" wasn't picked up as a series for a very good reason... it was garbage. As you can see from my synopsis, the story is a paltry, ill-conceived mess. The acting and dialogue offer no better. This isn't even a contender for a "So Bad It's Good" Award. Sometimes bad is just bad. After years of hearing underground rumblings about the great merits of "The Norliss Tapes," I was very excited to find it airing on Fox Movie Channel on 10/15/03. I wish I hadn't set myself up for the fall. Having screened this groaner for the first time two days ago, I can only assume any applause you've heard so far from other IMDB reviewers is coming from those who are reviewing the show based on dim memories and the nostalgia of youth. Or perhaps they are simply loyal fans of Dan Curtis. Either way, they've offered you misleading reviews of "The Norliss Tapes." Pauly Orchid -- October 17, 2003