cult film freak: SIAN BARBARA ALLEN IN THE TV-HORROR 'SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY'

Written by James M. Tate / 11/10/2020 / No comments / bette davis , exploitation , haunted house , horror , seventies , sian barbara allen , ted bessell , tovah feldshuh , tv movie

SIAN BARBARA ALLEN IN THE TV-HORROR 'SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY'

11/10/2020 | No comment

Sian Barbara Allen & Ted Bessell Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2

Sian Barbara Allen is one of those artsy-looking actresses that could only derive from the 1970's: A round-faced Jessica Harper type that a guy would hopelessly crush on after being her friend a little while, and is so down-to-earth she doesn't quite realize how PRETTY she is, even when that aspect pivots the title SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY... yet all she really does is whine the name, "Jeffrey..."

Who's a sculptor living in a dark Los Angeles mansion with mom Bette Davis, a mellower BABY JANE here... but since horror leans on youth, Sian Barbara Allen is both the ingenue and antagonist...

Extremely antagonistic and pushy to her new boss (for which she was hired to do some light housekeeping) played by benign THAT GIRL actor Ted Bessell, who, it turns out, harbors a crazy sister in the guest house and... the end of PRETTY PEGGY is both predictable and blasphemous to another movie about a man-child with mommy-issues. And yet the dark and contained setting serves up a nicely balanced combination of old school haunted house and modern exploitation body count, which only includes two victims but it's genuinely terrifying how "the sister" looks, knife-poised in semi-darkness, and it's no surprise this kinda show scared television audiences when we all had relatively small screens. A wider view uncovers all the dated flaws, but there's still a nice little short-story vibe extended to the usual 90-minutes, and is only on YouTube where these last-known-photo photos come from. But what the hell... it adds to the creepiness of the story, and the monkey-cuteness of the ingenue.

Sian Barbara Allen as Peggy in SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY

Sian Barbara Allen as Peggy in SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY with Johnnie Collins III

Sian Barbara Allen and BETTE DAVIS in SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY

First role for Tovah Feldshuh in the intro to SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY

Sian Barbara Allen as Peggy in SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY

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Tags : bette davis , exploitation , haunted house , horror , seventies , sian barbara allen , ted bessell , tovah feldshuh , tv movie

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