Individually and collectively, Stephen J. Cannell, Rod Holcomb, and Juanita Bartlett have worked on classic televised entertainment such as The Rockford Files, The Six Million Dollar Man, Fantasy Island, Battlestar Galactica, The Greatest American Hero, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, The A-Team, and Wiseguy, to name only a few. Their combined forces on Midnight Offerings (1981) must be a high-water mark in early 1980’s TV-movies, right? Well, that’s a hard “maybe.”
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The plot is certainly intriguing and takes unanticipated turns. While we know from the very beginning that Vivian Sotherland (Melissa Sue Anderson) is a practicing witch, we don’t learn until later that so is Robin Prentiss (Mary Beth McDonough), the new girl at Ocean High School. Of course, one is good, and one is evil, and the story builds to a climactic battle between the two. It’s Mary Ingalls versus Erin Walton! Or is it?
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Since the two have an earlier telekinetic fight at school, the ending is in a way anti-climactic, at least according to our expectations. It still packs a punch but might not be as satisfying as a good old-fashioned smackdown between the young women may have been. No spoilers, but it would have been a missed opportunity if at least one of the witches didn’t end up (or almost end up) burning at the stake.
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The mythology is that witches have real power that’s inherited through the family line, but you have to practice to develop the power. If, let’s say, your mother was a practicing witch and taught you everything you know, you’d exercise a few spells here and there to help you survive high school, which we all know can be tough for some people. But if your mother died when you were young, you might not recognize or understand your power.
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Midnight Offerings has a great cast of familiar television faces. There’s Marion Ross (Happy Days) as Emily Moore, the local expert on the occult. There’s Gordon Jump (WKRP in Cincinnati, Soap) and Cathryn Damon (Soap) as Vivian’s parents, Sherm and Diane Sotherland. And then there’s Patrick Cassidy, son of Shirley Jones and brother of Shaun and David, in his debut fresh out of the Christopher Atkins school of acting.
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Altogether, it’s a compelling mix. However, there are a couple jarring changes in tone and twice I noted, “This is creepy, but let’s get on with it.” The score by Walter Scharf offers great promise during the opening credits but contributes to the changes in tone in way that make the film inappropriately humorous. Finally, fans of The Witch (2015) and its terrifying Black Phillip might get a kick (pun intended) out of the school mascot.
Visit the TV Terror Guide: 70's TV Movies playlist at ClassicHorrors.Club TV on YouTube to watch Midnight Offerings and other great movies from this series.
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