Bad Ronald (1974) (TV)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Buzz Kulik

Writers:

John Holbrook Vance (novel)
Andrew Peter Marin (teleplay)

Release Date:

23 October 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The Wilby place is haunted... by a ghost who isn't dead!

Plot:

A shy teenager accidentally kills a mocking peer, and his mother helps him hide in a spare room in their house...

Plot Keywords:

House | Fantasy World | Teen | Teenager | Hiding

Cast

Scott Jacoby	...	Ronald Wilby
Pippa Scott	...	Mrs. Wood
John Larch	...	Sgt. Lynch
Dabney Coleman	...	Mr. Wood
Kim Hunter	...	Elaine Wilby
John Fiedler	...	Mr. Roscoe
Linda Watkins	...	Mrs. Schumacher
Cindy Fisher	...	Babs Wood
Cindy Eilbacher	...	Althea Wood
Lisa Eilbacher	...	Ellen Wood
Ted Eccles	...	Duane Mathews
Lesley Woods	...	Aunt Margaret
Aneta Corsaut	...	Mrs. Mathews
Shelley Spurlock	...	Laurie Mathews
Angela Hoffman	...	Carol Mathews

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Lorimar Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When Babs runs downstairs in Mrs. Schumaker's house, the basement door opens out into the kitchen and the hinges are on the kitchen side. When Ronald shuts that door, the scene shows him pulling it shut from the kitchen side. When Babs knocks the hinge pins out to escape, the hinges are on the basement side.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Ugly Betty: Bad Amanda (#3.10)" (2008)

memorable

I was eleven or younger when I watched his film. I had sat up late watching t.v. with my father (sometimes we would do that until it went off the air--remember those days?). He fell asleep and I ended up watching Bad Ronald, the last thing on that night, all alone.

All I know is, I couldn't stop watching until the end, and I have never forgotten this movie. It scared me so much that I was afraid to get up and turn the t.v. off when it was over, and I still have a surprisingly clear recall of the film more than twenty years later. Surely this says something about the power of the idea, if nothing else.

Ronald's fantasy world was a big stand-out to me, as was the horror of his position, unexpectedly deserted by the only person who loved him.