(1974)
3
Robert Firsching
This amusing made-for-TV thriller, based on John Holbrook Vance's novel, tells the story of a high-school outcast (Scott Jacoby) who accidentally murders a young girl for teasing him. Jacoby's over-protective mother (Kim Hunter) is concerned about his future, so she decides to hide him from the police by constructing a secret walled-up room in the house. Jacoby's hiding-place goes undetected and everyone thinks he ran away, but trouble brews when Hunter dies during gall-bladder surgery and the house is purchased by a family with three young daughters. Jacoby hides and spies on the family for weeks, fancying pretty Cindy Fisher to be the Princess of Atranta, a mythical kingdom which he invented with elaborate paintings in his room. When the parents go on vacation, Jacoby makes his move, and it's up to a crusty cop and the brother of his first victim to stop him. This is a brief (74 minutes) but absorbing film highlighted by Jacoby and Hunter's early scenes together and tight direction by Buzz Kulik. If there is one flaw here, it's a rather abrupt ending, but this minor chiller is otherwise surprisingly good.
Bad Ronald on AllMovie
Bad Ronald (1974)
