You'll Like My Mother (1972)
#3904
Viewing Date: 4-12-2012
Posting Date: 4-22-2012
Directed by Lamont Johnson
Featuring Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy, Richard Thomas
Country: USA
What it is: Thriller
A pregnant widow visits the home of her mother-in-law for the first time and gets a frosty reception. She decides to leave, but a blizzard strands her in the house, forcing her to stay. Then she begins to uncover some of the sinister secrets of the household...
I found this to be an enjoyable, tense and effective little thriller. One thing I like is that our heroine uses her brains; as she uncovers the family secrets, she's smart enough to know that if the others in the household knows that she knows, her life will be in great peril, and she tries her best to keep her knowledge a secret from them. The fact that she's pregnant ups the ante a little, especially considering that her baby is born while she's at the house, and both of their lives are at stake. It's also interesting to see Richard Thomas in a pre-WALTONS role; anyone who is only familiar with his work on that show will be surprised to see the scary psycho he plays here. There's also a real warmth here; you end up caring about the heroine, and the dim-witted family sister who she befriends. The story itself isn't particularly original, but it's handled well and quite effective.
