Visions... (1972 TV Movie) User Reviews (6)

love this pre-Dead Zone movie

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 9 July 2005]

I saw this movie on late-night television and to this day, I remember sitting bolt upright in bed during one scene - it was that compelling! Monte Markham, Telly Savalas, and Barbara Anderson all do a wonderful job in this movie that, by thirty years, predated all the psychic shows we see today - 1-800-Missing, Dead Zone, Medium, not to mention the shows of the real-life psychics John Edward and James Van Pragh.

Markham plays a psychic trying to stop a mad bomber. When he touches someone, he can see what's going to happen to them, and, if they're going to die, they kind of digitalize in front of him - i.e., when the pixels break up on your digital transmission. Though he can't control the visions, with the help of Savalas, he learns to channel them better.

This is a very suspenseful, exciting film. Hopefully it's available somewhere.

A RARE, ALMOST THEATER QUALITY, TV MOVIE

[sataft-2 · 8/10 · 5 July 2001]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** When I viewed this film almost 30 years ago, I expected nothing more than another 'run of the mill' made for television movie. Surprisingly, that's not what I got.Within the first 15 minutes of the two hour production, my eyes were glued to the small screen.

Telly (pre-Kojac) Savalas and Monte Markham deliver believable human, performances. And even Barbara Anderson, an actress who never achieved early career expectations, is superb within a limited characterization.

They key element here is the deft underplaying of the roles by competent actors,under skillful direction. Other contributing factors are a tight, well written, script that turns the unbelievable into the far more frightening, possible. The plot is quite simple, and within it's simplicity lies it's credibility.

Markam is a college professor who experiences inexplicable visions from the mind of a mad bomber. He can't see the man's face, but he does envision everything else. The Professor doesn't want these visions, but they keep coming, and events authenticate that they're real. And though he fears for both his safety and privacy, he is driven by a strong moral sense to contact the authorities.

The key authority in this case is a highly skeptical,veteran police officer played by Savalas, whose early skepticism is eventually worn down by an undeniable chain of deadly events. Slowly, he becomes first a believer, then forceful employer of Markham's powers.

Unfortunately, word of the Professor's powers leaks to the press, and the bomber is alerted to the visions he's been having from the Professor's head. And this unseen villain is not stupid, which becomes chillingly evident as he works through his visions to backtrack to the one person who can reveal his identity, the Professor.

Very little attempt is made to explain the Professor's visions and, this absence of complex theoretical science does not subtract from, but actually furthers the believability of the plot. The production is not perfect, but it's damn good.

The limited special effects of the time are, surprisingly, highly effective by their equally limited use. Why is that a plus? Well think about it. There were only three key violent scenes in the 60's film classic "Psycho", but they were incredibly effective because everything in between was suspense. So it is for this television movie.

Hopefully, somewhere out there is a smart producer who will see this almost forgotten TV production, and realize it's potential as big screen fare in a quality remake. But until then, should you get the chance to view this movie, don't pass up the opportunity. Try to find it on video, without the TV commercials of the original airing. You won't be disappointed.

visions of death

[larksong-47-710607 · 10/10 · 7 May 2011]

I have always been a fan of Monte Markham. I love the paranormal with a special interest in esp. Markham is a low key actor. he doesn't emote what he does is bring a believability to any character he plays. he literally has you on the edge of your seat, he's that good. Visions is very believable and very well acted by the entire cast. Markham brings a character to life as easily as anything. visions is unique in it's way of telling a story. Markhams' , Professor Lowell is a remarkably troubled man you root for him to triumph, at the same time, you hate and feel for his reluctance to use his ability under the skepticism of the police he is trying to help. This movie grabbed me from the word go and didn't release me until the end. As a suspense mystery, it lived up to it's promise of a well thought out story. if I were rating this movie I'd give it 4 stars for content alone.

Kick-ass!

[josephmoore_74 · 30 April 2004]

I saw this film on TV in the mid-late 80's and thought it rocked. All I could remember was that some guy had scary visions of bombings and murders, and when he looked at someone he had had a vision of, the screen sort of shattered like a mirror. At the time I thought this most impressive, especially for an old TV movie. It has always stayed in my mind and I wish that it would be shown again on mainstream terrestrial TV, instead of the pap that we are currently being served up!!! But I would disagree that Hollywood should do a remake, because big budget remakes suck - I give you "Psycho", "The Italian Job", "Starsky & Hutch" etc. although if they did, let's see Vin Diesel in the Telly Savalas role. He's got the slaphead for it!

A race against time to stop a bolting train of constantly worse calamities

[clanciai · 9/10 · 1 October 2023]

No matter what you may think of Telly Savalas as a very unpolished police officer without any scruples, here he starts as bad as ever, thinking the man who foresaw a sabotage bombing must have been the brain and person to plant the bomb, and going through all sorts of psychiatric tests with him to get him nailed, until he predicts another bombing which he impossibly could have been involved with. That at last makes Telly Savalas change his mind and start taking the clairvoyant seriously and start using him for the prevention of further bombings, which is not successful, and his lovely girl protests violently against having him used for his powers to help the police, and there is an interesting development here of the policeman's mind. The case is clear and gets constantly clearer, as the hunt for the bomber goes on with the awareness of the importance of every second, which makes this thriller truly exciting. It is well done, well thought up, well directed and ends well in spite of all, but of course it would have been better if Monte Markham had been taken seriously from the beginning. It's the same old story, the more dead serious you are, the less you are taken seriously.

Excellent time passer.

[joegarbled-79482 · 9/10 · 9 October 2023]

"Visions Of Death" turned out to be a fine time passer. Thankfully, the completely wooden Barbara Anderson's second billing doesn't quite equate to screen time, so her chances of ruining the movie were restricted. The stars here are Monte Markham and Telly Savalas. Savalas couldn't help but make his leading cop very much like Theo Kojak but as I always enjoyed that series, it does no harm here. Another of my favourites, Tim O'Connor (Buck Rogers In The 25th Century) has a fleeting role, I wish it could've been longer.

Markham does well as the teaching Professor who is bedevilled with visions of the future. Advising the police of a bomb set to go off, SOMEWHERE in the city, he gets held as the bomber, as the Savalas character thinks the guy is a murderous fraud. It's O'Connor's character who is more open minded and tests prove Markham's honesty and real abilities.

Whilst being held, Markham's character has a vision of a bomb set to blow up an overpass. He scribbles the road layout, and after a lot of messing about, the police find the road and the bomb. The bomb is rendered safe and as he was at police headquarters, Markham's character now has proof of his innocence of laying the first bomb. The trouble is now, that the seer's face has been splashed all over the news and he is a revenge target for the bomber, so he is taken to a "safe house" but somehow, it's discovered by the bomber. Two cops looking after Markham's character are going to die, he's seen the future again but they ignore his advice that there's a bomb under the house. He takes a dive through a window and survives, the two cops are blown to pieces.

Markham's character is asked to have a premonition "on demand" and he manages to please. This time, the police are laying in wait for the bomber and he ends up dying in a hail of gunfire. It was an obviously suicidal "death by cop" as he went to draw his thirty eight when he was surrounded. The guy never says anything but we learn that his motive was "revenge on the city" as his wife used to work for the city, got cancer, and she ended up dying in a hospital for the poor.

The tension is maintained until the end, by the presence of Markham's character at the shootout, we were never sure if he was suddenly going to have a vision of himself being shot to death by the bomber....though the cops claimed he'd perished at the safe house bombing, so he'd no longer be a target. All in all, an enjoyable watch.

9/10.