
On an endless cross-country road trip to sunny California, the photo-journalist, Jimmy Wheeler, stumbles upon the flaxen-haired seven-year-old hitch-hiker, Gilbert, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the half-forgotten backwaters of Tennessee. However, as the kind-hearted stranger offers the innocent boy a lift to his farmhouse, Jimmy will soon find himself lured deeper and deeper into the wilderness, up against the unforeseen consequences of his generous benevolence. Is i... (Full plot summary below)
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On an endless cross-country road trip to sunny California, the photo-journalist, Jimmy Wheeler, stumbles upon the flaxen-haired seven-year-old hitch-hiker, Gilbert, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the half-forgotten backwaters of Tennessee. However, as the kind-hearted stranger offers the innocent boy a lift to his farmhouse, Jimmy will soon find himself lured deeper and deeper into the wilderness, up against the unforeseen consequences of his generous benevolence. Is it true that no good deed goes unpunished?
Leave your thoughts about All the Kind Strangers.
| User ReviewMeaghan Marie?Good movie but the info is a little off. There wasn't a couple.. it was just a man. |
| User ReviewWilliam WGrowing up, my introduction to the great hard-boiled work of Mickey Spillane was the TV series 'Mike Hammer', in which Stacy Keach was the ninth of the 11--so far--to portray the private eye. I was sad when the series was cancelled because he had been jailed for smuggling cocaine, but I always kept an eye out for his fine acting in the realm of cinema. This led to my great enjoyment of his work in 'The Ninth Configuration', 'W.', and 'Escape from L.A.', and when I saw that he was in this TV-movie, found in my 50-film Mill Creek pack, 'Nightmare Worlds', I was extremely enthused, though I had never seen any films by director Burt Kennedy, though I had heard of him. Keach is definitely one of my favourite character actors in contemporary or recent (post-1970) cinema. Though on a very low budget, with seven children and two adults, a car and a farmhouse, this 'Children of the Corn'-meets-'Deliverance'-meets-'Lord of the Flies' is really worth your time. It brings mood, despair and desperation together in a bewitching concoction, and is suspenseful, without resorting to gore or other gimmickry (judging from the lurid glances Keach's Jimmy got from the oldest girl, Martha, I think I can assume any modern-day remakes wouldn't pass up that plot-possibility, or possible incest between the coming-of-age characters), and at the same time, without resorting to cheesy, Hallmark-movie-of-the-week pat easy solutions to the crisis that not only the two kidnapped adults face, but the seven children, in their bleak, desperate, no-future situations do as well. Heartily recommended for the whole family. This is one film that parents and their children could watch together and talk about afterwards, for such questions as, 'Why did the children feel it was necessary for parent-type people to be around?' I wish more self-obsessed teenagers and young adults of today could watch this and think about how blessed they really are to have the parents and family that they do have. It might make an important difference in their lives. THAT is one of the beautiful and compelling mysteries of cinema. |
| User ReviewWes SNot bad for a TV movie, and if it was remade it could make a decent little horror feature, but it never takes off enough with it's creepiness to be frightening. It has a lot of eerie tension and a horror premise, but ends more settled and happily than one would expect. Still, it's a nice little gem, though it could be better. |
| User ReviewKen DClassic 70s suspense, could have been real creepy. Luv RBenson singing the theme song tho lolz. |
| User ReviewTerencea really good premise concerning creepy backwoods kids who kidnap travelers to be their parents that is marred by the fact that it is a 70s tv production. meaning no violence or gore and always a happy ending message at the end. it does manage to generate some creepy tension and atmosphere in the beginning but fails to deliver. an obvious inspiration for Stephen King when writing Children of the Corn. of course it could coincedence. ironically it was Tobe Hooper's tv movie adaptation of King's Salem's Lot that would break the barriers for gore and what could and what could not be shown on tv. |