Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman & Vera Miles in A Howling in the Woods (1971)

Liza Crocker (Eden) heads home to a small town in Nevada to escape a bad marriage. When she gets there she finds her step mother (Miles) and step brother (John Rubinstein) and a whole lot of unexpected hostility from the town folk. What she doesn't find is her father, who she is told, has left on an extended trip to Mexico for an archeological dig. As she attempts to sort things out she learns that a child was recently murdered and begins to feel like she's in some danger herself. Complicating matters, her husband (Hagman) arrives and she must deal with his reaction to her unexpected departure. Will she be able to sort everything out before she falls victim to the murderer herself?

Thanks to Leighton for this find. It's a fine kick-off to October - atmospheric and mysterious. It's interesting to see Eden and Hagman in something so different from their hit sitcom. Look for Lisa Gerritson (Bess from Mary Tyler Moore) and Tyne Daily in small roles.

This film isn't available on DVD, though it's been uploaded to YouTube in full. Part one is above, uploaded by TVTERRORLAND.

Obscurity factor: 9 (almost completely forgotten, not on DVD, available on YouTube)

Charles Bronson & Lee Remick in Telefon 1977

Another cold war thriller based on a novel, Telefon has a very interesting premise. Sleeper agents, planted in the USA, brainwashed to believe they're American citizens each have one mission of sabotage to perform. This program put in place by the Soviet government has been back burnered by a new, less militant regime. Enter Donald Pleasence, an idealistic lower level Soviet bureaucrat who doesn't like the new detente. He starts setting off these living time bombs, much to the chagrin of the Soviet government. To solve the problem, they send in Charles Bronson (who else would you send to solve a problem like this in the 1970's?) and Lee Remick. Meanwhile, the American government is trying to figure out what's going on, and a mid level analyst (Tyne Daily) may be on to something. Will Bronson get to Pleasence before the FBI does?

 In truth, this is the only Charles Bronson film I enjoy, and enjoy it I do. It's a taut thriller with some great suspenseful scenes and an engrossing story line. The book (by Walter Wager) is better, but the film really holds its own. Look for Sherri North as one of the brainwashed agents.

This film is fairly recently (2009) available on DVD. It was put out on a double bill with St. Ives. It's not available on YouTube in its entirety, but the trailer is above, uploaded by Vivadjango. The poster above is available at MoviePosterShop.com

Obscurity factor: 6 (available on DVD, occasionally screened on TV, not well remembered, generally)