Valerie Harper & Ruth Gordon in Don't Go To Sleep (1982)

Laura and Phillip (Harper and Dennis Weaver) have just lost their oldest daughter Jennifer (Kristin Cumming) in a terrible automobile accident. In an attempt to pick up the pieces of their lives they move from Los Angeles to a small town north of the city with their two other children Mary and Kevin and Laura's mother, Bernice (Gordon). The first day in their new house proves unsettling to Mary who begins to hear voices calling her name. After the family has retired, Mary is heard screaming. Upon bursting into her room her parents discover her bed engulfed in flames. She's rescued, but is understandably shaken. As the story develops, the voices Mary hears begin to take on the physical form of her sister Jennifer. Jennifer is seeking revenge for her death, which she blames on the family. One by one, they're picked off in strange accidents. Is Mary having a psychotic break and acting out her feelings about Jennifer, or  is it really her and will she claim the entire family before she can be stopped?

This supernatural thriller has a bleak, eerie quality to it that's heightened by its utterly ordinary setting in a typical suburban home. It's interesting to see Dennis Weaver playing a flawed dad after his signature role of McCloud. This television film has never been released on DVD. It did get a VHS release 9 years after it was made and tapes can still be found. It's also available in full on YouTube, thanks to an upload by Kreechum. The entire film is above.

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

James Caan, Marsha Mason & Valerie Harper in Chapter Two (1979)

Obscurity factor: 8

Successful author George Schneider (Caan) has recently lost his wife and is having trouble getting back into life. His brother Leo (Joseph Bologna) urges him to go out with other women and fixes him up with actress Jennie MacLaine. While the two hit it off, George has trouble reconciling the relationship with the grief he feels about his wife's passing. Meanwhile Leo has started dating Jennie's friend Faye (Harper). Can the two couples navigate love, loss and dating in the 70's?

This is one of Neil Simon's lesser known films, and there's some charm to be had from it. Marsha Mason is charming as the slightly neurotic actress and though James Caan is a bit wooden, his natural charisma comes through. Harper and Bologna are delightful as the second leads. 

This film is not yet available on DVD, though there is a VHS release of it out. It can also be seen in full on YouTube, though the uploader has disabled embedding, so you'll have to click this link to see it. A television commercial for the film is above, uploaded to YouTube by robatsee2009. The poster above is from Romanian site gk.ro.

Obscurity factor: 8 (not on DVD, not one of Simon's better known films, available on YouTube)