Midnight Offerings (1981)

Mixes teen soap opera with telekinesis and witchcraft

A new student from the East Coast (Mary Beth McDonough) enrolls in Ocean High in SoCal where she immediately meets a potential beau (Patrick Cassidy), which means becoming the rival of his dubious ex, who just so happens to take the black arts seriously (Melissa Sue Anderson). Cathryn Damon plays the mother of the latter while Marion Ross is on hand as a wise mentor.

Although "Midnight Offerings" (1981) was originally released to TV, it’s a formidable witchcraft-oriented horror featuring several iconic television stars from the 70s and the younger brother of Shaun Cassidy. It’s basically a mixture of “Carrie” (1976), “Summer of Fear" (1978) and the forthcoming “Christine” (1983).

It works well because the story draws you into the drama of the romantic triangle and everything culminates with a hellish, but fitting, climax. King D no doubt ripped-off the set for the occultic rituals for his diabolic photo ops.

The film runs around 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B