| Director: | Steven Spielberg |
| Starring: | Sandy Dennis Darren McGavin Ralph Bellamy |
| Music: | Wladimir Selinsky |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Producer: | Alan Jay Factor |
| Editor: | Allan Jacobs |
| Cinematography: | Bill Butler |
| Runtime: | 73 minutes |
| Company: | Belford Productions CBS Entertainment Productions |
| Network: | CBS |
Something Evil is a 1972 American TV movie starring Sandy Dennis, Darren McGavin and Ralph Bellamy. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the screenplay was written by Robert Clouse.
A married couple with two young children move into a Pennsylvania farmhouse that turns out to be inhabited by demons. Paul is a TV producer and his wife Marjorie is an artist. The home and countryside seem idyllic until strange things start to occur. The sound of a baby's crying wakes Marjorie several times and ultimately leads to a creepy discovery. Paul's colleague and an employee die in a mysterious accident when driving away from the farmhouse. Harry attempts to warn the family about the potential evil possessing their property. Marjorie becomes slowly unravelled. She believes that the evil in the house is possessing her and wants to leave. She believes she has become a danger to her children, but an ex-farmhand enlightens her to the real source of danger.
Spielberg directed Something Evil immediately after his television movie Duel (1971), and it aired in January 1972.
While the majority of critics have dismissed Something Evil, Neil Sinyard wrote: "Spielberg's direction is nothing short of magnificent. There are splendid montages as mother [Sandy Dennis] paints and creates models and mobiles that will eventually be significant in resisting the evil spells; dazzling dissolves and sinister camera placement for stealthy, apprehensive entrances into fearful places; and...a Hitchcockian sense of the moment to throw away explanatory dialogue (the explanation for the house's past) when it is less interesting than the mystery and menace."[1]
The movie features the "Apple Bar Candy Song" by Charlie Marie Gordon. It appears in the film performed by Laurie Hagen for a commercial that Darren McGavin's character is filming. The song has been spoofed several times.