Steineded How sad is this?

Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

MartinHafer Albert and Alice Graves (Arthur Kennedy and Teresa Russell) have a most unusual infestation in their house. Instead of rats, bugs or raccoons they have a teenager who has taken up residence in the crawlspace under their house!! Do they call Orkin or some other pest control company? Nope. Do they call the police or social services? Nah. Instead they decide to keep him and take care of him like a member of their family!! After all, they don't have kids and they sort of adopt the guy. Their response to this weirdo is anything but typical, that's for sure!! And as for this weirdo they name Richard, he is super-odd--looking a bit like a caveman and having some obvious emotional and possibly intellectual problems. It certainly is NOT like an episode of "Father Knows Best"!! So, what's to become of this odd family? Will they have a happily ever after or will Richard end up actually being a serial killer or, worse, an used car salesman?! Look for the film on YouTube to find out for yourself.Interestingly, although the plot for this made for TV movie sounds ultra- bizarre, for the ABC Movie, it's actually relatively tame. After all, this is the same series that brought us alien impregnation ("The Stranger Within"), Witches reincarnated from the colonial period ("Crowhaven Farm"), Monsters living in the chimney ("Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"), a possessed piece of equipment ("Killdozer") and Hauntings ("The House That Would Not Die")...among other weird topics. Sure, many of the films were more mundane...but the network has got to be commended for approving pretty much any strange idea the writers came up with during the course of the series! So is this a great made for TV movie? No. The plot leaves many plot holes unanswered--such as the couple never trying to get Richard any counseling as well as how quickly they went from a happy family to a couple under siege (their change in attitude towards Richar was simply too fast to be believable)! And, when they later had really SERIOUS problems, why didn't the couple go to the police and why did they behave like they did?! But on the other hand it is never dull in the least and deserves to be seen.In some ways, this plot sounds like it was reworked into another made for TV movie, "Bad Ronald"...it's also about a young man living within the walls of a home and some unsuspecting folks movie in to the place! It came out two years after "Crawlspace", so it looks like "Crawlspace" spawned at least one imitator!

suegrantmayaseth I was pleased to see this old TV-movie was on DVD; we'd had the novel around the house when I was a kid, and I always wondered what this movie would be like. I just finished watching it a few minutes ago, and in my opinion, it's pretty much of a mess. If you're curious about these old 70s TV-movies, it's worth your time, but its brisk running time is actually one of the biggest problems. The plot moves so quickly, and so unrealistically, that some of it was almost laughable. It might be interesting to read the novel, as there MUST be more to this story than its choppy rendering here. It has that grainy, creepy early 70s feel (reminded me of "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" in that way), but don't rent/buy it expecting much, or I think you'll be very disappointed.

lou-maiorino The movie was partly filmed in my father's old grocery store in 1972 in East Norwalk, CT. I was only 13 years old and all I remember was eating the many different kinds of cereals that were used for props in my father's store. I know that it took about 1.5 to 2 days to complete the shooting of the store scene. I was told that part of the movie was also shot in Westport or Weston, CT. There was also another movie shot in my father's store about a year later, but I am not sure what then name of it was. I would be interested in purchasing a DVD of this movie if I could find one. I have seen the movie when I was 13 year old, but I only remember the store scene and the scene were the boy lived in the crawlspace of a house.

Ainsley_Jo_Phillips It's been awhile since I've seen this one, but I remember what it was about. A different young man is taunted by the so-called "normal" kids until he's finally driven to kill violently. This movie may be almost 30 years old, but (unfortunately) its message is still timely. Time to dust this one off and show it again. Good to watch as a family with discussion afterwards.