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PATTY DUKE & RICHARD THOMAS STAR IN ATMOSPHERIC, UNNERVING THRILLER

Posted by DEWEY MEE on Sep 16th 2025

Anna (Patty) Duke delivers another top-notch performance in this tight, atmospheric and often unnerving 1972 thriller, directed by Lamont Johnson and filmed almost entirely inside Glensheen mansion in Minnesota.
Duke plays Francesa Kinsolving, the very pregnant widow of Matthew Kinsolving. Hoping to receive a warm welcome from her mother-in-law (Rosemary Murphy), she soon wishes she never got off the bus. A snowstorm traps her inside the mansion with her vengeful mother-in-law.
Why has the phone been disconnected, and why does Mrs. Kinsolving put drugs in Francesa's hot chocolate?
Francesa soon discovers that nobody and nothing at Grensheen mansion is who or what they appear to be.
Mrs. Kinsolving, it turns out, is not Matthew's mother, but his murderous aunt, who has a twisted relationship with her son Kenny (Richard Thomas).
Richard Thomas played Kenny just prior to his sweet-as-pie performance as John-Boy in "The Waltons" TV series. The versatile Thomas is equally effective as sociopath Kenny, who, among other things, beats his poor deaf/mute sister Kathleen (Barbara Allen).
Duke's screams during the childbirth scene are as harrowing as anything else in this movie. Francesa races against the clock to save her own life and the life of her newborn baby.