I was at Calgary Horror Con his weekend, and needless to say i came home with plenty of great little horror goodies. A shinning hoodie, some old FANGORIA trading cards, the first 2 EVIL DEAD movies on VHS, and the poster for this movie. i hadn't seen the movie or poster before, but i knew right away i had to have it. and shortly after i knew i had to have it, i knew i had to watch this movie.
Encounter with the Unknown is a 1972 American anthology horror film directed by Harry Thomason in his directorial debut, and narrated by Rod Serling. It features three allegedly true stories involving the supernatural.
the story opens at the funeral of college student Johnny Davis. His friends Dave, Frank and Randy are in attendance at the burial. It is revealed that they played a seemingly innocent phone prank on Johnny, telling him to go to a certain address where a date was waiting. The old woman who lived at the address accidentally shot Johnny to death, and as the funeral service ends Johnny's mother recites a cryptic message to the three young men she blames for the death of her son:
"One by land, two by sky...seven times around go the three of you, and may your reward be just and true."
Later Frank relates this story to a priest, Father Duane, sitting next to him on a plane. He says that Dave was run over and killed seven days after the funeral. The priest tries to ease Frank's anxiety, assuring him that it's all a coincidence. However, after Father Duane exits the plane (Plane 180, no less), it crashes upon takeoff. and now that i mention it, this movie has a lot of similarities with the FINAL DESTINATION franchise, since the rest of this movie is about death coming for the other 2 boys.
By this point in the story its very obvious what we are in for, a very 70s, very cheesy, very poorly acted B movie. the name ROD SERLING suggests a certain level of polish when it comes to anthology horror, but i cant stress enough just how little he was involved. he was the narrator, and he was only the narrator. This type of horror feels a lot more at home in an old horror or goosebumps episode, and this whole movies tone can only be described as 70s cheese.
Its not well made, the acting is bad, there are zero stakes or suspense, everything about it is very traditional at nauseum, and it almost feels like a parody of 70s horror films instead of anything new. The best thing this movie has going for it is the narrator, even if it wasn't such an iconic voice as Rod Serling. the pacing is often painfully slow and uninteresting, and its nice to have him around to keep you company, and more importantly keep you thinking. It doesn't help that this movie opens on the worst of the three stories to come, but it does mean the more you watch this movie the more it grows on you.
Its so damn ridiculous its hard no to enjoy it at least for a little while, but it grows old after a while
7/10
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