Scary Spock! Baffled Review. ITC – Avid Home Entertainment. By Brian Kirst
No one knows about the dangers of stereotyping more than Leonard Nimoy. Forever known as Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock, Nimoy fortunately had the opportunity to portray another very unusual role in the early 70’s. As Tom Kovack in Baffled (a pilot for a 1973 supernatural series that never went beyond this one movie length episode), Nimoy brings a sense of lightheartedness rarely seen in his famous half-Vulcan counterpart.
Kovack is a professional race car driver, at the top of his game, who begins to experience frightening visions of the future. Of course, his first premonition occurs in the middle of a high speed race and ends with him in a bloody wipeout. (Lets see Patricia Arquette even try to top that!) Kovack soon teams up with a quirky antique book dealer who encourages his psychic abilities. The two head to the English manor featured in Kovack’s visions and soon find themselves up to their necks in possession, witchcraft and ancient curses.
A fun jaunt with a nice bedding of creepy atmospherics, Baffled is spookiest when exploring the evil invasion of the innocent Jennifer Glen, the daughter of movie star Andrea Glenn,played by the regal, yet effectively concerned Vera Miles (Psycho and Psycho II, natch!). Actress Jewel Blanch’s twisted transformation from an innocent pre-teen to a seductive harridan with murder and menace on her mind is truly chilling and she eventually gives The Exorcist’s Regan a run for her money in the scare department. There are also some interesting, almost giallo-like, twists and turns and a truly effective make-up meltdown involving the piece’s other primary villain played by the well regarded Rachel Roberts. The glint of evil in Roberts’ eye throughout the proceedings is enough to tarnish the strongest person’s soul and she is obviously having a good time being so magnificently naughty.
Perhaps the best thing about Baffled, though, is watching the fun Nimoy has breaking out of his space garb for awhile and fully embodying another quirky, albeit contemporary, character.
Currently, Baffled is only available on VHS from ITC – Avid Home Entertainment, but it is worth searching for by all Star Trek fans or lovers of light (or television based) horror. Fans of the crimson and honey voiced Miles also may find this a worthy hunt down. As always, Miles (whose other genre credits include the fun slasher era The Initiation and the eerie Barbara Eden television flick A Howling in the Woods) brings a distinguished and cerebrally bloody air to the proceedings.
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