Coventry Yours truly is a man of many silly traditions, and one of them is that I insist on watching one Christmas-themed horror movie per year during the Holiday period! Since I've been doing this for many years already, it's getting more difficult each year to select a worthwhile holiday-horror title each year. At first I was thrilled to have stumbled upon this "Home for the Holidays", but in all honesty it's only a very standard and numeric whodunit TV-thriller and there just happens to stand a Christmas tree in the entrance hall of the house where most of the film is set. Apart from the tree and the holiday reference in the title, "Home for the Holidays" isn't at all what you expect from a Christmas horror flick. There aren't any maniacal killers dressed up as Santa or demonic elves, and even the typical Christmassy circumstances got overlooked. For example, there's a thunderstorm raging outside instead of snowflakes tumbling down. Joseph Stefano, who also wrote the screenplay of the legendary "Psycho", delivered the script to TV-producer Aaron Spelling and multi-talented director John Llewellyn Moxey. Impressive names, to say the least, and the cast list is also stupendous, but the movie itself is less than memorable. Benjamin Morgan begs for his four adult daughters to return home because he's convinced that his second wife Elizabeth is slowly poisoning him to death. The daughters believe him, because Elizabeth's first husband also died under mysterious circumstances, but still they're reluctant to help their father. For you see, Benjamin always was a tyrant and the daughters feel that he drove their beloved mother to commit suicide. Shortly after, a murderous psychopath dressed in a raincoat and waving around a pitchfork makes it clear that nobody of the Morgan family is supposed to survive this Christmas. The mystery/whodunit factor of this film is probably one of the weakest and most predictable ones I've ever seen. One good glimpse at all the faces of the lead players is enough to guess who the killer is, and when and his/her motivations get revealed at the end, it makes little to no sense. The main reason to track down and watch "Home for the Holidays" is undoubtedly the female top-cast! Jessica Walter, Jill Hayworth, Eleanor Parker and Julie Harris all give away superb performances. But the girl standing in the spotlights the most here is Sally Field as the youngest and most innocent daughter Christine. Sally was 26 years old around the time of release, but here she looks like an adorable angel not a day over 15.

Toronto85 Four sisters come 'Home for the Holidays' when it appears that their father is dying. Their father tells them that his new wife Elizabeth is slowly poisoning him to death, and that he summoned them all there to kill her before she kills him! They just think he's a silly old man, but eventually the sister's begin being stalked (and some of them even killed) by a person in a bright yellow raincoat. This new wife of his was also suspected years ago of killing her first husband, but was never charged. It's a Christmas murder mystery, and with seemingly unhinged Elizabeth as the main suspect... will anyone survive?I enjoyed 'Home for the Holidays', it's even become a Christmas tradition here at my place to watch it. However, it's not the best "Made for TV" movie put out there that's for sure. It drags on just a little too much, so some people might lose interest with it early on. Some of it plays off like a soap opera, with all of the in fighting with the sisters. It can get a little tedious, but I enjoyed the family squabbles to be honest. The acting was very dramatic and over the top, perfect for 1972. Sally Field puts in a good performance as the good sister Christine, and Julie Harris does well as Elizabeth.'Home for the Holidays' has an interesting twist to the end of the mystery, which most people could probably see coming a mile away. Nevertheless, it's a good one and adds up to the story we get from the four sister's and how messed up they all are (minus Christine). I'd check this one out if you find it, it's a good addition to the "Holiday Horror" sub-genre.7/10

acidburn-10 The plot = Four sisters are summoned back to they're family home by their sick father who suspects that his current wife is slowly poisoning him Though the sisters disagree on the validity of their Father's rantings, it soon becomes clear that someone wants to silence the girls as well! But who could it be? There's nothing like a good murder at Christmas time. An old Gothic mansion, mystery and suspense are all the makings for a good horror, in this early 70's TV movie. Although not bloody or gory, it's the performances that makes this movie work, especially from the 4 sisters, we get Alex played beautifully by Eleanor Parker whose the oldest sister who watches over her three younger siblings ever since they're mother died, then we have the party girl Jo (Played by British Actress Jill Haworth), Freddie the tragic pill popping alcoholic whose never got over her mother's death (A wonderfully hammy performance by Jessica Walter) and the youngest sister the sweet naive Christine (Played by Sally Field) who would go on to bigger and better things. We also have Julie Harris who plays the step mother who was once accused of poisoning her last husband, could she be doing it again.The dark eerie settings of the mansion and the tension between the sisters really makes this movie work mixes up the horror/thriller themes of the 50's and 60's and before (old dark house; sibling rivalry; American Gothic; grand inheritances and murderous motives) and what was to become the slasher standards of the 80's. Sally Field makes a wonderful heroine like when she's getting stalked in the hoods by someone with a pitchfork and yellow raincoat. This movie was very low budget and it does show in some parts and also, this movie does get quite boring at times, but other than that, this relatively unknown thriller makes for good viewing.

Lee Eisenberg Actually, "Home for the Holidays" has little in the way of horror and little in the way of Christmas. It comes across as a sort of excuse to gather these various stars (Jessica Walter, Sally Field, Julie Harris, Walter Brennan) together and give the audience the task of guessing who the killer is. I'll admit that I didn't guess, but otherwise, the movie consists of people getting on each other's nerves (I probably would have gotten like that had I been with them).So, it's not terrible, just little that we haven't seen before. I just thought that it would be neat to see Sally Field do horror. But let's hope that from now on, she sticks with the kinds of roles with which she's most associated.PS: Another "Flying Nun" cast member (Shelley Morrison, aka Sister Sixto) also starred in a psycho-killer movie in the '70s: "Devil Times Five".