Lillian Carlson Movies

Ethel Lina White's suspense novel Some Must Watch was first filmed under the title The Spiral Staircase in 1946. This same title was applied to a subsequent 1962 TV special adaptation, and a 1975 British TV-movie remake. The Spiral Staircase resurfaced again in 2000 as a made-for-cable feature film, which updated the original story from the early 20th century to the present day. Pathologically mute since a terrible trauma in her youth, Helen Capel (Nicollette Sheridan) works as a housekeeper in the gloomy old mansion of wealthy Emma Warren (Holland Taylor). By nature timid and frightened, Helen has good reason of late to be even more afraid to venture outside the Warren home: A serial killer who preys upon "imperfect" women is on the loose, with such victims as a blind girl and a clubfooted woman in his wake. Understandably, the literally speechless Helen is worried that she will be the next victim. What she doesn't know is that her would-be murderer is someone living within the walls of the Warren mansion -- and it isn't the most obvious suspect. The Spiral Staircase debuted April 2, 2000 on the Fox Family Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Made for television, Not Our Son is the tragically true story of the "Seattle Specter", who at one time was designated the worst serial arsonist in US history. Over an astonishingly short period, the "Specter" was responsible for over 100 fires--one of them resulting in the deaths of several senior-home residents. What no one knew, until it was nearly too late, was that the elusive firebug was a profoundly troubled teenager named Paul Kenneth Keller (played, in a masterpiece of contra-casting, by Neil Patrick Harris). Ultimately, it was up to Paul's family to determine his fate--a decision that forced them to choose between love and duty, and to suffer the pangs of ceaseless guilt in the process. Inspired by an article in The Reader's Digest, Not Our Son first aired March 3, 1995 (it has originally been slated for January 31 that same year). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of climbers attempts to scale the world's second-largest and most dangerous mountain in this visually impressive but dramatically weak adventure. Skirt-chasing lawyer Taylor Brooks (Michael Biehn) and sedate family man Harold Jamison (Matt Craven) share a love of risky mountain climbing and embark on numerous collaborative expeditions. During one of these climbs, they encounter a team of fellow mountaineers preparing to tackle the legendary Pakistani mountain K2. Brooks immediately becomes obsessed with this task, and he convinces the reluctant Jamison to join the team. The bulk of the film centers on the dangerous climb and even more challenging descent, beset with challenges both natural and human. Though adapted from a stage play by Patrick Myers, the schematic personal dramas take a back seat to cinematographer Gabriel Beristain's overwhelming landscapes, filmed both on location at the real K2 and on a smaller Canadian peak. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

A woman fears that her amnesia-stricken husband may be a serial killer in this made-for-cable thriller. After family man Ed Vinson gruesomely murders his wife and kids and skips town, police investigator Joe Steiner (Richard Widmark) becomes obsessed with capturing the monster -- even after he's forced to retire from the force. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, a traffic accident kills one man and leaves another (Keith Carradine) a hideously disfigured amnesiac. Police can't figure out who the survivor is, so he takes the name Allen Devlin and, after reconstructive surgery, falls in love with and marries his recently divorced nurse, Chris Graham (Kathleen Quinlan). Several years later, Steiner shows up in town, convinced Devlin is really Ed Vinson; his dogged pursuit threatens the happiness the Devlins have carved out for themselves and their children -- especially after a series of gruesome rapes begins to occur. The evidence seems to implicate Allen in the attacks, but Chris suspects that her old boyfriend, cop Mike Patterson (Michael Beck), is trying to frame him. The tension escalates as Chris suffers through a series of anonymous phone calls from a man who seems to think he's Ed Vinson; when her son finds a grotesque fetish mask in the garage, even Chris begins to doubt her husband's innocence. Directed by British horror veteran Douglas Hickox and written by Amityville 3D scribe David Ambrose, Blackout premiered on the Home Box Office network in 1985. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide