Summer of Fear (1978) aka Stranger in Our House
CHARACTER: Tom Bryant
DIRECTED BY: Wes Craven
Interplanetary Productions

Notable as an early effort from renowned horror filmmaker Wes Craven, this made-for-TV occult thriller was loosely adapted from a novel by Lois Duncan. Star Linda Blair returns to the demon-possession genre as a teenager who can't seem to convince her parents that her visiting southern-belle cousin (Lee Purcell) is an evil witch. Purcell's diabolical meddling seems focused entirely on the innocent Blair, who loses both her prize horse and her boyfriend to the scheming sorceress before the rest of the family catches on. Though Craven's well-known extremism is curbed by the limitations of television, his talent at generating high-intensity suspense is still evident.