Friday Flicks: ‘Dark Vengeance’

Just in time for Friday the 13th, Amanda Ronan checks out this creepy episode from ’70s horror TV series Circle of Fear, featuring a demonic rocking horse. Mwah-ha-ha!

From Amanda:

Everybody gets a little weird on Friday the 13th. Science even has a word for it, ‘paraskevidekatriaphobia’ and according to urbanlegends.com as many as 21 million Americans may suffer from the disease.

“Dark Vengeance,” a creepy episode from the 1972 TV series Circle of Fear, may make you just another statistic.

We start the episode with Frank the construction worker, played by Martin Sheen, who digs up an old crate at his worksite. Frank is reluctant to open the crate, but finally does so at the urging of his wife Cindy’s request.

Anybody who knows horror movies already knows by that set up that this is going to end badly.

He finds a miniature rocking horse. That very same night, Cindy begins having nightmares that the rocking horse grows to Trojan Horse-type proportions and tramples her!

The rocking horse also has the very odd habit of moving about their home of its own volition! And its eyes begin to glow a frightening red! Duh-duh-DUH!

Frank and Cindy discover that the rocking horse is indeed a malevolent cursed object bent on revenge.

What will they do?!? You’ll just have to watch and see!

This is classic ’70s horror. All through the episode Frank and Cindy are terrorized by this rocking horse from hell and not once do they go to the police or a neighbor. They find themselves trapped in a ‘bad dream’ from which there is no escape! And somehow that ridiculous plot works!

On a visual level, I love these old horror shows. There are no CGI special effects, in fact you never even see the rocking horse move…it’s always just there when you turn around…freaking people out! Frank turns on a light in the garage work shop and there it is. Cindy goes into her bedroom, and finds it lurking in a corner! You are left with only your imagination to fill in the gaps, something lacking in modern cinema.

I give “Dark Vengeance” 3 Golden Horseshoes. Watch it online here!

LOVE HORSE NATION? “Like” us on Facebook for all the latest news, commentary and ridiculousness!