MovieChat Forums > When Michael Calls (1972) Discussion > Not Bad TV flick but book is, of course,...

Not Bad TV flick but book is, of course, much better!

posted 10 years ago by Ten-Inch-Toni
1 reply | jump to latest

This is one of my very guilty pleasures to watch when I can catch it, like today. But the book, a "paperback-novel", is much better. It explains is far more detail why "Michael" has resurfaced after all these years.

A couple of the characters were combined to make one character which, I think, actually, ruins a bit of the original story. I would love to discuss the book vs the movie if anyone else is interested.

You can watch this right now on Youtube. I hope it will be up for a long time since it's only a TV film. The film catches the mood of the book very well but I think the story is compromised because they chose to combine Doremus with Helen's ex-husband.

[–] MissMargoChanning 10 years ago

I agree that the book was so much better than the film but since it was a made for TV movie I can understand the changes.... but it was one of my first disappointments when it came to a book to film adaptation back then.
I read the book back when it first came out when I was in the 8th or 9th grade and I remember being really happy when I found out that it was going to be made into a movie of the week.
What a letdown.
The book was so much better and quite spooky.
I did watch it again yesterday when I saw it by chance up on youtube. I had completely forgotten that Michael Douglas was in it. Back then, the only thing I knew him from was The Streets of San Francisco....and that his dad was Kirk Douglas. The boy's come a long way...
Anyway, it was fun to watch again after all these years. I especially enjoyed seeing the Movie of the Week intro. That brings back memories.

"Fasten your seat belts!
It's going to be a bumpy night!"