Spectre

...from co-writer and producer Gene Roddenberry.

Robert Culp stars as William Sebastian, a renowned criminologist whose attentions have turned to occult matters in recent years. He re-teams with old colleague Ham Hamilton (Gig Young), an alcoholic medical doctor who's hit hard times,vand they journey to England to investigate reports of supernatural powers targeting the wealthy Anitra Cyon (Ann Bell). Also featuring John Hurt and James Villiers as Anitra's brothers, Gordon Jackson as a Scotland Yard inspector, and Majel Barrett as Lilith, Sebastian's spell-casting housekeeper.

If Star Trek was Roddenberry's rumination on 60's-era idealism, this failed pilot was his look at 70's hedonism and the search for spiritual meaning. Modeled after Holmes & Watson, Culp and Young's characters encounter a cult of Dionysian sex-addicts and demon worshipers, all living an anything-goes debauched lifestyle that ultimately leads to their destruction.

This film suffers from poor production values, shoddy editing, terrible pacing, and laughable effects in the big finale. The identity of the mastermind behind everything is.

Concerning the question of why "Spectre" did not become a series , i would like to give my 2 cents. the 1970's saw a lot of supernatural/sci-fi themed TV movies which were obviously intended as series pilots . NBC had this film , and also "The Norliss Tapes" with Roy Thinnes. "The Questor Tapes" was a Gene Roddenberry concept. CBS had another of Gene's creations,"Genesis II". This was later redone as "Planet Earth" on ABC , which also aired "Baffled!" with Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy as a clairvoyant race car driver(!). Not a one made it to series. I believe it was a concern about not having enough plots to sustain a weekly series , expensive location shooting and f/x , and a continuing lack of support for the genre led to their demise. The failure of ABC's "Night Stalker" and "The Sixth Sense" also didn't help. In addition , "Star Trek" itself was still at that time considered a relative failure despite the beginnings of its resurgence. I think a possible answer may have been to include a series like "Spectre" as part of a rotating "Mystery Movie" type of show along with some more standard detective /thriller series. with a star like Robert Culp , older viewers may have given it a chance , along with younger viewers who were the main fans of the genre.

From the demise of Star Trek: TOS to the premiere of Star Trek: TNG Gene Roddenberry took at least three swings at returning to Stateside prime-time television. None of the broadcast pilots was bought by a commercial network as a series. I viewed each at first broadcast.

Genesis II (later repackaged and re-tried as Planet Earth) had an interesting pilot, very much a product of Roddenberry and his times, but likely as a series would have become quite weird and not lasted long. The Questor Tapes had a superb pilot, but likely as a series would have been forced by network suits to devolve into The Robo-Fugitive.

Spectre was not your average Roddenberry product and wasn't even science fiction. Its concept was decidedly original and very well wrought—what if, just What If?, everything you suspect and fear about the occult is true and a world-renowned criminologist who KNOWS that sets out to right the purposive wrongs of some mighty nasty perps who must be called by their true names out loud? If this sounds familiar, mind you, this is the Stateside television pilot I recall after 30-plus years…

Robert Culp is at his certifiable creepiest. And he's the good guy. This is not the DC Comics Spectre, he's no Doc Strange, John Constantine or He(ck)boy, less Sherlock Holmes and more Manly Wade Wellman's John Thunstone (with the apparent trappings of wealth) or John the Balladeer (without the southern mountain accent or music). William Sebastian quite literally has a bone to pick with an antagonist that has a very long memory and reach, not to mention staying power. By the end you want to know more about Sebastian, how and why he knows what he knows, and what compels him to know and do more.

A fine supporting cast, John Hurt, Gordon Jackson, James Villiers and Gig Young in particular. Good production values in a fittingly English setting. Well-paced with genuine suspense in the right places. And, for Stateside prime-time in the Seventies, a knockout confrontation with some truly evil—things—that, as best as I can recall, were not enhanced with anything other than makeup, clever editing, a hypnotic chant, and lots of fire.

Had this become a series we likely would've seen less of "Ham" (more Dr McCoy than Dr Watson, and certainly less of poor Gig Young) and more of Lilith. A section of the viewing demographic that also thought Mr Spock a satanic influence would probably get a little wound up and publicly take offense. I am told the theatrical release with respectable box office overseas is marginally longer and adds to that knockout confrontation some truly evil—distractions—that don't need makeup at all. I'd like to think it could have done better on Stateside television simply because it would have HAD to leave something to the imagination and NOT explain everything.

So here's a pitch: Given today's audience, if Someone Out There is still watching, consider the possibilities!

Take the basis of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, bring them forward 100 years and instead of crime, have them battle spiritual evil... A great idea, but unrealized here. A slightly ridiculous plot only saved by the talented Robert Culp who plays it straight down the line. A criminologist who specializes in the occult and battling evil. Gig Young was at the end of his carreer and shortly following this outing, his life as well. A sad loss of a fine comedic actor who usually didnt get the girl but did get all the best lines. Though in this film, Young basically sleep walks through the movie... Almost as if he was on sedatives. Culp and Young are recruited by a beautiful woman whose brother has recently undergone a personality change after doing some archeological investigations on his English country estate. So, off they all go to England to get to the bottom of things. This movie has a real Gene Roddenberry flavor to it. If you have seen any of Roddenberry's post Star Trek TV movies (basically, failed pilots)... Well, you'll know what I mean. But, bottom line is I liked this when I saw it in 1977 and it is still fun to watch. Not scary, but fun never the less. Look for it on The Fox Movie Network as it gets shown there often....

Spectre is one of Gene Roddenberry's busted pilots.All during the 1970's he tried to repeat the success of Sta Trek only to churn out pilot after pilot and failure after failure. Most were cliché ridden variations on a sci-fi theme and probably wouldn't have gone anywhere. Spectre is the exception to that cycle.

Telling the story of a supernatural Holmes and his Watson this is a very good thriller that might have been the lead into bigger things had it been picked up. More akin to Hammer's The Devil Rides Out than any standard satanist film of the period this film has our heroes investigating a rich English Lord and his family. While not particularly scary, it is extremely entertaining as Robert Culp shows himself to be much more clever than anyone around him.

If you can see this film. Its worth your time.

8 out of 10