User reviews

"A family of seven children are living without parents is (sic) a swampy backwoods area all by themselves. Some of the children get the idea that it would be good to have parents or guardians to look over them so, they take in two strangers and make them the parents they so desperately want. The couple finds that getting away from these children will be more difficult than they imagined," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Creepy TV movie featuring game performances from: Stacy Keach (as Jimmy Wheeler), Samantha Eggar (as Caroline Henderson), John Savage (as Peter), and Robby Benson (as John). Mr. Keach sets the tone, with a perfectly balanced characterization of a strong and steady man, who must focus on sanely escaping from the trap he drove into. Keach is as good as the role gets. Ms. Eggar and Mr. Savage respond in kind. And, Mr. Benson wisely plays his character as endearingly dimwitted, which is exactly how to handle the scripted part; his singing of the title song "All the Kind Strangers" hits a sour note, however. The lower credited kids are good.

Burt Kennedy's direction and Clyde Ware's script set a good pace. Indeed, the events on-screen seem to add up to more than what actually happens; which is not much, actually. Mr. Ware writes quite tightly; for example: note how smoothly the biscuit argument between Savage and Tim Parkison (as Gilbert) fits into a later event. And, Savage's digressions about life off the farm fit, also. Moreover, Arlene Farber (as Martha) is directed to show some attraction to Keach; this, and the pick-up of young Parkison, helps multiply the underlying uneasiness.

****** All the Kind Strangers (11/12/74) Burt Kennedy ~ Stacy Keach, Samantha Eggar, John Savage, Robby Benson

This is a surprisingly good made-for-TV thriller and it wins props for originality points. Stacey Keach plays a photojournalist, on the road for an assignment, which takes him into the woods of the rural south. A chance encounter with a young boy, who Keach sees carrying groceries down a desolate dirt road, leads him to the boy's home, nestled very deep in the backwoods. Once he is thoroughly "in the hollar," Keach's car breaks down, and he has no choice but to spend the night in the house of the young boy, whose three brothers and two sisters respond with eerie approval. What follows next is a strange and pretty cool story about a family of dangerous orphans, who entrap Keach and a woman in a perverse plan to reaquire surrogate parents. Despite his efforts to escape, Keach is unsuccesful, and he quickly discovers how clever and intelligent the kids' plan really is. (He also discovers that he isn't the first to be taken in by the group). Can Keach escape before it is too late? This is a story that, despite its perverse absurdity, could actually happen, I suppose, and the picture's scenarios are consistently interesting and unpredicatble. It is a good script and the cast all fit their roles well. Particularly good is John Savage (e.g. "The Deer Hunter"), who plays the group's oldest brother and de facto father figure. All in all, this is a pretty obscure, minor little film, but I'd recommend it to fans of 70's cinema, as well as anyone who enjoys a thriller involving kuntry folk. This one surprised me. (PS: In this same vein, I'd recommend the highly underrated "Hunter's Blood." It is OOP, but worth seeking).

I really love TV-horror/thriller movies from the 1970s. They are short, straightforward and usually compensate in atmosphere and plot- ingenuity for what they lack in action footage or make-up effects. "All the Kind Strangers" is a decent example of such a 70s tale with a very murky and unsettling premise and a thoroughly unpredictable atmosphere of tension. Macho freelance photographer Jimmy Wheeler is driving through rural roads in his fancy and brand new convertible when he stops to give a lift to a 7-year-old kid carrying large bags of groceries. He quickly regrets this, however, as he ends up at the backwoods equivalent of the Von Trapp family with seven parentless children living in the middle of a swamp. Unfortunately, they don't sing of Do-Re-Mi and – under the eerie leadership of the oldest brother Peter – they have the nasty habit of forcing random helpful strangers to become their reluctant ma's and pa's. They already reverse-adopted the terrified Samantha Eggar as their mommy, and now they see the ideal role-model father in Mr. Wheeler even though he doesn't share their enthusiasm. "All the Kind Strangers" is very compelling and ominous throughout the first hour, with notably uncanny scenes at the dinner table or during the boat trip on the creek. The hopelessness in Stacy Keach's eyes, the fear in Samantha Eggar's eyes and the madness in John Savage's eyes are extremely realistic and make even the most hardened viewer feel uncomfortable. In fact, "All the Kind Strangers" easily would have ranked in the top 10 of greatest TV-thrillers of the 70s if only it weren't for the daft and utterly disappointing anti-climax. The bad ending alone costs this otherwise fine TV-thriller a mere 2 or 3 points in the rating.

The story here is about backwoods children who lure unsuspecting adults to their house in the deep forest where they imprison them and force them to be their parents. Those who do not shape up are killed. It's an interesting idea and its played out pretty well. It has an effective off-kilter atmosphere, even if it never really gets very tense. The acting was decent enough with some good players like Stacey 'The Long Riders' Keach, Samantha 'The Brood' Eggar and a young John 'Salvador' Savage.

I do have a fondness for 70's TV movies to be fair and I did see this one when I was very young on UK daytime television sometime around 1980. I couldn't actually remember it though so it was interesting to see it again all these years later. I might be in the minority possibly but I also liked the title song. It was a very early 70's idea to include these types of breezy folk-pop songs in movies and I am always a bit of a sucker for this kind of thing and it does add a certain cozy charm here.

All the Kind Strangers is basically just your average made for TV seventies movie - in that it features an interesting base plot, and lets that fill the entire runtime without even attempting to do anything else with it. The result is adequate; though underwhelming. The film begins with a man driving through the woods alone. He encounters a young boy and offers to give him a lift home. Upon arriving at the boy's home, the man finds it inhabited by children; and because his car won't start, he decides to stay there for the night. However, it turns out that the kids have broken his car to make him stay with them as they want him to be their father. The film only runs for about seventy five minutes and doesn't provide a great deal of surprises along the way. Once the plot is laid out, we are left only with the task of getting to the end. The film does feature a good leading performance from Stacy Keach, who gets into his character well and receives good feedback from the likes of Samantha Eggar and John Savage. It all boils down to a rather strange, yet disappointing ending. Overall, this is a long way from being great; but it passes the time at least and I'd say it's just about worth a look.

"All the Kind Strangers" is a very frustrating film. That's because it has a wonderful idea for a story and it really hooked me—only to be undone was an awful and utterly ridiculous ending. The story begins with a man (Stacy Keach) picking up a kid who is walking down the road. The kid says he's walking home from the grocery store and only has a few more miles to go—so he takes the kid. However, the place ends up being in the middle of nowhere—way off the beaten track. Things get a bit weird, however, when the kid invites him to stay for dinner—and the family, such as it is, isn't about to take no for an answer. In fact, when he tries to leave, his car won't start and so he's forced to stay. Then he slowly begins to realize just how dangerous his situation is. The 'mother' (Samantha Egger) is not the children's mother—just a lady they kidnapped and force to take care of the seven kids. And, he soon realizes that they aren't about to let him go either…he's now 'dad'! It gets a lot creepier—especially when the pair realize what's probably happened to all their other 'parents'—parents who didn't make the grade and who tried to escape!

The idea is simple and wonderful—and a bit like a combination of "Deliverance" and "The Waltons"!! I loved the sick and creepy mood. So why do I only give it a 4 (which is being generous)---because the ending is a complete cop-out. It makes no sense at all and is a sticky 'feel good' ending—the sort of ending that is 100% inappropriate for a horror film! Aside from the ending, it might have earned an 8—the end was THAT bad! Too bad—I really wanted to love this film.

By the way, two of the kids are played by John Savage and Robbie Benson.

All the Kind Strangers was one of the fifty films that came packaged in a box-set titled "Nightmare Worlds", and it was one of the rare films that wasn't science-fiction. Yet it probably has just as reason for being in the box-set as sci-fi flicks; it's got the premise, at the least, and from the description (wedged in with another movie on the one side of a two-sided disc) sounds like a cross between the Little Rascals and Deliverance. At least, that would be the first impression had it reached its potential. As it stands, All the Kind Strangers does keep a hold of its creepiness for a while, as Stacy Keach (playing well as a leading role, which he usually doesn't do) is a photo-journalist who picks up a little kid carrying a big bag of flour back to his home. Just a normal thing, it seems, to help the little critter out. But then it's a long trek through the backwoods, specifically through a creek, and then to a house where there are seven kids and one "mom", who really has been sort of kidnapped by the kids. He's kidnapped too, and made to be their dad as their parents are five-years gone. Dogs line the premises, and the pain kid Peter (John Savage) carries a shotgun. What to do?

There is actually probably a very good movie, even an extremely controversial one (maybe on par with Deliverance if not more-so) with the ingredients here. There's a whole power-structure element in place, the psychological unrest as Peter really is the head of the household- the kids don't know any better, least of all for wacky John (Robby Benson, maybe the most tongue-in-cheek kid actor of the 70s)- and how the kids, including Peter, *do* listen to Keach's 'dad' if he's forceful enough. And there's even subtext thrown in that is never quite cleared up with a mute girl in the bunch (obviously, as Frank Miller once wrote, grew up and filled out) who keeps on eying and making subtle advances towards her new father. This would actually be challenging in better hands, but unfortunately it's A) a TV movie, and B) in an odd way meant as a dark twist for the Little Rascals kid's club. So it ends up playing it safe with material that, in the end, becomes preachy and tacky as the kids all decide that it's better to give in instead of having a ready-made mom and dad at the helm.

Other things like the cars all drowned in the lake (and the fact that who-knows how many people have died is left up in the air), and little technical things with the production (i.e. do the kids really pay for the gas, and if not how come there are lights on in the house? do kids take care of candles that well?) Not to mention the length issue; at 74 minutes the holes are fairly abundant in the plot. But there are strengths here that do come out, even if seeing John Savage might inspire a "I believe in God" bit from Hair, as the acting is more than competent, and given how low the production values are the director gets a good amount of chills from the kids (awkward might be the way to say it) and chase scenes. It could make for a remake in good hands, exploring and altering some of the details. As it stands, it's an OK effort with an undercurrent that's sort of unique.

The film does get a bit interesting - it hits a couple of lulls but that doesn't last long then it picks right back up again. There is a creepiness to these kids -- not like Children of the Corn creepy but more of a subtle creepiness to them.

Fun little trivia: The $60 shoes in 1974 would cost about $316 in 2019 according to the inflation calculator.

5/10

This is just a made-for-TV movie, but it is creepy fun. It is also the rare scary movie that you can safely watch with your kids, without traumatizing them. In fact the movie carries quite a strong family values message. There is no explicit gory violence, so those who watch movies looking for that would be disappointed. The thrills here are mostly of the anticipatory kind. I think kids from about 8 to 14 will find much in this movie that they can identify with and that will make them uneasy about how they would react in the situation. There is very good work from Stacy Keach and John Savage and a young Robbie Benson is as good as he ever gets.

Two adults become trapped by a family of seven children looking for new parents to replace their dead ones.

A journalist named Jimmy, who is driving through the backwoods of some small town, picks up a 7-year old wandering on the road to drop him off home. When he gets there, he sees that the home is filled with only 7 children and a mother who is in the kitchen. When Jimmy meets the mother figure Caroline, she writes "help" as an attempt to get his attention to the fact that not all is what is seems here. While they sit for dinner, the kids reveal that both their parents died 5 years ago, and then they begin to call the two adults "ma and pa".

When Jimmy goes to his room for the night, the children lock his door. The other adult female explains to him that they are prisoners there and the guard dogs will attack if they try to run off of the property. The two of them start to humour the kids and play it off like they want to be their parental guardians, including disciplining them when they do things wrong. Can Caroline and Jimmy escape these mischievous children?

All the Kind Strangers is an odd little made for TV thriller which plays a little bit like Children of the Corn meets Little House on the Prairie. I wouldn't say this was all that terrifying, especially considering only one of the seven kids is really evil (the others are unknowing followers). The movie tells the story so fast that it feels a little rushed as well. The minute Jimmy enters the house he's pretty much trapped. The tension is all thrown in at once.

Stacy Keach is wonderful as Jimmy Wheeler, the man trying to escape this nightmare. Samantha Eggar is good as well. The kids do a good job, with Robby Benson and John Savage as standouts. I didn't mind this movie, but it wasn't as good as I thought it might be. Other than the guard dogs, there isn't much danger to be found for our leading characters.

All the Kind Strangers is worth a watch at least once, especially for fans of 70's made-for-TV films. I felt it was an average entry.

5/10

A couple traveling through a backwoods area are held by a a group of orphans who want them to become their parents.

Unfortunately, the kids have a habit of killing adults who refuse that particular honor.

TV movie from the 70s when harder, more adult film work was possible.

Stacy Keach at the height of his coke habit.

It's a pretty good movie.

TV doesn't make good anything any more so cherish this.

It's very well made and directed. The 70s were a good time for TV movies

Yes, it was nifty to think of backwoods children abducting strangers to be their parents, but the plot took the entire length of the film to focus on this plot. Nothing else happened.

The ending was peculiar, definitely.

The only fun part was when Samantha Eggar wrote in the flour on the cutting board. This was the only event to drive any kind of direction in the story.

After that, it was "is it?" or "Isn't it?", over and over and over again.

The lousiest was Benson tipping over the boat.

I watched this as a late movie, before VCRs, and it was murder when it was over around midnight and I thought I could have been asleep by now.

The movie almost did that for me anyway.

Like so many movies, it comes with a "what if" idea and then takes it from there. This is preposterous. A photographer is kidnapped by kids who want him to pretend to be their father. They have already kidnapped a mother, so they need a matched set. The kids aren't psychotic or overtly evil. It's like the Waltons. They dress in rustic clothes. Send a scout named Gilbert, an eight year old who is really about twelve, to lure innocent adults to their lair. There are so many holes in the story, that it just falls apart. The most openly ridiculous one is why the mom/woman is so terrified. When an ally shows up, she won't even talk. The kids are confused and directionless as they should be, but never consider for a second that they could be doing better for themselves. The "accidents" and the chase scenes are hard to swallow. I mean, these are a bunch of fairly normal kids. It looks cheap, although there are some pretty good actors. One thing to watch for is when the kids are together, they pose for the camera, in two rows, while the oldest child talks to them.

This movie is kind of like "Lord of the Flies". A family of children (no mother or father present) desire to have guardians (Mom and Dad), so they kidnap a man and woman to be just that. What happens next is (of course) the movie. One thing to note is that not every one of the children (in fact most of them are not) aware of the secret!

I just found about this movie in the pass week, it looked and sounded good.

As it was TV movie, I didn't expect much from it at all.

I thought was really good but they could dose so much more with it, it had bigger budget then it did!

I did the kids a little creepy at times, I don't know if was acting or not but some seem a Little robotic at times

There rest of the movie, had something really intense moments and I wasn't to sure we're the story was going end.

I not sure yet, if I liked the ending or not , I found it a bit odd.

That was the only odd thing in the movie, I felt the music was 9ut of place, It felt to upbeat and took the dark feel away,

Otherwise it was decent for 70s TV movie

Who would have thought that the harmless act of a lone man stopping in his car on a country road and offering a small child a lift in his car would result in such grief? Stacey Keach indulges in such unselfish behaviour, and finds himself held captive as the new 'Pa' of a very strange family of children. D'oh!

Stacey's a travelling photo-journalist and after driving down the most inhospitable road in existence, ends up at a house containing several kids, including a young (and angry!) John Savage. Yeah, he can be their new Pa alright, as long as they don't kill him first! Stacey's quick on the uptake, however, figuring out that 'Ma' probably shouldn't be frightened out of her wits or have an English accent, plus, the fact that John Savage parked Stacey's new car at the bottom of the creek is a major clue that something ain't right either.

But he can just walk out and escape, right? Well, apart from being locked up at night, the mute kid that's always sneaking about, and all them dogs trained to eat reluctant surrogate parents (oh, and all the traps) Stacey's having a bit of trouble calling all this off.

This film starts off great, but being a TV movie, it's severely hampered by…well, being a TV movie. So there's no gore, or nudity, and the ending kind of sucks. Nice premise though, and Stacey "You don't forget the taste of human flesh" Keach is always worth watching in anything, really.

Surely it's online somewhere for nothing.

I watched this movie with hopes that it would be...well....good! Boy was I wrong! You begin watching this movie with the thought that it is going somwhere, (neverminding the awful happy 70ish tune)and then BOOM! Story loses where it was going. Evil in the swamp indeed....the story line seemed more interested in having the children want whippings then anything...and what kinda ending is that to put in a movie.....Did Walt Disney make this movie or did some guy just type up a story while he was drunk...I dont know...but I do know one thing...This is garbage! On a scale of 1-10..I'd give it a -10, dont waste your time with this junk!

I recently viewed All the Kind Strangers (1974) on Prime. The storyline follows a man who picks up a child hitchhiking and gives him a ride home. When he gets to the home he discovers a house full of kids who need parents. The kids decide he'd be the perfect dad, whether he wants to be or not...

Directed by Burt Kennedy (The Train Robbers), the film stars Stacy Keach (Escape from LA), Samantha Eggar (The Brood), John Savage (The Deer Hunter), and Robby Benson (The Chosen).

This movie has significant potential, reminiscent of Children of the Corn. It wouldn't be surprising if Stephen King drew inspiration from it. The attire, settings, and circumstances draw you in, though there are occasional shortcomings in lighting and cinematography. The setup is excellent, and Stacy Keach delivers a relatable performance. The kids' conniving nature sets up the circumstances effectively, but a more intense confrontation between Keach and the kids could have heightened the tension. The film feels like it needs a darker step forward, possibly with a brutal fight or kill, and the ending is somewhat disappointing.

In conclusion, All the Kind Strangers offers worthwhile elements for horror enthusiasts but lacks a few key pieces to stand out in the genre. I would score it a 5.5-6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

This 1974 TV movie is so preposterous. Most TV movies of the era started with a good premise then fizzled out plotwise. This one stinks from the get go.

Two adults are held hostage by a group of backwards children out on a desolate farm. They never explain what hold these kids have over the adults.

There are at least five talented actors in thus project and all are wasted.

Did people really buy this junk in 1974? Were people still that stoned after the late 1960s? I guess with only three networks they thought they had a built in audience and would always get a return on their investment.

The only good thing about this movie is the 1974 Chevrolet Caprice Classic convertible.