In 1973’s The Invasion of Carol Enders (Meredith Baxter) is attacked while walking in the park with her boyfriend (Christopher Connelly) and strikes her head.  At the same time, Diana Bernard (Sally Kemp) crashes her car while driving home in the rain.  Both women end up at the hospital at the same time.  Both die but Carol is brought back to life.  Except now, there’s someone else in Carol’s head….

This is a bit of an odd made-for-TV movie, even by the standards of the 70s.  It’s only 69 minutes long and it was shot on video tape, giving the whole thing the look of an old daytime drama.  It’s easy to watch this movie and imagine that it’s just a supernaturally-tinged episode of General Hospital or Days Of Our Lives.  Both the acting and the plot add to the daytime drama feel of the production.  This is a movie that fully embraces the melodrama.

I think the most interesting thing about this film is that everyone is very quick to accept that Diana has somehow willed her spirit into Carol’s body.  There’s very little hesitation about accepting Diana/Carol at her word and no one even thinks to suggest that maybe Carol is having some sort of mental episode as a result of the attack.  Adam hears that his girlfriend has been possessed and he immediately gets to work helping out the woman who has possessed her.  I mean, good for Adam.  I like a man who is willing to do whatever has to be done.  Still, everyone acts as if possession happens every day.

This is kind of a silly movie, which is probably why I enjoyed it.  It’s short, it’s simple, and it embraces the melodrama.  What’s not to enjoy?

The Invasion of Carol Enders….

AGCK!  That’s a scary title that just brings to mind all sorts of disturbing images.  And this 1973 made-for-television film does get off to a rather disturbing start, with Carol Enders (Meredith Baxter) and her boyfriend, Adam Reston (Christopher Connelly), getting attacked in the park by a random criminal.  Carol falls and strikes her head.  She is rushed to the hospital in a coma and is not expected to survive.

Meanwhile, Diana Bernard (Sally Kemp) has an argument with her former lover (John Karlen) and then goes for a drive in the rain.  When the car crashes, Diana is rushed to the same hospital as Carol.  Ironically, it’s the same hospital where her husband, Peter (Charles Aidman), works.  Like Carol, Diana is not expected to survive.

Diana and Carol both appear to die at the same time.  Except Carol doesn’t actually die.  Instead, she has a miraculous recovery.  She comes out of her coma and she is remarkably articulate for someone who has just suffered serious brain damage.  However, there is one problem.  Carol swears that she’s never seen Adam before, that she’s married to Peter, and that her name is Diana!

That’s the invasion of Carol Enders.  When Diana died, her spirit moved into Carol’s body and took control.  Diana is convinced that her car accident was not actually an accident.  She thinks that she was set up by her ex and she sets out to try to prove that the accident was actually attempted murder.  (Actually, it’s only attempted from Diana’s point of view.  As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Diana is dead.)  While Adam tries to help Diana solve her murder out of a hope that she’ll go away and allow Carol to once again be in control of her own body, Diana runs off to her husband.  However, it turns out that there’s a lot more going on than even Diana realizes.

This is a bit of an odd made-for-TV movie, even by the standards of the 70s.  It’s only 69 minutes long and it was shot on video tape, giving the whole thing the look of an old daytime drama.  It’s easy to watch this movie and imagine that it’s just a supernaturally-tinged episode of General Hospital or Days Of Our Lives.  Both the acting and the plot add to the daytime drama feel of the production.  This is a movie that fully embraces the melodrama.

I think the most interesting thing about this film is that everyone is very quick to accept that Diana has somehow willed her spirit into Carol’s body.  There’s very little hesitation about accepting Diana/Carol at her word and no one even thinks to suggest that maybe Carol is having some sort of mental episode as a result of the attack.  Adam hears that his girlfriend has been possessed and he immediately gets to work helping out the woman who has possessed her.  I mean, good for Adam.  I like a man who is willing to do whatever has to be done.  Still, everyone acts as if possession happens every day.

This is kind of a silly movie, which is probably why I enjoyed it.  It’s short, it’s simple, and it embraces the melodrama.  What’s not to enjoy?