Monday, January 7, 2013

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries - The Mystery of Witches' Hollow (1977)

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries

The Mystery of Witches' Hollow
The Mystery of Witches' Hollow is the second Hardy Boys episode of the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.  It involves their hunt to find a man who has gone missing in the woods.  The mystery involves a legend about a witch whose screams can be heard in the woods at night and her pet, a killer black mountain lion.
Beelzebub Has a Devil Put Aside For Me
This episode introduces two characters from the books; the Boys' best friend Chet, and Frank's sometimes girlfriend Callie.  Chet's character, good-natured, food-loving, and just a bit of a coward, is the same as in the books.  Callie seems like an intelligent young lady, but she doesn't do much to show off her personality, and there doesn't seem to be any hint of a romance between her and Frank.
The Knife Stalker
Despite the legend of the witch, this episode is not as weird and spooky as the first episode, it's more of an action/adventure.  During the course of the adventure, the Boys get to jump on and off of a moving vehicle, wrangle a mountain lion, and escape from a burning building.  Frank wrestles with a mysterious intruder, and Joe nearly falls to his death down a cliff.  It's all fun, but still a little bland and predictable.  At no point does it feel like they're in any real danger.
Thunderbolt and Lightning Very Very Frightening Me
To a certain extent, that's the nature of the beast with a serialized, formula TV show like this.  No matter what happens, the characters have to come out unscathed and unchanged in the next episode.  The best TV shows make you forget that while you are watching them, and the Hardy Boys Mysteries haven't achieved it yet.  Still, they're only two episodes in to the series, and I remain optimistic that the show well eventually start firing on all cylinders. Unless, of course, my childhood memories of the show are not as reliable as I thought they were (heaven forbid).



Rating: 2½ Robots (out of 5)









The Beau Brummels - Magic Hollow


The Rattles - The Witch




More screencaps after the jump...




Weird Woman

Any Way the Wind Blows

Sharing a Phone

I See a Little Silhouetto

Caught in a Landslide

The Cliff

Ghost Town


Return of The Donner Party

Open Your Eyes, Look up to the Skies and See
The Owl Knows






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