"A Killer in the Family" is a made for TV movie that I saw when it first aired in 1983. I remembered how menacing and evil Robert Mitchum was in the lead and when I discovered it on YouTube, I knew I had to see it again.
The story is a real sad one to watch because it's based on a true story. Gary Tison (Mitchum) was serving a life sentence for murder, among other crimes. Oddly, despite this, he seemed like a decent father...and the family visited him often in prison. However, underneath his fatherly exterior, he was a manipulative, vicious and thoroughly despicable man. And, this manipulator was able to convince his teenage sons (Eric Stoltz, James Spader, Lance Kerwin) to help him and a friend escape from prison in Arizona...leading to a huge manhunt. What made this such a big story was following the escape, where Gary Tison senselessly murdered folks and terrorized his sons to keep them in line.
While I could tell you how all this ends, I recommend you just see the film. Then, later, you might want to read up on the case through Wikipedia to learn more that wasn't in the epilogue...such as the status of Gary's friend, Randy (Stuart Margolin).
All in all, this is a well acted and scary movie...a bit more violent and vicious than the stuff you usually saw on TV in 1983...but also incredibly compelling.
The story is a real sad one to watch because it's based on a true story. Gary Tison (Mitchum) was serving a life sentence for murder, among other crimes. Oddly, despite this, he seemed like a decent father...and the family visited him often in prison. However, underneath his fatherly exterior, he was a manipulative, vicious and thoroughly despicable man. And, this manipulator was able to convince his teenage sons (Eric Stoltz, James Spader, Lance Kerwin) to help him and a friend escape from prison in Arizona...leading to a huge manhunt. What made this such a big story was following the escape, where Gary Tison senselessly murdered folks and terrorized his sons to keep them in line.
While I could tell you how all this ends, I recommend you just see the film. Then, later, you might want to read up on the case through Wikipedia to learn more that wasn't in the epilogue...such as the status of Gary's friend, Randy (Stuart Margolin).
All in all, this is a well acted and scary movie...a bit more violent and vicious than the stuff you usually saw on TV in 1983...but also incredibly compelling.