'Night Cries' is a well above average, splendidly atmospheric TV movie starring, Michael Parks and, Susan Saint James as a young married couple discovering that coping with the shocking death of their newborn baby girl would not only prove massively devastating, but when his wholly grief-stricken wife begins to suffer the most terrible, uncommonly vivid nightmares, a maddening repetition of identical, increasingly disturbing, faintly recognizable terror-images, and the shrill, desperate cry of a newborn baby! This unending mental miasma finally tormenting, Jeannie (Susan Saint James) so absolutely, the cries so insistent, that she becomes resolutely convinced that her baby is still alive, plaintively calling out to her by means wholly mysterious. Is this possible? Not according to pragmatic psychiatrist, Dr. Whelan (William Conrad) and her worried husband Mitch (Parks), both insist that the hidden origins of her torment are deeply interior, entirely neurotic, born of an overwhelming and debilitating maternal grief.
The fascinating themes of natural causes versus preternatural occurrences are intelligently dealt with in an adult, balanced fashion, happily, no moronic jump-scares! The earnest doctor Whelan played with enormous gravitas and great empathy by, William Conrad as he attempts to get to the bottom of these relentlessly debilitating dreams that, Jeannie insists are quite real, her adamant decision to search for her baby do much to convinced equally troubled husband, Mitch and the good doctor that her reasoning remains clouded by grief. This engrossing, frequently eerie, darkly-tinged drama is blessed with a cogent script by, Brian Taggart and the engaging text is bolstered by the wonderfully rigorous performances, especially the emotionally distraught, Saint James and the warmly likeable presence of, William Whelan effectively grounding the piece, giving 'Night Cries' an emotional gravitas usually absent from similarly intentioned, once seen, quickly forgotten TV-Movie-of-the-Week affairs.
Due to 'Night Cries' being such a remarkably visual picture it would benefit greatly from being restored for an entirely worthy DVD/Blu-ray release, especially since it currently remains another undeservedly forgotten gem from the golden age of televisual entertainment that most certainly hasn't lost any of its attention grabbing intrigue! There's an especially moving and emotionally weighty sequence wherein the plainly anxious, Jeannie is nervously shown around a familiar childhood house by kindly owner, Mrs. Delesande (Cathleen Nebitt) to perhaps confront what may or may not still lurk in the storied closet which enjoys a subtlety one all too rarely sees today.
