"Second Chance" has possibilities, but blows them by having a pointless conclusion. "No Such Thing as a Vampire" is a 15 minute rush of all of the Hammer "Dracula" films without the creativity. But the third, "Bobby". should have been a movie all its own. It is riveting from start to finish, and dominates half of the film.
Young Ed Begley heads back into the past and realizes that time travel helped save someone's life who has become very dear to him, and it is a great set-up, but the execution of it falls short especially with how it comes together, like a weak "Twilight Zone" episode. The "Vampire" middle just lays there like a blood-sucking beast awaiting the ending of sunlight so he can rise. But like a pancake, this never rises, and is as dull and flavorless as a pancake without its toppings. Only the presence of Patrick MacNee and Elisha Cook Jr. adds life to this as it really has no afterlife.
The disappointments of the first two parts immediately ends when you meet Joan Hackett for "Bobby", playing a grieving mother who uses black magic to bring her son back from the dead, believing him to have drowned. When he re-appears (played by Lee H. Montgomery of "Burnt Offerings"), he's a demon child, basically a live version of the ugly doll Karen Black purchased for "Trilogy of Terror", taunting Hackett in a game of hide and seek as his evil goals become obvious. This intense segment could have easily been stretched out to 75 minutes with the other segments completely eliminated. It is that good. Not related to the British horror classic, I can see why this was not picked up for a TV series.
Young Ed Begley heads back into the past and realizes that time travel helped save someone's life who has become very dear to him, and it is a great set-up, but the execution of it falls short especially with how it comes together, like a weak "Twilight Zone" episode. The "Vampire" middle just lays there like a blood-sucking beast awaiting the ending of sunlight so he can rise. But like a pancake, this never rises, and is as dull and flavorless as a pancake without its toppings. Only the presence of Patrick MacNee and Elisha Cook Jr. adds life to this as it really has no afterlife.
The disappointments of the first two parts immediately ends when you meet Joan Hackett for "Bobby", playing a grieving mother who uses black magic to bring her son back from the dead, believing him to have drowned. When he re-appears (played by Lee H. Montgomery of "Burnt Offerings"), he's a demon child, basically a live version of the ugly doll Karen Black purchased for "Trilogy of Terror", taunting Hackett in a game of hide and seek as his evil goals become obvious. This intense segment could have easily been stretched out to 75 minutes with the other segments completely eliminated. It is that good. Not related to the British horror classic, I can see why this was not picked up for a TV series.