Out of Contention, AKA The Victim

I found a great 70s made for TV movie that I watched today called "Out of Contention" (1972).  It was originally released under the title of "The Victim".  It's a great mystery/thriller starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Eileen Heckart and Sue Ane Langdon. Elizabeth Montgomery plays Kate Wainwright the sister of a woman that is murdered at the beginning of the film and stuffed in a basket in her basement.  The audience never sees who did it.

Not able to reach her sister by phone she gets worried and travels unannounced to her sister's house in Northern California.  She arrives to a seemingly empty house during a horrible thunderstorm.  Elizabeth Montgomery does an excellent job playing the concerned sister just trying to figure out what is going on.  For most of the movie it's just her trapped in the house during a storm with no phone or electricity.  But the murderer is lurking around.  Is it the possessive maid that the sister previously fired, the husband who the sister wanted to divorce, or someone else?  Dark house, rain, thunder & lightning, strange noises in the basement, eerie music - loads of atmosphere in this one! This is one of those classic made for TV thrillers that I love and I have now added it to my favorites on my Made for TV Horror/Thriller page.