Sweet, Sweet Rachel

"Sweet, Sweet Rachel" (1971) is an ABC Movie of the Week horror / thriller starring  Alex Dreier, Pat Hingle, Louise Latham and Stefanie Powers.

Rachel Stanton (Powers) returns home to her palatial seaside mansion one evening to watch in horror her husband, seemingly in a trance, run toward and through the window to die on the seaside rocks below.  She then receives a phone call from a mysterious female voice reciting all the cards that are spread out on the table.

Filled with grief, Rachel seeks the help of ESP expert, Dr. Lucas Darrow (Dreier) to help her solve the mystery.  In the meantime, she starts seeing visions of things and feeling a power that is making her do things she doesn't want to do.  The Dr. and Rachel both believe someone used ESP to kill her husband and to go after her.

Out of the blue, Rachel's aunt and uncle Arthur and Lillian Piper show up at Rachel's house and insist on staying so they can take care of her during her time of need.  Their daughter Nora, who was in love with Rachel's husband, also keeps popping up.  Lillian has psychic powers of her own and Dr. Darrow is immediately suspicious of the aunt, especially after they start keeping her in the house for her own good and keep the doctor away from her.

This is a good made for TV thriller.  Stephanie Powers does a great job as a woman being assaulted from psychic forces.  There are lots of shadows and a wonderfully mysterious setting and atmosphere that permeates the movie.  Plus, it keeps you guessing until the end!