Customer Reviews

The Hardy Boys - Mystery of Witches Hollow [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a "Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" fan, I found this video to be a real treat! It features the Hardy Boys in an exotic, mystery filled location and throws in some 1970's disco to boot! I especially enjoyed the inclusion of the original intro to the program followed by the announcement "Tonight on the Hardy Boys.." This video is great for those who love 1970's nostalgia.

When Frank succeeds in recapturing a purse snatched in an Egyptian bazaar, he is mystified when the owner, a lovely American girl, refuses to take it back. Instead, she pushes the key to her hotel room into his hands and asks him to meet her there later. When he and Joe open the purse they find what appears to be a priceless artifact, which has almost certainly been stolen. That evening at the hotel, they don't find the purse's owner, they find the street urchin who'd stolen the purse (who escapes again), and then the police - who confiscate their passports.

This is a great mystery, and contains some highly unusual moments for the Hardy Boys. Frank and Joe don't usually deliberately intimidate pretty girls in their hotel rooms. Would Frank *really* bash all Helene's teeth out? Is Joe's inspired rant about how much he hates Texas just an act? And Parker sings!

This is also the episode in which the boys compare themselves to Redford and Newman in "The Sting" - which is an amusing sequence.

A good storyline which features alot of the characters from the storybook such as Chet Morton and Callie Shaw. Non-stop good action fun in this episode as they try to solve an unsolved mystery of creatures, screaming people and missing clues. Well acted for that era in the late 70's, but the new baby boomers will find it a drag since there's other shows now like the X-Files and so on.

The Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew, for people of my generation (25-30), is a sad nostalgia trip - sad because we were almost too young to remember the whole series in 1977-1979, and it ended so soon. It was well done - not necessarily the (dated) music permeating almost every episode, but the whole ambience of late '70's life. While Parker Stevenson fits the role of Frank Hardy well, and his acting is decent, I find Shaun Cassidy's less impressive (I realize many people buy these videos for Cassidy - if so, enjoy, he's here in abundance in every episode). The real unsung draw of several 1977 episodes, and especially this one, is Lisa Eilbacher as Callie Shaw - in my humble opinion the greatest of American actresses. This is early Eilbacher, and she easily out-acts everyone else. For a follow-up pairing Stevenson and Eilbacher, try to catch 1981's This House Possessed - almost a Hardy Boys movie, minus Cassidy.

although shaun does not sing in this video, it is still pretty good. you find yourself saying to yourself don't do that guys! it really draws you in.