Satan's Triangle
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
A USCG pilot and his winchman Haig (Doug McClure) answer an SOS call at sea and arrive at a derelict schooner, the Requite. Haig lowers himself to the ship, where he finds three dead bodies along with one survivor, Eva (Kim Novak), cowering in the cabin.
As the pilot attempts to retrieve Haig and Eva with a rescue basket, the line breaks, plunging the two into the ocean. After they swim back to the boat, the pilot informs Haig that he must return to base because his fuel is borderline. Eva and Haig spend the night on the boat, during which time she recounts the story of the storm that killed everyone else aboard. One man was hurled through a hatch; one is hanging from the ship's mast; another vanished before her eyes; and a fourth man is in an aft compartment, floating in the air.
Eva attributes the deaths to supernatural causes, but Haig has a practical explanation for everything, including the man who appears to be floating in the air. Early the next morning, the pilot returns along with the Coast Guard cutter Venturous. Haig and Eva are transferred from the Requite to the deck of the Venturous, where they board the helicopter for the flight back to Miami. At the same time, Coast Guard personnel from the Venturous investigate the wrecked schooner.
The story takes a bizarre turn when the Venturous' captain calls Haig to tell him that what they found on the ship was not what Haig reported. The film is an example of a twist ending. The film was directed by Sutton Roley.

Review: The best of the "Bermuda Triangle" movies.
Forget that this is a TV movie filmed on a small budget, and that it doesn't have a gigantic ocean-liner like "Ghost Ship" or "Lost Voyage".
But that's another issue, for another time.)Rescue pilot Doug McClure and his companion, Michael Conrad, are sent to answer an SOS call from a small yacht at sea.
Conrad is leery because the location is at the center of the Bermuda Triangle, but McClure dismisses his fears.However, when McClure gets to the ship, he finds a lone woman survivor, Kim Novak.
However, McClure's practical nature allows him to look for, and find, plausible explanations for everything that happened.When Conrad comes back to pick them up the next morning, the movie takes an entirely different turn.
The only "bad" part of this movie is the first thirty seconds, which contain a rather cheesy opening title and narrative defining what the Bermuda Triangle is for the audience.
I seen this on tv when I was about 12 years old and it's the only film that has really scared the living daylights out of me!
It starts off with a boat being stranded in the middle of the bermuda triangle and a rescue helicopter going in to assist the boat.
But after the girl's version Doug McClure explains how he doesn't believe in the devil and starts about investigating the boat and giving an explanation on how the crew died eventually calming the girl then charming her into bed!
It's a good film well worth watching just for the end sequence alone!.
I missed the original running, but a lot of kids at school were talking about it the next morning, so when reruns came around (maybe 6 months later), I made sure to watch it.I remember that it was eerie (not really frightening, but more suspenseful), especially the twist at the end (won't give it away).
Probably not the best movie for a nine-year-or-so-old kid to see on his own (thanks to my parents having friends over to play bridge or something, I got to see it on colour TV instead of my dad's old b/w) but at least I had something to talk about the next day at school, with all the other kids who missed it the first time!
Everyone else's wasn't terrific, but good enough for TV, and the writing was stellar - too bad they churn out such junk and charge you $8 or whatever it is now, when you used to see good stuff for "free" (you just had to put up with commercials).Would like to see it again, because the rerun (1976?) was the last time I saw it..
Positively terrifying supernatural mystery is set in the foreboding waters of the Bermuda Triangle, where a small pleasure craft is found adrift with its crew dead, save for one female.
Is Satan himself a Bermuda Triangle resident, possessing the bodies of the dead in an evil quest to lure more and more fresh souls to their watery graves?Good performances by Novak and McClure, a highly effective score, and a terrifying story propel this one above the average for its type.
Too, the at-sea setting effects an eerie atmosphere of helplessness and impending doom.A spine-tingling gem that is recalled fondly by those that saw it in the day(many still have nightmares of the closing moment's ghastly freeze-frame image), but it now seems sadly lost to oblivion along with a great many other "Movie of the Week" entries.
I first saw this movie many years ago when I was about 12 and it scared me silly.
I have seen it several times since and it never fails to give me the creeps.It has a very sinister atmosphere throughout, which is extremely effective in building a very uneasy feeling in the viewer.The first time you see this film, the ending will knock you out.
The latter-day, 40-something beauty of Kim Novak--striking and yet sinister--is milked for all its worth in this effective TV-made occult suspenser about a Coast Guard pilot investigating a doomed private yacht adrift on the waters, finding a sole survivor who seems to know the ship's many mysteries.
Although I was initially chilled by the well-handled twist ending, I was somewhat disappointed to see the film throw out all its mystery to instead become a battle between good and evil.
I don't mean to suggest that's a bad thing, it's just that "Satan's Triangle" was doing such a fabulous job of being scary without being too specific that it's a bit of a letdown to see the story slip into formula.
This classic TV movie is set around the Bermuda Triangle and involving a deserted ship, a helicopter and various other sinister goings on.Superb acting and atmosphere make this a grade A sleeper.I saw it once.
My parents kept telling me that it scared the hell out of them in their childhood, but when i watched it 2day i realized their point, what a magnificent movie, with the eerie 70's effect and the creepy music this movie has it's own genuine atmosphere.Kim Novack did a wonderful job by scaring me, as she appears in the movie as so calm and mysterious, and of course i'm not going 2 talk about the twist in the end, u have 2 see it yourself, but believe me u'll be shocked..also all of the actors were fascinating,they were as if they were in the real situation which adds more suspense 2 the movie..
The local TV stations could not help (although I don't think they tried to hard.)The previous commentaries sum the movie up pretty well, I don't think my two cents will add much more.I must comment on the ending scene however...pure genius,creepy and terrifying, I still remember that scene as though I had just turned off the TV.
It always amazes me just how much really excellent film and TV remains almost impossible to get, whilst at the same time, we are sinking under the weight of dross DVDs. A friend in the industry informed me that a great part of the problem is the legal maze surrounding the issue of copyright ownership.
I saw this movie on television, late at night, several years ago.
I've always remembered it because the plot held my attention so absolutely.I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes suspense that builds to a "WOW" ending..
Now it could be a trick of memory but I saw this movie on late night TV once, years ago and it scared the hell out of me.
To say too much would only ruin the twist but there is a very clever plot device in which the viewer is bored almost into narcolepsy just before a VERY creepy climax.This really is an undiscovered treasure and I hope to see it again one day.The movie really has stayed with me where maybe better movies failed to do so.
No one was conditioned for twist endings back then, especially in a TV movie, and then the last 10 minutes terrified me.
This little made for TV film released in 1975 has the best plot twist I have ever seen in a movie.
Doug McClure plays the rational and in control coast guard pilot and Kim Novak plays a temptress on the vessel that explains what has happened.
After the winch breaks Pagnolini returns to base to fix a repair leaving Haig on the boat with Eva who tells him of the events that killed everyone else on board Amazing to think nowadays after seeing countless made for television films on the SyFy and Hallmark channels that once upon a time in the 1970s TVMs were relatively good .
This was a time when American networks seemed to have a genuine concern about quality and this film is amongst the very best that American television companies produced even though it perhaps cheats the memory somewhat What helps is that ST has a relatively large cast of well known names attached to it who despite not giving Oscar worthy performances aren't exactly slumming it either .
Kim Novak forever known as her lead role in VERTIGO brings a smouldering sexuality befitting of her character and we get actors like Ed Lauter and Jim Davis be better known in later roles To be honest not a lot happens in the film .
Okay it's rather corny and probably is nowhere as smart or as scary as you remember it from all these years ago but as someone who's watched far too many SyFy channel productions with CGI monsters running amok it still makes me nostalgic for an era where TVMs at least tried to spook the audience.
Depending on what ending you see, this movie just might give you nightmares.
The acting is good - not stellar - but the plot moves along nicely, keeping you wondering what's coming next.Unfortunately, there seem to be variations in the ending - who's doing the deciding, I don't know.
Yes thank you because i never think knwow what is the real title of one of the most frighten movie that i saw when i was a child.
Every time in a party, there's always someone who tell you that the most frighten movie he saw was this Satan's triangle but no one can remember the title.
Of course, i never saw this movie again, but i don't really know if i want to see it again : child's memories are currently better than the real thing...
Satan's Triangle started down that predictable "see, everything has an explanation" route, then freaked me out at the end!
I always kept an eye out for this movie and it finally showed up on TV twenty years later in 1995 and I recorded it.
By far the scariest movie I have ever seen!.
I began watching it thinking it would be just another Fri. night movie of the week.
My perfect timing parents chose to come thru that d@#n door just as the credits started to roll and I'm here to tell you that if my heart had been weak at all, I would have met my maker that night!
To this day when anyone asks me, "whats the scariest movie you've ever seen", I always answer "Satans Triangle" without hesitation!
The only movie to ever come close to frightening me like that was 5 yrs.
Satan's Triangle (1975) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Nice made-for-TV horror film has a Coast Guard rescuer (Doug McClure) landing on a boat and discovering everyone on board is dead with the exception of one woman (Kim Novak).
The biggest problem is the title, which pretty much gives away the explanation of what's going on, which is a real shame because the twist at the end is pretty good and even so with viewers knowing what to expect.
Again, the film manages to be very entertaining from start to finish but one wishes the secret would have been hidden more but I guess the title is what would bring some people to the movie..
The film creates a good atmosphere and this is complimented by the mysterious plot that never really reveals itself until the ending.
The film is only short, running at just over sixty minutes, and as such; there isn't really time for it to build into anything too spectacular, but Satan's Triangle provides the mystery and suspense for the duration and it's worth seeing if you can get hold of it..
I saw this movie maybe fifteen or more years ago.
I will never forget Kim Novak's scary smile when she was in the rescue helicopter.
Satan's Triangle is a made-for-TV horror/thriller that takes the best part of its 74 minute run-time going nowhere (much like the yacht on which it is set), before throwing in a supernatural twist ending that makes it feel like an extended episode of Tales of the Unexpected.'70s hunk Doug McClure plays Haig, a US Coast Guard who investigates a yacht adrift in the mysterious area known as Satan's Triangle.
After finding three dead bodies, Haig finally locates a survivor, Eva (Kim Novak), but as they are being winched onto the chopper by pilot Pagnolini (Michael Conrad), the cable snaps and they are ditched into the ocean.
The creepy payoff is pretty neat, and no doubt affected many a young viewer back in the day (I suspect that the movie's biggest fans are the ones who, as children, caught it on TV when originally aired), but as a middle-aged first-time viewer I can't say that I'll be losing much sleep over this one..
Worth seeing if you want to be able to say you've seen what might be the worst "ABC Movie of the Week" film!.
Before I get to the film itself, I'd like to point out that the whole 'Devil's Triangle' idea is pretty ridiculous.
So if you are headed that way, relax.As for the film, "Satan's Triangle" is a very odd film...much like combining a horror movie with a soap opera!
The Coast Guard discovers a boat floating aimlessly in the Triangle and rescue Kim Novak who looks eerily and predictably stunning.
She weaves a very scary and compelling story of strange deaths and triangle legends, but the whole movie askews as if someone switches plots as it goes from spooky to stupid.
Not to give it away, I'd only watch this movie until the arrival of the Coast Guard cutter.
I saw this as a child and it really scared me and piqued my interest in the Bermuda triangle.
The end where the man on the boat is talking on the radio to the men in the helicopter, and describes a dead body that they just found, and it is the WOMAN ON THE HELICOPTER, is chilling as you discover from her evil grin that she is really Satan in disguise.
Also the face (frozen as the end credits roll) on the doomed Coast Gaurdsman, recently killed by the devil and now whose body has been taken over by the evil-doer, as he waves from the water to the unsuspecting ship, is so evil that I had to turn away.I check every week to see if this overlooked gem is going to be on TV so I can record it..
I have always remembered this film because of the ending.
It was the only time I have ever seen this film.
I've probably seen hundreds of horror films since and forgotten most of them, but Satans Triangle stands out as one of the best low budget creep fest's to date.
Back in the mid-1970s there was quite a bit of interest in the Bermuda Triangle, and a few movies were made about the subject.
In my opinion, this is the best of those films.Kim Novak (who is absolutely beautiful here) is involved in a sailing trip through the Bermuda Triangle.
There are lots of sinister goings-on, and Novak eventually needs to be rescued by Coast Guard Capt McClure and his crew.Good photography, beautiful scenery and great work by Novak and McClure lift this film above the usual 1970s TV movie standards.
I won't ruin the ending, but it still scares me, 36 years later!
Coast Guard finds yacht in Bermuda Triangle with sole survivor Kim Novak.
It's surprising they TV did not make more such films during the 1970s(although several documentary films were made, for the big screen, and television as well).In brief, Kim Novak plays Eva, sole survivor of a doomed yacht adrift in the Triangle, whose other crew members have met with various paranormal demises.
Without giving too much away, the twist ending may not be so much a surprise to veteran viewers of this type of programming, but is still quite creepy.
Me and my brother still talk about it..I was 9 when I saw it..I am in my 40's now!Some have referred to Kim Novak's sinister smile, and one referred to her chuckle.
The faces pulled by the cast to show that they are possessed (cheap effect), especially doug's face lifting out of the water at the end for the obligatory shocking twist in the tail.
Interesting film initially though once the mysteries are resolved you kind of feel that nothing at all really happened in this film – just a man and a woman on a boat talking and waiting to be rescued.Then there's the twist ending, which involved a shape-shifting devil and a circular storyline that sets up the scenario for the same events to re-occur, which seems to be the devil capturing and inhibiting the bodies of people stranded at sea within this mysterious Bermuda Triangle-esque area.It's an interesting idea but is executed in rather a dull manner.
OK telling of strange goings-on in the world's most famous 'hot spot'.Haig (Doug McClure) is an irresponsible helicopter rescue worker who derails his investigation of a seemingly abandoned ship so he can try to make it with the lone woman survivor he finds hiding on board.Meanwhile, Pagnolini (Michael Conrad) is the helo pilot who DOES NOT have his head up his butt.
Great scary movie.
By the end, which was probably the scariest thing I've ever seen in a movie, I was resolved never to stay home from school again.
I saw this movie when I was twelve and it scared me for months.
Two airplane pilots are sent to respond to a call for help deep in the middle of Satan's Triangle.They find an abandoned boat adrift with several bodies and just one survivor(Kim Novak).The frightened woman tells Lieutenant Haig(Doug McClure) the details of a dark and frightening voyage into terror as the two spend the night together on the vessel.Unfortunately the sinister tale of Satan's Triangle is linked to the mysterious priest supposedly dead on board."Satan's Triangle" is an eerie gem of early 70's TV-horror.When I was a kid I was fascinated by the mystery of Bermuda Triangle and this film links it with Satanic force.8 triangles out of 10.