One of the most memorable made-for-TV horror films of the 1970s, Satan's School for Girls is set an exclusive institution of learning in Salem, MA, where students have been committing suicide at an alarming rate. A young woman named Elizabeth Sayres (Pamela Franklin) enrolls at the all-girl's school under an assumed name, hoping to find out why her sister felt compelled to kill herself and begins to explore the extracurricular activities that secretly exist. She becomes friend with another student Roberta Lockhart (Kate Jackson) and together they try to find the obscure truth. For a number of girls, studying demonic teaching rather than their textbooks is unfortunately what makes an "A" student. The two young woman end up walking the same dark hallways that Elizabeth's sister walked before she met unmentionable fate. Slowly and deliberately, Elizabeth is drawn into a coven of Satan worshipers -- and soon she realizes that she herself has demonic potential.

A made-for-TV movie of the week for ABC network, Satan's School for Girls, despite its bad title, is not a bad chiller at all. Pamela Franklin and Kate Jackson are excellent in their roles and a creepy atmosphere with some scary moments, make it an enjoyable thriller. Both Franklin and Jackson appeared in several thriller movies in the early 70s and it is a real pleasure watching them act together, as there is a real chemistry between them. The film grabs your attention as a viewer right from the start and gradually builds on the level of tension and suspense most effectively. It's too bad that when it comes time to deliver on the promised scares, this one falls rather short of the mark. Obviously there were limits with regards to what could be shown on television in the time and era but honestly, I think the real problem here is they show and give away too much (and by doing so effectively ruin that illusion they were trying to create at the start). It would have been more effective to have shown as little as possible of the victims and the menace itself, leaving more for the audience to decipher for themselves. Of course it is predictable a movie, the script is a bit flat with minor twists and turns and the viewer suspects how the ending will be, but watching it today after so many years, its great fun and one can say that it is a real cult classic film.

The prolific TV production tandem of Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg produce us another doozy. The duo brought us the 1970's kitsch staples Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island and The Love Boat. Then they went on to action programs like TJ Hooker in the '80s before turning to teen soap operas in the '90s with Beverly Hills 90210.

The tandem had a knack for plugging in episodes that dealt with pressing and relevant social ills and issues, facing whatever program was on the air, from drugs - to gang violence - to the homeless. Satan's School for Girls is no different, warning impressionable young women against the dangers of falling for the minions of evil.

Before they really got into the TV series swing, they co-produced several made for TV movie exploitation pieces like the kidnapping caper Snatched and the invitation only Death Cruise. They also had a hand in a couple of supernatural thrillers, including Chill Factor and Satan's School for Girls.

Of special interest is the presence in the cast of two future Charlie's Angels regulars, Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd (here billed under her maiden name, Cheryl Jean Stoppelmoor). Kate Jackson was just coming off of her stint on Dark Shadows, and a supporting roll as officer Danko's wife on The Rookies. Combine that with Ladd's appearance, and that's why the film is sometimes called Satan's Angels. The video box I have prominently shows Ladd on the front but her screen appearance is minute. Pamela Franklin would continue on, exploring the supernatural, in Legend of Hell House the very next year. And as much as I despise bell bottoms and most '70s fashions, all the gals look quite fetching in those hip-huggers.

Delecroix is an interesting character that should have been featured more. He's a weirdo but an interesting weirdo, with sufficiently whacko theories. These theories are important to the story but the screenplay just skims along the surface, refusing to get into the guts of something that could have proven interesting -- giving this film an original twist.

Instead it just toddles along, is sufficiently spooky and engaging, but it could have been better. The script is so blasé about Satan's presence (or whoever the hell Thinnes is supposed to be) that one scratches one's head wondering why they didn't just stick with the brainwashing idea and make Satan the Macguffin.

So it also falls into the familiar cheese-dick ending cliché, that dominated any movie from the '70s that concerned themselves with the cloven one. The protagonists would score a symbolic victory only to reveal Satan still lurking in the background, ultimately victorious by default or treachery. (See The Devil's Rain that I swear we will review here one of these days.)

The film was remade in 2000 starring another Spelling protégé, Shannon Dougherty. Jackson returned, as well, this time playing the headmistress of the school.

I hate to call Satan's School for Girls good but there really isn't anything wrong with it. There are some effective and creepy moments, especially the scenes of Liz sneaking around the campus grounds, her white robe flowing and illuminated whenever the lightning striked.

One thing this does possess is a talented cast and this is largely as competent as it is thanks to the fine performances given by Terry Lumley, Kate Jackson, Jamie-Smith Jackson, Lloyd Bochner, Roy Thinnes and Pamela Franklin. Interesting is to see two Charlie's Angels star together, as Cheryl Ladd (credited as Cheryl Stoppelmoor) has a small role with Franklin and Jackson. Roy Thinnes is very good as the Devil.

Originally broadcast by ABC on September 19, 1973, Satan's School for Girls was remade for television in 2000 by Aaron Spelling, with Kate Jackson assaying the role of the school's sinister headmistress (originally played by Jo Van Fleet). The remake, although the great visual effects, cast and music score, obviously lacks the originality and the cheap but sheer 70s horror atmosphere and fun that the original Satan's School for girls had.