Who payed the critics

Lack of good storyline.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Sadly I can't share the enthusiasm of my fellow reviewers around here. "Dying Room Only" is a solid and tense little thriller, but I honestly can't label it a masterpiece and there are many better early 70's made- for-TV Lorimar Productions out there. Particularly the first half hour of this thriller is stupendous, with an extremely unsettling atmosphere and a few moments of unequaled suspense, but the film loses a lot of its power when the script inevitably has to come up with explanations and plot twists. The basic concept is close to genius and yet another imaginative idea of master writer Richard Matheson ("Duel", "The Omega Man", "The Devil Rides Out" and so many other genre classics…). The bickering middle-aged couple Bob and Jean Mitchell are on the homeward journey after their vacation and stop for lunch in an extremely remote and dowdy roadside diner/motel. The proprietor is very inhospitable and Bob nearly gets in conflict with him, much against the will of Jean. When she returns from the lady's room, Bob has inexplicably vanished and the proprietor as well as another client pretend to be unaware of his leaving. Those are the sequences in "Dying Room Only" are genuinely nightmarish! When we, as viewers, feel equally powerless as Jean and wonder what possibly could have happened during those few lousy minutes when she was in the bathroom. The interactions with the unfriendly and very unhelpful locals, the disbelief of the Sheriff, Jean's personal doubts … That's really terrific thriller cinema. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the exact same concept got copied in the late 90's, by director Jonathan Mostow, in the thriller "Breakdown" starring Kurt Russell and J.T. Walsh. Unfortunately the unfolding of the mystery can't live up to the atmosphere of despair and fear of that initial half hour and the film gradually lost my interest. The denouement isn't bad or anything, it just could have been grislier and more horrific (even in spite of this being a TV-movie). The performances of Cloris Leachman and Ned Beatty (as the sleazy diner regular) are splendid and the isolated San Diego filming locations add a great deal to the suspense as well.

This TV movie is obviously the inspiration for the 1998 Kurt Russell thriller, "Breakdown". But in this earlier version the story is told from a distaff point of view as a woman (Cloris Leachman) desperately searches through a grim little community for her missing husband. Menacing locals Ross Martin and Ned Beatty get to play bad guys for a change and do a great job as they stymie Leachman's efforts at every turn. The music is well arranged and atmospheric. The final showdown is reasonably suspenseful. Oh, and you get to see a young Dabney Colemon as Leachman's husband- well, for a minute anyways as he soon vanishes in the first act. Trouble with this movie is, like his rather pedestrian work in "When Michael Calls", director Phillip Leacock's uninspired direction doesn't bring home the thrills that this interesting story (written by Richard Matheson, author of "Duel") had the potential of delivering. A great premise, but not a great movie. If you want to see a superior version of this story, just rent the unofficial remake, "Breakdown".

A favorite t.v. movie from the 70's. Again, Richard Matheson creates atmosphere and suspense out of almost nothing as a couple stops at a remote diner/motel and the husband never returns from the bathroom. From the bathroom? Who writes a suspense movie where the husband apparently falls in the toilet? The man who brought you the vindictive 16 wheeler of "Duel." Unlike that clever but overpraised feature, "D.R.O." (What's up with that title? It can't be a play on "S.R.O." can it? You don't buy tickets for the toilet?) stays close to realistic scale, and the less than apocalyptic climax is a face-off by two determined middle-aged women. Complain all you want - it worked for me then, it works for me now.

All must view this priceless gem.It creates a delicious sense of dread. Cloris Leachman's performance is unequalled.