Coolest Movie In The World #273; "Bad Ronald" (1974)

Bad Ronald was one of those made for tv movies of the early nineteen seventies. Yes, before Netfix, Showtime etc..broadcast television (ABC, NBC, CBS) would sometimes show original movies. They were much cheaper and far inferior to what the movie studios were making at the time, but when you only have three channels to choose from, you pretty much ingest whatever garbage they spoon feed you.

The movie tells the story of Ronald Quimbey, a weird socially outcast teenager, who lives with his equally weird spinster mother. While being ostracized by a bully (a little girl about half his size, no less) Ronald fights back in anger and accidentally kills her.

Instead of going to the police and explaining what happened, Ronald's crazy spinster mother decides to build a secret room inside the house and keep Ronald hidden until the coast is clear.(Apparently, when you are a crazy spinster mother, this seems like the most logical plan of action) Needless to say, the longer that Ronald lives in isolation the stranger he becomes.

Tragically, Ronald's mother dies during emergency gall bladder surgery (seriously!) and Ronald is left all alone in his secret lair. The house is sold and a family with two beautiful teenage daughters moves in and...well....things get weird(er). (Remember, it's always a good idea, when buying a home, to check the premises for a wild haired unhinged psychopath who may be hiding in a secret room, especially if you have teenage daughters.)

I was nine years old when this movie came out and it completely scared the ba jesus out of me. The thought of walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night and running into to some crazed teenage murderer (who, by the way, also happens to be living secretly inside the friggin' house!) completely paralyzed me with fear. Stupidly, I must have confessed my terror to my older siblings who preceded to torture me for years to come by yelling, "Ronald!", whenever I decended the basement steps to get a Pepsi.

Needless to say, like many movies of the seventies, Bad Ronald has not aged welI. And, I am happy to report, I no longer worry about running into Ronald in the middle of the night. (These days I am more worried about running into the neighbor kid who lives down the street.) But if you want to see what passed for entertainment prior to Netfix, Showtime etc..(and if you enjoy watching bad parental decision making) you may want to check this one out.

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