Made Fot TV Horror

 

THE WORLD BEYOND-1978-After a near death experience sports writer Paul Taylor (Granville Van Dusen) gets communications "from the beyond" telling him to help certain people. 

Here he goes to an isolated Canadian island to help a guy named Frank Faber. Andy (“special guest star” Barnard Hughes), owner of the boat that takes him to the island introduces him to his other passenger, Mary Faber (JoBeth Williams), the guy's sister. When they get to the island a dog attacks Paul. At the house Faber is missing. Then something wrecks their boat and kills the dog. A loud noise is heard. They realize there is something on the island and it may have to do with Frank practicing "the occult arts". While going to a neighboring house to borrow a boat they find Frank's severed head! After finding the neighbor dead and his boat wrecked Taylor deduces that Faber created a "golem" out of mud. "That's insane. There's no such thing!". After it kills Andy the mud monster attacks Paul and Mary. They cut off one of its hands and it terrorizes Mary. While fighting the severed hand in the basement Paul discovers how to destroy the monster.

 I guess this second pilot for unsold series (by TV director Noel Black) isn't bad for a TV show despite too many monster POV shots. It was created and written by Art Wallace who created “Dark Shadows” earlier. The first pilot was made in 1977 and  called "World of Darkness", also starring Van Dusen.

Thanks for reading!