It seems that the seventies was a good period for made for TV horror films, and this film helps to prove it. Dying Room Only will be familiar to anyone who has seen the excellent 1997 Kurt Russell thriller 'Breakdown' as it's obvious that this film was it's inspiration. The plot focuses on bickering couple Jean and Bob who stop at a diner while travelling through the desert. Bob gets into an argument with the owner, and when Jean returns from the bathroom, her husband is nowhere to be seen! The way that this film plays out is very similar to the later 'Breakdown', except this time it's the woman that is looking for her significant other rather than the man; which is actually a shame because Dabney Coleman has a more interesting character than Cloris Leachman, and I feel the film would have worked a lot better had it been the other way round (obviously the makers of Breakdown did too!). The mystery that is presented builds well and the film makes good use of its seventy five minute running time. I can't say that it's enthralling for the duration, but the film never becomes boring and overall, Dying Room Only is a very nice little made for TV flick.

I just saw "Dying Room Only" for the first time in over 30 years, and this is a typically great 70's TV-movie thriller. A couple (Cloris Leachman looking pretty good, and hubby Dabney Coleman) stop at a lonely desert cafe (in the daytime, not the nighttime as the summary here states) and the husband disappears as the wife is in the ladies room. The only two possible witnesses (the cafe cook and customer Ned Beatty, in a great sleazy role) are saying nothing. What happened? Where did the husband go? The movie then takes off to have Cloris Leachman trying to figure it out, since she is getting almost no help at all from anyone. Is even the local cop in on it, whatever "it" may be? Everyone is suspect. Nighttime comes, and danger looms....I do agree with the reviewer that stated this film could have been better in the second half. The first half is amazing - very suspenseful and thrilling. The second half kind of veers into "typical" fare but is still decent.A bunch of familiar 70's faces round out the small cast. Especially since the film is fairly short at about 1:13 (most TV-movies back then were 90 minutes with the commercials) this is definitely a fun watch.

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".

Married couple driving through the desert stop off at a diner; the husband goes into the men's restroom and never comes out. A fascinating premise for a so-so TV-made thriller which does give Cloris Leachman (Phyllis on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") one of the four best roles of her career (the others being "The Last Picture Show", "Young Frankenstein" and "A Girl Named Sooner"). Ross Martin is truly scary as the diner's proprietor, and the movie creates amazing tension amidst a realistic rural scenario. Too bad the script isn't as thought-out as one would like. After viewing this on video, a friend and I debated long into the night about what might've been done with the concluding events. The movie doesn't cop-out exactly, but neither does it give us any truly thrilling answers to the wife's predicament. Overall, worth-seeing for Cloris and the promising premise, but I was "Dying" for a better denouement.