SWEET, SWEET RACHEL opens in ominous fashion, as an apparent premonition concerning the title character (Stephanie Powers- DIE! DIE! MY DARLING!, THE ASTRAL FACTOR) causes her husband to plummet to his doom. Seeking answers, Rachel goes to the office of Dr. Lucas Darrow (Alex Dreier), a parapsychologist working in the field of telepathy / ESP / precognition. Darrow and his team, including Carey (Chris Robinson), a blind man w/ the sixth sense, delve into Rachel's subconscious mind, where Darrow, clairvoyant himself, can see what she sees. This nearly costs him his life! Someone is using this psychic ability as a weapon. As Darrow investigates further, he finds a definite family connection, and some very interesting characters. Especially, her oddball Aunt Lillian (Louise Latham) and Uncle Arthur (Pat Hingle). He also discovers that whoever is behind this is using their powers to stop, even kill him! What is the secret that's being so vigorously covered up? A fantastic made-for-TV movie, and the pilot for THE SIXTH SENSE series, this is one of the best films dealing w/ this subject. Ms. Powers is her usual, lovable self, and Deier makes a sober, believable Darrow. SSR deserves to be re-discovered!...

Out of the literally hundreds of made-for-TV occult horror and thrillers movies that the glorious seventies & eighties decades brought forward, I wouldn't list "Sweet, Sweet Rachel" in my personal top 20. I even doubt it would make top 50, and yet it still remains a more than adequate and worthwhile effort with an overall sinister ambiance, a couple of admirable fright sequences and a number of terrific performances. Like more often the case during the early 70s, the film served as a pilot episode for a TV-series that was named "The Sixth Sense" and ran for a season or two. As the title implies, the series dealt with paranormal phenomena and various types of psychic powers. In "Sweet, Sweet Rachel" as well, almost every character is either telekinetically gifted or an expert in the domain of ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) so as the viewer you'll require at least a fair portion of suspension of disbelief in order to enjoy the film. Rachel's beloved husband Paul fell – or jumped – to his death from a window and our grieving widow is terrified that her telekinetic powers unconsciously caused his death. Psychic powers apparently run in the family, as it turns out that Rachel's aunt Lillian played ESP games with Paul over the phone and that also her niece Nora was desperately in love with him. Dr Lucas Darrow, a medical authority in the field of ESP, investigates the murder case with the help of his blind assistant Carey, but strange mental forces nearly get them both killed as well. Clearly someone is using his/her psychic powers to commit murder. Is it Rachel, either consciously or not, or another member of the family driven by the good old-fashioned motives of greed and jealousy? One thing's for sure, you definitely don't need any paranormal superpowers in order to figure out the film's plot. When there are only six lead characters, of which two are good guys and the other four behave themselves in various degrees of suspicious, you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes in order to point out the culprit. The highlights of "Sweet, Sweet Rachel" exist of isolated moments of tension, for example a few menacing phone calls and a talking sculpture's head. The lovely Stephanie Powers makes an excellent damsel in distress, and she receives solid support from a handful of veteran actors like Alex Dreier, Pat Hingle, Louise Latham and Chris Robinson. Director Sutton Roley also made the fantastic - albeit criminally underrated – apocalyptic horror film "Chosen Survivors" that every fan of 70s horror should watch.

Whether you will enjoy "Sweet, Sweet Rachel" will most likely depend on your attitude towards psychics and psychic phenomena. I think it's all kind of silly....so keep this in mind as you read. This movie is a pilot for a short-lived series, "The Sixth Sense" that ran for 25 episodes over two seasons. The cast changed completely in the TV series and I have not actually seen that.When the film begins, Rachel (Stephanie Powers) is having weird psychic hallucinations...and even weirder, folks nearby ALSO see these weird visions and one kills himself as a result! Some psychic researchers from the university investigate and discover, ultimately, that these visions are being deliberately caused by someone with a particularly strong ability...an ability to do 'telepathic hypnosis'. But with a mind this powerful, how can anyone stop this menace...whoever they are?!This film has zillions of red herrings...so many that it felt a bit contrived and confusing. Plus, instead of being believable, it came off much like an episode of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker". Not terrible but purely a time-passer.

This was the pilot for the short-lived ABC series called 'The Sixth Sense'. By the time the series got under way, actor Gary Collins took over the part of Dr. Darrow. This character was primetime's first paranormal psychic investigator - way before another ABC favorite, 'The Night Stalker'. At any rate, the history of 'The Sixth Sense' is a very unhappy one. It's hard to get the original episodes of the series, if not impossible. It was chopped up and reedited into Rod Serling's 'Night Gallery', according to the accounts of many fans and people who know much more about the show's history.The series was basically about Dr. Darrow getting to the origins of certain paranormal disturbances and hauntings in various places. It was a great show, from what I remember of it. Too bad the original episodes can't ever be seen again. All we are left with are the re-edited versions that were incorporated into 'The Night Gallery' series. Sometimes you have to wonder where Hollywood's mind is. They deliberately ruin good shows for reasons beyond our comprehension!