ESP-themed TV movie stars Peter Haskell as stockbroker Charles Sand, who learns upon his uncle's death that he has inherited "The Sight", a family gift/curse that enables him to have psychic visions that he must use to help those in need. No sooner is his uncle buried that a disturbed young woman(played by Sharon Farrell) needs his help to investigate whether her brother Raymond is alive or not, and what part her sister(played by Barbara Rush) and brother-in-law(played by Bradford Dillman) play in the mystery... Uneven thriller is both low-key and over-the-top, with decidedly mixed results. Some good visuals and jump-scares though. A proposed TV series pilot that never happened.

Peter Haskell, formerly of the short lived "Bracken's World," starred in this pilot for a proposed series about a young man that is able to see "the dearly departed". He is called to investigate the mysterious death of the brother of loony Sharon Farrell (in an Emmy-worthy performance) and must contend with the other members of her family, sister Barbara Rush and her smarmy husband, Bradford Dillman.The movie has its moments, especially when Haskell's visions come out of the blue and surprise the viewer. Also, the "borrowed" Mancini score is tense-filled and goose-bump inducing.Spoiler: The highlight is when the reserved Rush becomes unglued, revealing her true nature.Though, it's not a great film, it does hold the interest for 90 minutes and that's all one should expect from a TV-movie.

Another TV movie that was an intended pilot for a series. Falling short of the "keeper" mark in terms of what the networks craved at the time, "Charles" still contains a wonderfully restrained performance by the dependable Peter Haskell as the titular hero, an inheritor of powers of ESP and clairvoyance that runs in the family. Of course, on the other hand, you have Sharon Farrell as a young woman whose either going insane (something she excelled at playing) or who definitely needs Charles' supernatural help. Add Barbara Rush and Joan Bennett into the mix, and you either have a campy hoot-fest of OTT emoting, or something so irritating, you may turn away and actually watch that rerun of DUMB AND DUMBER for the twenty-sixth time.What saves it ultimately is capable direction, a storyline that does keep things interesting, (not to mention pre-dating Stephen King's THE DEAD ZONE by over a decade, which contains some striking similarities), and some frighteningly taut setpieces that, though dated, still work to some extent if you watch it with the lights out.Hard to find, but worth it when you do, if only for sentimental reasons, (like when they used to make REALLY good or at least entertaining 90-minute TV extravaganzas.)

An ABC Tuesday night "Movie Of The Week", THE EYE OF CHARLES SAND is good little thriller. Upon his uncle's death, Charles Sand (PETER HASKELL) receives his inheritance. What has his uncle left him ? Aunt Alexandra (JOAN BENNETT) calls it "the sight". Charles thinks its more like a curse, but what it is is the ability to see the past, future, ghosts, and more. Sort of an ESP+. Even during his uncle's graveside service , Charles sees an apparition of a dead woman in front of the Parkhurst masoleum, and the very real Emily Parkhurst (SHARON FARRELL) running around the cemetery in a state of agitation. Charles finds a bracelet that Emily had left in the cemetery and goes to return it to her at her large family estate where she lives with older sister Katherine (BARBARA RUSH) and Katherine's husband Jeffrey Winslow (BRADFORD DILLMAN). Katherine thanks Charles for his kindness and also informs him that sister Emily " is not a well girl." Emily soon contacts Charles again and informs him that she sees her dead brother Raymond all over the place and that the apparition that Charles saw at the cemetery was of her dead ancestor Lottie. Emily has Lottie's diary and believes that she is reliving her doomed relative's tragic life. So now Charles Sand gets to solve this mystery and try to save FARRELL's sanity. There are a few spooky visions and some real scares in the climax, actually quite good for a made for tv movie. It's evident that this movie was left open ended in case ABC might decide to make this a weekly series along the lines of THE SIXTH SENSE which was on the air around that time with GARY COLLINS