Greetings Kindertrauma!
First let me congratulate you on having such a cool and informative website! I have spent many hours going through the entire Name That Trauma and Traumafession archives and haven't seen anything on these two '70s made-for-t.v. movies. The first one involves a man who goes into a big department store to buy his daughter a doll for her birthday. He goes into the bathroom right as the intercom is announcing closing time. He is mugged in the bathroom and knocked unconscious then dragged into a stall. A few minutes later a security guard checks the bathroom and sees no one. The man awakes to find he's been locked in the store with several guard dogs running loose in the store. The rest of the movie has him fighting for his life as these guard dogs want to rip him to pieces.
The second one involves a family living in a cabin far out in the country.The dad gets bitten by a rabid skunk. For some reason they are not able to get to the nearest town for help. The dad tells his family to chain him to a pole outside so he can't hurt them if he goes rabid. The scene that scared me the most is when the dad is hallucinating and the bushes start to shake and all of the sudden this skunk roars out of the bushes and straight for his face! That scared the bejesus out of me! Anyway, if anybody knows what these movies are, I'm dying to know.
Great site, keep up the good work!
UNK SEZ: So glad you are enjoying the site and what an awesome "Name That Trauma!" Two animal-centric TV movies from the seventies, what's not to love? I'm happy to tell you that I happen to know the identity of both! The first is called TRAPPED and it's from 1973 and stars JAMES BROLIN.
The second one you mentioned is called A CRY IN THE WILDERNESS, it's from 1974 and stars GEORGE KENNEDY. I've never seen that one but I'm thinking I'd enjoy it because I'm a big fan of both GEORGE KENNEDY and skunks, even when they are rabid!
Holy shiz that looks like the same skunk rummaging through the recycling on the back porch last night! Same pissy attitude and all. :-0
@Apocalypsejunki et al.
I lived on the outskirts of town in Bloomington Indiana – prime skunk habitat. Our house was old and our basement had these windows that did not really close correctly. My then fiance/now wife was out of town and I was enjoying a Saturday night watching some scary movies. I hear a sound coming from the basement – scraping, bumping, etc. Dismissing everything that I have learned from horror film, I go to investigate.
We have boxes everywhere down there. I hear the sound coming from the corner behind a large box. I go into the corner and… nothing. Stymied, I turn around to see that the box is open on the side facing the corner and inside, tail raised poised to attack is a giant skunk.
So, for a few seconds I'm just frozen there, looking at this skunk and him looking at me – Mexican standoff. My mind is racing as I try to think of what to do. I'm thinking, "OK, if I just slowly move to the left I can AHHHHHHH!" Apparently the skunk sensed my hesitation – sensing weakness maybe – and without any further provocation blasted me. I don't know what getting hit with tear gas is like, but it must be something like getting nailed by a skunk point-blank.
He was a mean skunk but I let him go after catching him in a box. I stank like a skunk forever.
Chuckles, That is a great story! And much as I love skunks I do not want one in my basement.
Unless it is a baby skunk…
Don't go by me. I adore raccoons too and then I found out about roving raccoon street gangs!!!
LooK at those eyes they look like the ghosts from THE FOG!!!!
About 20 years ago my parents had a backyard shed that was supported with a wooden foundation. A pregnant skunk decided to make her "home" under the shed. My parents called an animal trapper to get them out. Cage traps were placed around the shed. It took several days to get the whole family. Sometimes the traps got other small animals (opossums, raccoons and rats) which had to be set free…….not the rats though. They were "taken care of".
Anyway, I think the mother was caught first followed by a few babies. At first the guy would hold the little kits like kittens as their "odor glands" were not fully developed. Things did change a few days later. The guy went over to a trap that caught a kit and suddenly he ran away ripping his jacket & shirt off in the process!
Lol. Skunks! They kind of rule! Their defense is Mother nature's greatest punchline! Now you guys have me watching Pepe LePew on the Youtubes!
Great stories!
… and man, that raccoon clip… starts off creepy as hell… then flips to adorable when it shows that people are feeding them… and happily the raccoons are NOT chanting in Latin or levitating or carrying off babies.
Racoons….the ring tailed charlatans of the wild. They do look exactly like The Fog at the beginning of that clip. The scariest thing (and saddest) I ever saw in real life was a rabid racoon. 🙁
Skunks are cute, even that pissy little one on the porch. *He* did his "war dance", turned that tail and *I* screamed like a girl and ran like hell.