Baffled! (1972) is a movie pilot for a proposed TV series, starring Leonard Nimoy (Spock!) as Tom Kovack, a race car driver that suddenly develops Esp and the ability to see probable future events. Paired with Susan Hampshire as his consulting paranormal expert sidekick, Michele Brent, and one more familiar face, Vera Miles (The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), as Andrea Glenn, an actress and possible victim of a yet to happen murder plot.
The film opens with a race featuring Kovack having visions, then wiping out his car, and initially thought dead on the scene, but, thanks to Spock having nine lives, walks away from the smash-up. After the race, Kovack is in an interview on a television show, discussing the race and the visions he experienced that led up to the accident. Michele is shown to be watching the interview, and reveals that she is a student of the occult. She reaches out to Kovack, meeting with him. Kovack dusts Michele off initially, but then after experiencing a very weird vision, decides to head to London and meet with her and look into the visions he experienced more deeply.
This pretty much sets the stage for the story, and they meet Andrea and her daughter, Jennifer (Jewel Blanch) at Hanover House, and the plot thickens. Suspects galore and intrigue abounds as Andrea falls victim to the murder plot, with Kovack and Brent attempting to prevent her death.
The only real problem with the film itself is the green screen shots of Nimoy driving a race car were really bad looking. Maybe it held up okay on a smaller screen typical of the ‘70s, but clearly obvious matte shots. Unfortunately those shots are necessary to set the story in motion. Upside, long shots of the actual cars racing looked good. Other good points – the story focuses on paranormal experiences, rather than on supernatural beings being at play; no vampires or demonic forces, just psychic phenomenon and some form spellcraft at work.
The cast was predominantly good, especially Jewel Blanch as Jennifer, who makes a rather spooky shift from delightful 12 year old, to snotty 15 year old virtually overnight, She pulled off the switch in age portrayal to creepy effect. In some ways, I think she may have been the best of the supporting cast.
Overall, I found Baffled! to be a fun film to watch on a Saturday evening. Not scary, not overly creepy, but fascinatingly logically paranormal mystery (how’s that for word jam) with just the right touch of humor. If you haven’t seen it, look it up. We found it on Tubi, and it may be available from other streaming services. Look it up on IMDB.
