A Horror Film For Halloween

Shelley with Jill Schoelen and Terry O'Quinn

in a promo pic for The Stepfather, 1987

Shelley starred in the cult classic movie The Stepfather which was originally released in theaters in 1987. It was directed by Joseph Ruben and had Terry O'Quinn in the title role. Terry played Jerry Blake (the stepfather), a man who has a knack of marrying into the "perfect" family and then killing the family off when he deems that the family is not perfect after all. Shelley played Susan Maine, the woman who marries Jerry and is willing look past the cracks on Jerry's façade. Jill Schoelen played Stephanie, Susan's daughter by her first marriage. Stephanie doesn't like Jerry, finds him creepy and is determined to find out who he really is. The screenplay was written by Carolyn Lefcourt, Brian Garfield and Donald E. Westlake. It was loosely based on the story of John List, the New Jersey man who killed his own family in 1971 and then disappeared.

a newspaper promo ad

for The Stepfather, 1987

Shelley was cast by the film's director Joseph Ruben who was impressed by her work in Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy. "Shelley didn't have to test," said Ruben, "Shelley got it really off King of Comedy, because I thought she was just so believable and natural and easy. She doesn't strain on camera. And I was just knocked out by her in that movie." The film was shot on location in Canada and when it was released, Shelley told Channel Surfing: Charlie's Angels that she sneaked in alone when the film was being shown in theaters and got pretty scared with what she saw. Shelley received glowing reviews for her performance in this cult classic. The film has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray formats. A Collector's Edition Blu-ray of the film was released in 2024 in 4K Ultra HD format.

Shelley in a promo pic

for The Stepfather, 1987

An Action Thriller for Halloween

Shelley in promo pic for the TV movie

Death Car on the Freeway, 1979

In 1979, Shelley starred in her first made-for TV movie, Death Car on the Freeway. It's an action thriller; and Shelley played a television reporter/news anchor (Janette Clausen) investigating a series of vehicular accidents and murders involving female motorists by a psychopathic driver known as "The Freeway Fiddler." The movie is gripping and suspenseful. Plus, it has great action scenes. It was directed and appeared in by stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham who also directed Smokey and the Bandit and The Cannonball Run. The film also starred George Hamilton, Peter Graves, and Barbara Rush. In supporting roles were Frank Gorshin, Dinah Shore, Abe Vigoda, and Morgan Brittany. The TV movie has been released in VHS format in various countries.

Shelley in a TV Prevue ad/airing sked

for Death Car on the Freeway,

September 1979

A Kiddie Horror Film for Halloween

Shelley in a promo pic

that appeared on the OST album cover

of the movie Troll, 1985

Shelley appeared in the feature film Troll in 1986. The film starred many past and future television stars aside from Shelley. Past TV stars like Sonny Bono (The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour) and Gary Sandy (WKRP in Cincinnati) and future TV stars like Michael Moriarty (Law & Order) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) were in the film. Mother and daughter June and Anne Lockhart was also part of the cast, as well as Phil Fondacaro who played Torok the Troll. Jenny Beck and pre-teen superstar Noah Hathaway rounded out the cast. Troll was geared towards children and was kept appropriately wholesome. The film was released in VHS, LaserDisc, DVD and Blu-ray formats. The film's OST (original sound track) was released in cassette, LP, CD and vinyl formats. It contained the movie's score which was composed and conducted by Richard Band.

Shelley on the OST album cover

of the movie Troll, 1985

An Angels Halloween

Shelley with Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd

in a promo pic for the Charlie's Angels episode

"Of Ghosts and Angels" in 1980

In January of 1980, Charlie's Angels aired its first ever supernatural/fantasy/horror episode called "Of Ghosts and Angels." The plot went as follows:

Tiffany has been having the same nightmare for a week about an old mansion and a mysterious lady in a wheelchair being pushed down the stairs to her death. At the office, she mentions this in passing to Kelly, Kris and Bosley... but then, she's also excited about her upcoming vacation to see her newly-married heiress friend Erica, who recently married a clothing manufacturer named Clifford Burke. She had invited Kelly and Kris to join her so they could meet Erica and Cliff; and the two will be flying over a day after Tiff leaves. And while the Angels will be enjoying their time off (there will even be a costume party at Erica's), poor Bosley will be staying at the office, going through a mountain of paperwork (just like he did in "Angels on a String," the 15th episode of season 1). When Tiffany arrives at Erica's house, she is surprised that it's exactly like the mansion in her nightmares. But upon seeing Erica, her mood changes, and the two have a happy reunion. Later, Erica confides in Tiffany that she isn't comfortable in her house, which is actually owned by Cliff. She tells Tiff about the strange things she notices in the house... footsteps, voices, things moving around, drafts, and the smell of perfume. She feels like someone or something doesn't want her there. That night, Tiffany wakes up, goes downstairs, and finds the mansion filled with people, filled with party guests. On her way back upstairs, she sees the mysterious lady in a wheelchair from her nightmares; and the woman is about to fall from the top of the stairs. But in a blink of an eye, the woman and everyone else suddenly disappear; and Tiff finds herself alone. The next day, she fetches Kelly and Kris from the airport and tells them about what she saw the night before; and the two are perplexed. Later, they meet Erica; and, over tea, Erica tells them about Tiff's interest in the occult and her psychic abilities. Kelly and Kris tease Tiff about it. When the three Angels are alone, they have a serious conversation about what Tiff really thinks is happening at the house. Later, Kelly and Kris begin to notice the strange things for themselves. Everything culminates at the costume party where the truth about the house and the mysterious lady is finally revealed.

Shelley with Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd

in a promo pic for the Charlie's Angels episode

"Of Ghosts and Angels" in 1980

A Suspense Thriller for Halloween

Shelley with Michael Nader

in a promo pic for The Finishing Touch, 1992

Shelley appeared in the feature film The Finishing Touch in 1992. The film was about a divorced couple, both detectives, who had been assigned to the same case. They had to team up to find out who had been killing beautiful women in L.A., filming it and selling the footage as snuff films. Two suspects would come up, a known criminal and a well-known artist. As the couple investigated, their former marital problems would slip to the surface and cloud their judgement. Shelley played Detective Hannah Stone, while former Dynasty hunk Michael Nader played her ex-husband Detective Sam Stone. Arnold Vosloo, who would later rise to fame as the Mummy in The Mummy feature film series, played renowned artist Mikael Gant - the man who would come between the divorced couple. The screenplay was written by Anthony L. Greene and Rodger Grossman; and the film was directed by Fred Gallo. It was released on VHS format as The Finishing Touch for the English-speaking audience, as L.A. Ripper for the German-speaking audience and as La Ultima Escena for the Spanish-speaking audience.

the VHS cover of The Finishing Touch

for the Spanish-speaking audience

A Crime Thriller for Halloween

Shelley in promo pic

for Blind Fear, 1989

Shelley played Erika Breen, a blind switchboard operator, in the 1989 big screen thriller Blind Fear. Erika is working at a country lodge that is invaded by a gang of criminals (who've just hijacked an armored car), looking for a place to spend the night. But despite her disability, Erica manages to outsmart them all; and manages to... There's a surprise ending. It was filmed in Québec, Canada and runs for an hour and 27 minutes. Jack Langedijk, Kim Coates, Heidi von Palleske, Jan Rubes, Ron Lea, and Geza Kovacs co-starred. In July 2009, Shelley told her fans at the Hollywood Collectors Show a little bit about her experience while filming Blind Fear. She said that she wore a type of contact lens that blocked the vision and literally made her blind. She couldn't see anything when they were filming her scenes. Blind Fear has been released in VHS and DVD formats in various countries.

VHS covers of Blind Fear

in different languages

A Crypt Episode for Halloween

Shelley with her co-stars

in the Tales from the Crypt episode,

"The Assassin," 1994

In 1994, Shelley starred in an episode of the TV series Tales from the Crypt. The series was based on the horror comic anthology series of the same name which was published in the 1950s. The crypt keeper introduced and ended every episode during its entire run. Shelley appeared in season 6 in the episode called "The Assassin." She played Janet McKay, the wife of a suspected government assassin gone AWOL, who was finally tracked down by three CIA operatives and was going to be eliminated. Shelley gave a fine performance in this must-see episode... which also tuned out fine performances from Corey Feldman, Jonathan Banks, Chelsea Field and Marshall R. Teague. The episode has been released on DVD in the 3-disc box set Tales from the Crypt: Season 6 as well as the 20-disc box set Tales from The Crypt: The Complete Series.

Shelley was included in Karli Ray's Blog's

"Women in Horror Month" post for her performance

in Tales from The Crypt "The Assassin"

(Thank you so much to Karli Ray's Blog

for posting about Shelley and her performance)

In March of 2024, Karli Ray's Blog included Shelley in the post entitled "My Favorite Performances In 'Tales from The Crypt': Women In Horror Month Edition – Part 1." The post put together Karli Ray's favorite performances by women who appeared in episodes of the Tales from the Crypt TV series. The list included Mary Ellen Trainor ("And All Through The House" season 1, episode 2), Amanda Plummer ("Lover Come Hack To Me" season 1, episode 5), Shelley Hack ("The Assassin" season 6, episode 8), Audra Lindley ("Collection Completed" season 1, episode 6) and Nina Siemaszko ("Creep Course" season 5, episode 9). Karli Ray loved Shelley performance in the episode "The Assassin." Karli Ray loved Shelley's "perky and upbeat attitude" in the episode and loved how Shelley's character handled her captors via manipulation while upholding "a little house order." Thank you so much Karli Ray's Blog for including Shelley in the post.