A Coven of Killers

Episode aired Mar 3, 1975
TV-14
50m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

YOUR RATING

Action Crime Drama

A prisoner is broken out of the prison ward of County General Hospital. His name is Joey Hopper and his followers are referred to as the Hopper Family. The 'family' consists of alienated you... Read allA prisoner is broken out of the prison ward of County General Hospital. His name is Joey Hopper and his followers are referred to as the Hopper Family. The 'family' consists of alienated youths who view Joey Hopper as their spiritual leader. All escape routes out of the city have... Read allA prisoner is broken out of the prison ward of County General Hospital. His name is Joey Hopper and his followers are referred to as the Hopper Family. The 'family' consists of alienated youths who view Joey Hopper as their spiritual leader. All escape routes out of the city have been closed And SWAT's job is to conduct a sweep of the city and find them. Hopper's goal... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

YOUR RATING

3User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Trivia
This is one of only two SWAT episodes that show Hondo Harrelson's two children. His wife is also shown in this and four other season one shows. His wife and family are conspicuously absent from season two.

Goofs
McCabe uses a portable aluminum extension ladder to reach a high point. When he does so the "fly" portion of the ladder is closest to the building. This is not the safest, nor the approved method for deploying the ladder, as the fly section should always be closest to the user.

Connections
References Dirty Harry (1971)

User reviews3

Review

Featured review

8/10

One Of The Last Looks At Sal Mineo

It was interesting to see Sal Mineo again. It's been decades since I've seen him in anything as this episode is one of the Season One DVD of S.W.A.T from 1975. Mineo was murdered a year after this episode aired.

In here, he plays "Joey Hopper," a Charles Manson-like psycho who does his own killing. After having just escaped from prison, Joey goes out looking to kill those who put him in prison. Second on his "hit list" is "Lt. Dan Harrelson" (Steve Forest), the leader of the S.W.A.T. team.

It also was interesting to see one of my favorite film noir characters of the 1940s and 1950s films, Elisha Cook Jr., His role was very small, just two quick scenes as some old-man "weirdo," as they called him.

In the story, the editor of the "underground newspaper," was some middle-aged guy who looked fairly straight. No underground paper at that time had a guy that would look like this man (William Windom, playing "Ross Collins.")

Overall, it was a decent episode but it looked a little too dated and I'm not sure if I would that interested in seeing the whole season's worth of shows. I'd have to think about that.