La noche del terror

Susan George seemed to have spent a large part of 1971 being terrorised in rural houses by maniacs; in Straw Dogs she suffered violence at the hands of vicious country yokels and in Fright she is threatened by an escaped lunatic with murder on his mind.

Unfortunately, despite a great cast including George Cole, Honor Blackman and Dennis Waterman, and direction from Peter Collinson (who gave us the classic The Italian Job) this somewhat tedious thriller/horror rarely manages to be anything more than average.

Susan George (looking a lot like Sarah Michelle Gellar to me — only much sexier) is great as Amanda, the babysitter who must protect baby Tara when his homicidal father drops by for a visit; she convincingly portrays the terror of the situation (whilst simultaneously looking great in a very short dress), but even her performance cannot save the film; the histrionics in the latter part of the film undermine all that goes before and the finale, in which Amanda exacts revenge on the killer, is quite ridiculous.

Director Collinson manages a few nice touches (I particularly liked the intercutting between Susan George and Honor Blackman to show how the maniac was unable to discern between the two women), but the tension of the housebound action is dissipated by some dreadfully dull scenes set in a nearby restaurant and the local police station.

With a little more action, a bit less talk and maybe one or two more deaths, this could have been a classic little chiller — as it stands, it is just another so-so horror film which is unlikely to cause anyone sleepless nights.

This is a fairly interesting picture with lots of British faces and a gorgeous young Susan George playing the babysitter. Ian Bannen's acting doesn't bear close inspection at the best of times, but here his characterisation seems appropriate. This is a seventies film so flares are much in evidence and Dennis Waterman has some wicked side burns. Also check out the amusing restaurant scene where diners in velvet dinner-wear are grooving and shimmering to a guy playing a jazzy number on a Hammond organ. Overall though, an interesting yarn.

Fright (1971)

** (out of 4)

British thriller has teenager Amanda (Susan George) showing up for a babysitting job when she soon finds herself being terrorized by the kid's father shows up after escaping from a mental hospital. The father plans on murdering his ex-wife but plans change after he notices that the babysitter reminds him of her. FRIGHT has a few tense moments early on but after a pretty good start the film sadly falls apart pretty quickly. I thought the first thirty-minutes of the film were rather well-directed and features a couple tense sequences and it's really too bad the rest of the film didn't live up to the title. Director Peter Collison really does a nice job at building up the tension early on and I especially liked the way that he used sound effects to build up not only the atmosphere but also some creepy moments. One perfect example deals with some dripping water but the highlight of the film is one of the first stalking scenes we witness as the babysitter's boyfriend is outside and being followed. This scene is without question the best of the movie and is almost strong enough to make the entire film worth sitting through. The problem with the final hour is that not too much happens. The entire thing is extremely slow paced and like many British films, the dialogue is just way too much and it pretty much takes over the picture and not a single thing said is interesting. Even worse is how the film keeps flashing back and forth between what's going on inside the house and what the kid's mother and stepfather are doing in town. Yet another problem is simply how stupid the babysitter gets once more of the action takes place inside the house. Fans of George will no doubt want to see her here as she's as cute as ever and turns in a decent performance. Honor Blackman and Ian Bannen are good in their supporting roles as well. FRIGHT manages to have a couple good sequences but sadly there just aren't enough to keep the film entertaining throughout.

A young woman goes to a secluded large house to babysit a little boy however once there she is terrorized by her employers ex husband.

The first half of the film is by far the best, the suspense is very good (if a little creeky), there is a couple of good jump scares and tension builds well. Acting is also very strong, George as the film's central character holds everything together well she as always delivers, Bannan as the demented maniac is chilling at times and Honor Blackman is also very good. What holds the film back however is Collinsons direction in the 2nd half, instead of keeping the audience on the edge by staying in the confines of the house we keep leaving and going to nothing scenes at the restaurant or police station. This could have been a really terrifying experience given the story and situation but sadly only occasionally delivers the goods.

One of the first of the babysitter stalker movies made so it does deserve some credit and its definitely not a bad film it just didn't reach the level I was expecting.

Looking for a dark, moody, even solemn movie? Give this one a turn. Fright is a thriller that relies more on sheer spookiness than out-and-out action.

Young Amanda is left alone to baby sit at a house in rural England. In the dead of night everything seems to put her on edge; noises outside the windows, a light bulb goes out, the creaking of the old house. Amanda tries to tell herself she is only being a chicken about it all, but what if there really is someone outside? What would she do-- if there was a knock at the door or a pale face peering through the window? That's just what she'll find out.

The title of this film turns out to be quite fitting as Fright grows from spooky atmosphere to intense suspense and finally a dramatic conclusion that's almost saddening. Collinson's direction is splendidly tight and builds to tremendous tension. Kudos go to a great cast, a haunting theme song, and to writer Tudor Gates for being the first to come up with the babysitter vs. madman thriller.

A dark film if there ever was one, Fright is a powerful and atmospheric thriller that should please anyone seeking some good chills without gory violence.

*** out of ****