Night of Fear

Terry Bourke's Night of Fear was originally meant to be the pilot for an Australian TV-series titled "Fright." However, the censors banned it on the grounds of "indecency and obscenity." That is unfortunate, as it would have made a great TV series, as this was a pretty good movie in its own right. Although you can tell it was a pilot, as the movie has opening titles very much like a TV show (and it is called "Fright), plus it only goes for 50 minutes and there is pretty much no dialogue.

Having said this, it is grisly and unsettling and although tame by today's standards, does feature a few nasty scenes. Also (and very interestingly) this was made two years before Tobe Hooper's widely regarding cult classic, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." While I was watching this, I was constantly reminded of Hooper's film, with the outback setting, the distressed and screaming heroine and the disturbed hillbilly villain. Night of Fear is virtually plot less, it follows 'The Woman' (Carla Hoogeveen) who takes an accidental wrong turn to avoid a collision and crashed her car near 'The Man's' (Norman Yemm) house. He stalks and terrorises her for the rest of the film.

It is a shame this was extended into a feature length with some dialogue, as it would make a great 70's exploitation film along the lines of Hooper's "Massacre." However, for what it is, it is quite good and it would not surprise me if some filmmakers got inspiration from this...("Wolf Creek").

3½/5

I appreciate that this was accordingly conceived as the pilot for a TV show. One had better appreciate it, or else the stylized opening credits and predominant lighthearted music would turn one off right away. Likewise, between Terry Bourke's direction and Peter Hendry's cinematography, there were many choices made here in terms of how shots were arranged that were choices of novelty and not of sincere intent; it's readily evident that the TV program that did not materialize was to have carried a wry, tongue-in-cheek tone even amidst the horror-thriller violence. A bit more plainly questionable is the editing, which carries the same latter sensibility but has the effect of chopping up the viewing experience in a tiresome manner. I could also do without the animal cruelty, a needless, tasteless addition even in a genre that already capitalizes on death and violence. No matter how you want to look at it, 'Night of fear' is neither free of issues nor an essential must-see.

The plot is emphatically straightforward - admittedly in keeping with the slant of the original apparent intent - and the storytelling is so direct and unsophisticated that there's not necessarily much lasting entertainment value to be had here. In the very least I commend the cast for their committed, intense performances, even if Norman Yemm is a little over the top as the hermit. I will also say that to the credit of filmmaker Bourke, the feature is able to achieve a measure of tense atmosphere. With smart use of sound effects, lighting, and art direction in addition to the acting, some more horror-appropriate themes in the score, and instances of fine scene writing, all the key ingredients are in place for a dash of suspense; say what one will of the man's direction, he's capable enough to judiciously exercise those advantages. Furthermore, it's noteworthy that Bourke doesn't bog down the abbreviated tale with extraneous dialogue; save for some passing instances of verbalized exclamations, 'Night of fear' sagely frees itself of words that sometimes just get in the way. Off the top of my head I can think of few genre flicks - or sound pictures generally - that adopted such an approach, and I admire the welcome change of pace.

In fairness to cinematographer Hendry and editor Ray Alchin, their contributions also lend to the harrowing air about the film despite the most overzealous instances. While these fifty-odd minutes are brief and forthright, they nevertheless evoke earnest feelings of horror for as dark and grisly as the story gets before all is said and done. What it really comes down to is that the production quite comes off as the audiovisual equivalent of a short story, the sort one might find in 'Scary stories to tell in the dark' or other such collections; nevermind television - Bourke may well have collaborated on an anthology movie with contemporaries, and 'Night of fear' would have fit right in. For those who appreciate all the places the genre can go, whatever form that might take, this will be modestly satisfying. It's no zenith of thrills of ambience, but it's suitably enjoyable in its grimness, and for as short as it is, it's readily digestible for something light and quick. Don't go out of your way, but 'Night of fear' is a fine little piece if you come across it, and that's all it needs to be.

According to the writings of several of my respectable fellow reviewers around here, "Night of Fear" was the very first Australian horror/exploitation movie ever made. This bit of trivia also got confirmed in the brilliant documentary "Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation", so I just had to see it sooner or later… Well, the first Aussie horror flick definitely is a peculiar one. "Night of Fear" is very rudimentary, both in terms of plotting and execution, as if writer/director Terry Bourke was reading in his Horror for Dummies manual whilst operating the camera. There are no dialogs, only female screams and a lot of panting, no attempts to provide depth or background to the characters and the plot is simplistic as can be. Following a banal car accident, a sole young girl ends up on a rural backwoods road and quickly finds herself confronted with a hillbilly waving around an ax. She flees and seeks shelter in a nearby cabin, but obviously her troubles only get worse in there. It may all come across as formulaic and amateurish, but "Night of Fear" actually works quite effectively! The pacing is moderately fast and the suspense is non-stop throughout the short running time. Yup, a modest and straightforward little genre outing with some nasty images and authentic shocks. Sometimes that's all it takes to satisfy a horror fanatic. The ending is very shocking and immediately explains why Terry Bourke struggled against so much controversy when it came out. "Night of Fear" was supposed to be the kick-off installment of an Aussie horror TV-series, but the idiot censors didn't agree.

"Night of Fear" tells the story of a young woman terrorized by a crazy drifter,who lives in the abandoned hut with his colony of rats.This grisly,grainy and unsettling horror is the first part of never completed anthology series called "Fright".The film was banned by Australian censors on the grounds of being indecent and obscene and is pretty close to an exploitation cinema.The most interesting aspect of "Night of Fear" is the lack of dialogue.The pace is uneven,although there are some moments of unrelenting terror.Terry Bourke's little shocker in many ways reminded me Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre",however it was made two years earlier.Give it a look,if you like early 70's psycho flicks.I'm quite sure that the makers of "Wolf Creek" were also influenced by it.9 out of 10.

It's not a work of great entertainment, but it's artistically competent and well worth it for anyone who likes to dip and wallow in Horror.

The editing merges a bit of the raison d'être of a movie trailer, that is, clippings of what will come next, without clarifying what will actually come - which didn't particularly work for me. But, knowing now that this is a movie crafted into a TV series, this almost stylized edit makes sense.

The characters present themselves in the standards of horror films, already very well established in the 1970s, and do not develop a complete arc, they are just there to do what is expected of the genre: kill and die. What you have then is the art around it. Photography, performances and soundtrack.