L'imprévue

Disabled damsels in distress (blind damsels in particular) are thankful and often recurring protagonists in thrillers. It's not exactly original, but the premise already resulted in several successful film in the past, like "The Spiral Staircase", "Wait Until Dark", "See No Evil" and "Jennifer Eight". "A Long Dark Night" - also known as "Blind Fear" - is a lot lesser known, and also less good, but still a reasonably entertaining thriller with a good atmosphere and adequate performances. Young Erika (the stunningly beautiful Shelley Hack) and the elderly Lasky are the last remaining employees of little hotel in remote Maine that recently got declared bankrupt. On their final night, however, they receive unwelcome guests when the three fugitive robbers of a money transport entrench themselves in the hotel. Erika must hide and eventually fight back, but this is not easy for her since she's blind and - obviously - quite petrified. Director Tom Berry clearly didn't have a wide budget at his disposal, so he merely aims at generating atmosphere and tension via the claustrophobic setting and the unpredictable personality of lead villain Kim Coates. This works quite well at first, but eventually the film does become rather tedious and repetitive. Half of the footage is also too dark to follow, and I ensure you it's hasn't got to do with "putting the viewer in the heroine's shoes". The plot twists at the end are ambitious, but absurd and they feel very much forced.

Best part of the film: crazy robber Kim Coates unleashes his Sherlock Holmes deduction skills and figures out the presence of another person inside the hotel, based on the anchovies' toppings on half a pizza!

Erika (Hack) is a blind switchboard operator at a remote lodge in Maine which has been sold and is being boarded up in advance of future renovations. The

staff is laid off, including Hack and the elderly caretaker (Langedijk), who are the last occupants as night falls. Nearby, an armoured car robbery has occurred

and the three criminals, led by the violent, psychopathic Ed (Coates) travel to the lodge (which they assume is vacant) to rendezvous with their contact. The caretaker is quickly taken hostage and killed, but Hack's presence goes

undetected as she hides upstairs. When the criminals realise that someone is

still in the building, things escalate as they tracks her through the darkened rooms. Has it's moments of suspense and Coates makes a fine protagonist, but

the film is still B-grade with some marginal acting and dialogue to suit. The plot includes the prerequisite twist at the end. OK if you are a Shelley Hack fan with time to spare.

Modest, unknown low-budget b-grade thriller which would cue ones interest if they're a fan of the main actress; Shelley Hack of TV's "Charlie's Angels" fame. What we get here is in the tradition of "Blind Terror" and "Wait Until Dark", but no way does it reach the great heights of those aforementioned films. A blind switchboard operator at a remote New England inn loses her job as its shutting down, but during her last night there she finds herself sharing the abandon inn with three criminals hiding out after robbing an armoured van. When they find out who they are sharing the inn with another person who's blind, they go about trying to get rid of this problem. The plot is rather down-pat and contrived, setting it during a stormy night within an lodge filled with empty rooms and shadow-laced corridors. A game of cat and mouse is ensured, but the tension is well measured and the plotting remains calculated, despite the predictable nature and it does manage to cook up an out-of-the-blue twist. I didn't see it coming and it sets it apart from its mundane set-up. There's a shot-on-video quality to it, but at the same time its smoothly photographed and the resourcefully sharp direction paces it rather well. Some taut touches and there's a Gothic ambiance evident. Outside a few stiff dialogue exchanges, the script is well played and marginally entertaining. Hack is dependably good, but it's Kim Coates' boiling psychotic temperament which steals the show. He must have made an impression as director Tom Berry would reuse Coates again in "The Amityville Curse".

"I'm going to kill you".

Former Charlie Girl and Charlie's Angel Shelley Hack receives top billing in this low-budget bore though the cover art proclaims it "a classic tale of Gothic suspense". Actually, Shelley's big episode "Of Ghosts and Angels" deserves that title more than this snoozer.

Hack plays a blind switchboard operator at a remote Maine Inn, being shut down after being sold. Somehow this coincides with the robbery of an armored truck taking place nearby involving three criminals (two men, one woman) who eventually shoot the guards and seek retreat in the abandoned Inn.

The rest of the movie has Shelley, looking as far from the Tiffany Welles fashion-plate character as possible in a baggy sweater, ankle socks and plain canvas sneakers, trying to outsmart the bad guys by throwing the breaker and trying to hide from them (on her own terms, see?) a la Audrey Hepburn in "Wait Until Dark".

The bad guys have more lines than Shelley. The only reason they become aware of her presence is because the pizza that arrives from an androgynous delivery boy in denim short-shorts only has anchovies on HALF of it. So there must be someone else at the Inn besides the tight-lipped old handyman they strangled to death earlier.

I admit I didn't see the twist at the end coming, so there was a bit of a payoff, and the way Shelley disposes of the bad girl is inspired, but rent before you buy. For completists who want to see everything the Angels have ever done. Even when found in a bargain bin, this one's NOT a keeper.

In BLIND FEAR, Shelley Hack plays Erika, a switchboard operator who happens to be blind. The excitement begins when Erica finds herself trapped in a deserted lodge with three desperate criminals, one of whom is a murdering psychopath.

At first, Erica must stay out of sight, while trying to outsmart the paranoid bad guys. When she's discovered, all bets are off! Fortunately, Erica is no pushover.

This is a tense, suspenseful film. Everyone is great, especially Ms. Hack in her smart, resourceful role.

If you enjoy similar thrillers like WAIT UNTIL DARK or SEE NO EVIL, then you might want to add this one to your watchlist...