Fear in the Night starts as Peggy Heller (Judy Geeson) is set to leave London & join her new husband Robert (Ralph Bates) in the country at a boarding school where he works, however the night before she is due to leave Peggy is attacked in her bathroom by someone with a false arm. No-one believes her though & she decides to just forget about it, once at the boarding school which is empty due to the end of term Peggy meets the strange headmaster Michael Carmichael (Peter Cushing) who has a false arm & his overbearing wife Molly (Joan Collins). Soon after arriving Peggy is attacked again by the mysterious person with a false arm, Peggy puts two & two together & suspects Michael. Is she right? If so what does Michael intend to do? Why attack her & what does he want...
This English production was co-written, produced & directed by Hammer studios regular Jimmy Sangster after he made the disastrous The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) & Lust for a Vampire (1971), realising that their popular classic monsters like Dracula & Frankenstein weren't doing the business at the box office anymore Hammer studios made film just like Fear in the Night to try & branch out & expand with mixed results. I mean if you hear the name Hammer studios you instantly think Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Frankenstein & Dracula not Judy Geeson & Fear in the Night. The script by Sangster & Michael Syson is a psycho thriller with plenty of twists rather than a straight horror, I would say it's worth a watch & the story is good but it's not perfect & has zero replay value as once you know the twists (if you buy the DVD don't watch the trailer before you watch the feature proper as it gives the whole plot away) it loses any surprise or impact that it had. The character's are alright although I have to say some of them are rather gullible & do things which are hard to believe, I mean how could two people marry & one of them not ever see where the other lived? For the plan to work Peggy needed to be fooled but what if those not involved with the plan told her the truth, be it by accident or not? The last thirty minutes has plenty of twists & turns that come thick & fast some of which are highly improbable & a little difficult to swallow, I think maybe that there's one contrived twist too many. Still a good mystery thriller to watch as a one off though & I did like it overall.
Director Sangster does alright but instead of the trademark Hammer horror Victorian period setting Fear in the Night takes place during contemporary Britain, there's a nice early 70's dated but fun look to it & the big school is a period building so in that regard maybe it's not quite as far from the Victorian set classics as I first thought. There's absolutely no gore or violence (although a rabbit is shot by Joan Collins) or nudity so don't expect any, any & all shock value in Fear in the Night comes from the twists & turns in the story. The opening sequence is very good, probably the best in the whole film actually where angelic children are singing on the soundtrack as the camera pans across a picturesque English field & stops on a pair of swinging feet belonging to someone who is hanging from a tree!
Technically the film is good with nice locations, good cinematography & decent production values. The acting is pretty good as well, despite near top billing Peter Cushing only gets about five minutes of screen time with Joan Collins faring little better & she doesn't even appear in the film until past the forty minute mark. Collins made this when her career was at an all time low & after she found success again in Dynasty (1981 - 1989) Fear in the Night was re-released on video to capitalize under the title Dynasty of Fear! Strange but apparently true. Geeson is sort of cute while Bates has a horrible 70's haircut.
Fear in the Night is an entertaining thriller with a fair amount of twists which aren't overly new or original (even back in 1972) but work well enough. A little silly & not really scary or anything it's just about clever enough & the last third has plenty of twists to keep you interested.
This English production was co-written, produced & directed by Hammer studios regular Jimmy Sangster after he made the disastrous The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) & Lust for a Vampire (1971), realising that their popular classic monsters like Dracula & Frankenstein weren't doing the business at the box office anymore Hammer studios made film just like Fear in the Night to try & branch out & expand with mixed results. I mean if you hear the name Hammer studios you instantly think Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Frankenstein & Dracula not Judy Geeson & Fear in the Night. The script by Sangster & Michael Syson is a psycho thriller with plenty of twists rather than a straight horror, I would say it's worth a watch & the story is good but it's not perfect & has zero replay value as once you know the twists (if you buy the DVD don't watch the trailer before you watch the feature proper as it gives the whole plot away) it loses any surprise or impact that it had. The character's are alright although I have to say some of them are rather gullible & do things which are hard to believe, I mean how could two people marry & one of them not ever see where the other lived? For the plan to work Peggy needed to be fooled but what if those not involved with the plan told her the truth, be it by accident or not? The last thirty minutes has plenty of twists & turns that come thick & fast some of which are highly improbable & a little difficult to swallow, I think maybe that there's one contrived twist too many. Still a good mystery thriller to watch as a one off though & I did like it overall.
Director Sangster does alright but instead of the trademark Hammer horror Victorian period setting Fear in the Night takes place during contemporary Britain, there's a nice early 70's dated but fun look to it & the big school is a period building so in that regard maybe it's not quite as far from the Victorian set classics as I first thought. There's absolutely no gore or violence (although a rabbit is shot by Joan Collins) or nudity so don't expect any, any & all shock value in Fear in the Night comes from the twists & turns in the story. The opening sequence is very good, probably the best in the whole film actually where angelic children are singing on the soundtrack as the camera pans across a picturesque English field & stops on a pair of swinging feet belonging to someone who is hanging from a tree!
Technically the film is good with nice locations, good cinematography & decent production values. The acting is pretty good as well, despite near top billing Peter Cushing only gets about five minutes of screen time with Joan Collins faring little better & she doesn't even appear in the film until past the forty minute mark. Collins made this when her career was at an all time low & after she found success again in Dynasty (1981 - 1989) Fear in the Night was re-released on video to capitalize under the title Dynasty of Fear! Strange but apparently true. Geeson is sort of cute while Bates has a horrible 70's haircut.
Fear in the Night is an entertaining thriller with a fair amount of twists which aren't overly new or original (even back in 1972) but work well enough. A little silly & not really scary or anything it's just about clever enough & the last third has plenty of twists to keep you interested.