Violent Midnight (1963)

Director:

Richard Hilliard

Writers:

Richard Hilliard (story)
Robin Miller (writer)

Release Date:

January 1964 (Japan)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Earthy, wicked shocker!

Plot:

An axe murderer is loose in a small New England town. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Artist | Nude Model | Nudity | Pregnant Woman Murdered

Cast

Lee Philips	...	Elliot Freeman
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Adrian Benedict
Jean Hale	...	Carol Bishop
Lorraine Rogers	...	Alice St. Clair
Dick Van Patten	...	Police Lt. Palmer
Sheila Forbes	...	Janet 'Lolita' Terhune
James Farentino	...	Charlie Perone
Kaye Elhardt	...	Dolores Martello
Sylvia Miles	...	Silvia (as Silvia Miles)
Day Tuttle	...	Mr. Arthur Melbourne
Mike O'Dowd	...	Max - Adrian's Chauffeur
Mike Keene	...	Police Inspector Grey
Allen Joseph
Molly Scott
Ruth Volner

Also Known As:

Black Autumn (USA) (working title)
Psychomania (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Del Tenny Productions

Trivia:

Film itself bears 1962 copyright but earliest documented release dates (to date) are 1963.

Not a bad little early-60's thriller

I kind of like some of Del Tenney's stuff, and while he was only producer on this it's still an interesting film. It is interesting to see James Farentino & Dick Van Patten (when he was skinny!) in this too. Seems that there's this "tortured" artist type,Freeman, who is a Korean War Vet & who seems to have a rather violent temper. Then there's this model that he works with, that he used to be "involved" with but not anymore...well, it seems she's pregnant but then after a bar fight with one of her other "beaus" (Farentino) she is mysteriously murdered. Now, there's also Freeman's sister who has come to attend the local college, and the local college happens to have this pervert of a professor working there, who likes to photograph plants and ogle young ladies...and who seems to get around a lot. There are also other murders being committed. One suspect is Farentino but he has an alibi in barfly Silvia (Sylvia Miles) who is so ugly that she could easily be a man in drag. The other suspect, is, of course, Freeman. Of course, these are only a few of the red herrings thrown at the viewer. I like the look and feel of this because it's done in New England (Connecticut) instead of Southern California, like so many films are. It's fairly low budget but it's also not a bad little thriller. And I did like seeing Farentino rip Sylvia Miles earrings out of her ears...pierced, y'know. Ouch. 7 out of 10.