Fright (1971)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Peter Collinson

Writer:

Tudor Gates (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The scream you can hear is your own

Plot:

Young babysitter Amanda arrives at the Lloyd residence to spend the evening looking after their young son...

Plot Keywords:

Babysitter | Terror | Relative | Psychopath | Alone

Cast

Honor Blackman	...	Helen
Susan George	...	Amanda
Ian Bannen	...	Brian
John Gregson	...	Dr. Cordell
George Cole	...	Jim
Dennis Waterman	...	Chris
Tara Collinson	...	Tara
Maurice Kaufmann	...	Inspector
Roger Lloyd-Pack	...	Constable
Michael Brennan	...	Sergeant

Also Known As:

I'm Alone and I'm Scared (USA) (reissue title)
Night Legs

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:(Banned) (1972) | Norway:15 | Norway:18 (1972) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | UK:X (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating)

Company:

Fantale Films

Trivia:

The Last film of John Gregson.

Quotes:

Inspector: How do you spell that word, "psychotic"?
Dr. Cordell: You may have to spell it M-U-R-D-E-R, murder, if you don't get someone over there quickly!

Movie Connections:

Features The Plague of the Zombies (1966)

A genuine horror film, absolutely shattering.

There's certainly no time wasted starting the scares in this film. From the opening few seconds the atmosphere is rife with nastiness, and the amazing direction and camerawork are so good you feel like you are being bodily forced into a nightmare, such is the power of the filmmaking. Susan George is simply superb as Amanda, a fine performance that moves from edginess and distress to total hysteria. The house is well chosen, being dull and creaky but not ludicrously so, and the baby is a joy to behold. Ian Bannen contributes a genuinely unhinged turn as the madman and the scenes of sexual and physical violence are unbelieveably strong for the period. Fright may be seen exemplifying the nasty exploitation movie that began to infest British cinema in the early 70s as censorship laws were relaxed. It is true that the film is nasty and throws everything and the kitchen sink into its witches brew to provoke distress in the viewer. However, by the same token it can be seen as one of the rare example of pure, unhindered terror in cinema, where the characters are offered no hope, no salvation, no happy endings. By those standards, as an insight into a waking nightmare, it is one of the finest examples ever made. Peter Collinson is a director who never was appreciated enough in his lifetime; even his most popular movie, The Italian Job really only achieved classic status in the 1990s. In Fright he really proves himself as a director, and as a master of the camera, which he uses to create a gallery of some of the most bizarre and distubing shots to be found in the genre. If you want to be pleasantly frightened, this is maybe not the film to watch, but for genuine evil few films have captured it better.