Stage Fright (1980)
"Nightmares" (original title)

A little girl named Cathy tries to keep her mother from making out with a man while driving one day, and she inadvertently causes her mother's death in the car crash. 16 years later, Cathy ... See full summary »

Director:

John D. Lamond

Writers:

Colin Eggleston (screenplay), John D. Lamond (original idea),

Stars:

Jenny Neumann, Gary Sweet, Nina Landis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jenny Neumann	...	Helen Selleck
Gary Sweet	...	Terry Besanko
Nina Landis	...	Judy
Max Phipps	...	George D'alberg
John Michael Howson	...	Bennett Collingswood (as John-Michael Howson)
Edmund Pegge	...	Bruce
Sue Jones	...	Fay
Adele Lewin	...	Sue
Briony Behets	...	Angela
Maureen Edwards	...	Mother
Bryon Williams	...	Father
Peter Tulloch	...	Brian
Malcolm Steed	...	Doctor
Denise Peterson	...	Bad Auditionee
Tania Uren	...	Nurse

Storyline

A little girl named Cathy tries to keep her mother from making out with a man while driving one day, and she inadvertently causes her mother's death in the car crash. 16 years later, Cathy has changed her name to Helen and has become a psychotic actress. Things are going fine until horrible things starts to happened with the cast of her new play.

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Plot Keywords:

little girl | death | play | actress | date | 

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Taglines:

Many motion pictures promise you terror but this one is truly frightening!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 1980 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Stage Fright

Filming Locations:

National Theatre, St. Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Lamond Motion Picture Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Bennett Collingswood was based on a film critic who despised director John D. Lamond's work.

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Connections

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

User Reviews

Really Great Early Slasher and Ozploitation Film

A little girl named Cathy tries to keep her mother from making out with a man while driving one day, and she inadvertently causes her mother's death in the car crash. 16 years later, Cathy has changed her name to Helen and has become a psychotic actress.

This film is pretty awesome. It relies on the absolute bare minimum of plot, with a killing every five minutes or so. And it does not always make sense -- why does she kill? Why the multiple personalities? I do appreciate that she uses broken glass as a reference to her mother dying in a windshield.

The soundtrack is also awesome, with the same underlying theme playing over and over again. Sometimes this level of repetition is annoying (such as in "Hausu"), but here I think it played well and just added to the silliness of it all. I am not exactly sure what makes something qualify as "ozploitation", but I am glad this fits the bill, because maybe more people will see it.