Night Drive (1977)

A housewife is stalked by a psycho after she sees him murder a highway patrol officer.

Director:

E.W. Swackhamer

Writers:

Carl Gabler, Richard DeNeut

Stars:

Valerie Harper, Richard Romanus, Nicholas Pryor

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Valerie Harper	...	Carol Turner
Richard Romanus	...	The Killer
Nicholas Pryor	...	Man in Sports Car
John Quade	...	The Derelict
Michael Tolan	...	Walter Turner
Beatrice Manley	...	Aunt Vera Willis
Quinn Cummings	...	Nancy
Damon Bradley Raskin	...	Buddy (as Damon Raskin)
Madeleine Taylor Holmes	...	Indian Woman
John War Eagle	...	Indian Man
Jan Burrell	...	Waitress in Diner
Gary Springer	...	Gas Station Attendant
Gary Barton	...	Gas Station Attendant
Dinah Manoff	...	Attendant's Girlfriend
Linda Lukens	...	Attendant's Girlfriend

Storyline

A housewife is stalked by a psycho after she sees him murder a highway patrol officer.

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Plot Keywords:

housewife | murder | highway | stalking | stalker | 

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Taglines:

She's the only witness to the murder ... and the murderer is right behind her.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Killers's car is a 1969 Ford Mustang fastback in Bright Yellow.

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Goofs

The credits list Valerie Harper as Carol Turner, yet when she is in the motel, she specifically states her name as Carol Turney, or Turny.

User Reviews

Suspense!

Night Terror is a simple thriller that tells the story of a woman driving across country by herself. The drive turns into what might be classed as a REALLY bad day, and the film effectively charts her run of bad luck which reaches it's most frightening when a psychopathic creep starts to follow her.

I used the term "simple" not as a criticism. The film achieves what it sets out to do, charting a frightening journey for a lone traveller out in the middle of nowhere. Valerie Harper is superb as the central character Carol, and for a lot of the running time she carries the whole movie single handedly. What impressed me about the film was that all the experiences are portrayed convincingly. Carol initially just runs low on gas, but from this, she stumbles from one stressful situation to another, each worse than the last, yet she handles each challenge with realistic ingenuity. I really liked her resourcefulness as more and more danger is thrown at her.

The film starts quite slowly as Carol leaves her family for a long drive, but it gets going soon enough and the middle third is the best as night falls and the real drama of Carol's ordeal is played out. Night Terror is actually a fitting title, as the movie lives up to it in this middle section. The story ends satisfyingly, although without all the loose ends tied up, but I really enjoyed it.

Only available on rental VHS from years ago, it's very unlikely that many people will see this now, which is a shame. I'm glad I did, as it's another little gem of 70's made-for-TV-movie fun.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night Drive

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Fries Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1