Night of Fear (1973) User Reviews

One of the first Aussie horror (Ozploitation) flicks

[LoneWolfAndCub · 7/10 · 29 September 2008]

Terry Bourke's Night of Fear was originally meant to be the pilot for an Australian TV-series titled "Fright." However, the censors banned it on the grounds of "indecency and obscenity." That is unfortunate, as it would have made a great TV series, as this was a pretty good movie in its own right. Although you can tell it was a pilot, as the movie has opening titles very much like a TV show (and it is called "Fright), plus it only goes for 50 minutes and there is pretty much no dialogue.

Having said this, it is grisly and unsettling and although tame by today's standards, does feature a few nasty scenes. Also (and very interestingly) this was made two years before Tobe Hooper's widely regarding cult classic, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." While I was watching this, I was constantly reminded of Hooper's film, with the outback setting, the distressed and screaming heroine and the disturbed hillbilly villain. Night of Fear is virtually plot less, it follows 'The Woman' (Carla Hoogeveen) who takes an accidental wrong turn to avoid a collision and crashed her car near 'The Man's' (Norman Yemm) house. He stalks and terrorises her for the rest of the film.

It is a shame this was extended into a feature length with some dialogue, as it would make a great 70's exploitation film along the lines of Hooper's "Massacre." However, for what it is, it is quite good and it would not surprise me if some filmmakers got inspiration from this...("Wolf Creek").

3½/5

Light on fright (and words).

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 18 July 2018]

Narrowly missing a collision with a truck, a young woman (Carla Hoogeveen) veers off the road and down a dirt track, her car ending up stuck in a ditch. Soon after, she finds herself menaced by a leering lunatic (Norman Yemm) with a gimpy leg and a rat on his shoulder.

Although considered quite the shocker when it first came out, being banned by the Australian Censorship Board, Night of Fear is a very rudimentary 'woman in peril' horror - woman crashes car in countryside, woman encounters killer hillbilly, woman flees with maniac in pursuit - which will hold very few surprises and deliver scant scares for seasoned fans of the genre.

I guess a few similarities to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre from the following year will make it of interest to some - animal parts and stuffed rats adorn the killer's shack, and the man himself likes to play with the bloody skull of a previous victim - but on the whole, this is a mildly interesting Antipodean obscurity (the complete lack of dialogue certainly marks it as unusual) rather than an essential piece of Ozploitation.

4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for Pinkie the rat.

Perhaps some originality amongst the tedium and benign scares

[Groverdox · 6/10 · 1 April 2016]

This is a fairly tedious little would-be shocker, filled with creative camera angles that only really serve to obscure what is going on on- screen, and surprises you can see coming a mile away. It generates no tension, but does feature creative set design.

It features a girl terrorized by a crazed, limping hermit who she encounters after running off the road. His Texas Chainsaw Massacre- style abode is filled with the usual things you find in serial killer's houses in the movies, like disembodied doll heads, animal skulls and newspaper clippings about crimes on the walls that I guess we are supposed to assume the owner perpetrated. The thing is that this guy doesn't exactly live in the backwoods. The girl found him after running off a main road, so why haven't the police?

I feel like giving credit for an ending I wasn't expecting, though if that's due to creativity on the filmmaker's part, or improbability on the part of the plot, I'm not entirely sure. Wouldn't being gnawed on by rats wake a person up after a dizzy spell? And wouldn't it take a lot more to kill a person?

This did get there before Texas Chainsaw, and I wonder if Tobe Hooper saw it. He certainly improved on the formula.

Obscure, and disturbing at times

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 5 December 2018]

NIGHT OF FEAR is an extremely obscure Aussie horror flick, one that's of interest as it predates the likes of a certain Tobe Hooper cannibal movie as well as WOLF CREEK. The story sees a woman falling into the hands of a goonish psycho living alone in the wilderness, and trying to escape from him. Even at 50 minutes the running time comes up short here, so there's random padding in the form of repetition and a trailer within the movie itself. There's virtually no story and the performances are rather shrill, but the film does have some grubby moments and the sight of the killer playing with a bloody skull is rather disturbing.

Early 70s gem from Australia

[MatthewMcCracken · 7/10 · 25 November 2014]

Fearless editing and sound design from an unknown Australian filmmaker in the early 70s. Night of Fear - It's not a completely lost treasure but it does contain incredible composition, editing and brave use of sound (none being dialogue) skills throughout.

It would've been a hard fight to get any distribution- not so much because of subject matter or the violence, but of the techniques used that would not have been endorsed by standard filmmaking at that time. What was more impressive is the quality of the print they had for the telecine transfer! It was almost spotless!

Terry Bourke (19 April 1940 - 2002) I salute you.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_Fear_%28film%29

Grade Z Clunker!

[ronevickers · 2/10 · 18 July 2009]

Just when you're thinking of the worst movies you've ever seen, along comes this grade Z clunker zooming into the frame! Anyone who is aware of this Aussie film will know that it was banned by the censors for a long time. It's a pity, in many ways, that the censors eventually relented, as depriving viewers of catching up with this dross would have been something of a bonus. In reality, it has very little in its favour. Okay, it may well be the first Australian horror movie, and a pre-runner of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but it doesn't take very long to become monotonous and downright irritating. The actors couldn't have been too concerned about learning their lines, as there simply arn't any. It's probably the horror equivalent of "The Plank"!! Put simply, this is a total waste of time.

Too gory for Aussie TV

[The_Void · 6/10 · 14 August 2006]

My knowledge of Australian horror cinema isn't exactly encyclopaedic, but apparently, this is the first Oz horror film. Night of Fear was originally intended to be the first episode in a twelve part Australian TV horror series, but because Australian censors deemed it 'too gory', it never saw the light of day; until its DVD release some years later. The film definitely is nastier than your average TV show, and it's not really surprising that it never got shown on television. There is no dialogue at all in the film, although this is masked by a barrage of tense and macabre scenes that our young heroine terrorised by a madman. While the film does well in the violence and gore stakes, I personally don't rate it as a masterpiece simply because there isn't all that much to it. The film only lasts for fifty minutes, so you can't expect too much - but the unrelenting pace can become monotonous. You've got to respect writer-director Terry Bourke for attempting to bring horror to Australian TV screens and having his attempt dismissed for featuring too much horror, but personally I'd rather have seen him put his efforts into a more ambitious feature length film instead, and I'll endeavour to see his later efforts such as 'Inn of the Damned'.

An artistic Aussie slasher...

[DukeEman · 5/10 · 14 March 2017]

Before Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and way before WOLF CREEK, was this little Aussie treasure of sheer gore and stupidity of the Z-grade kind. What I admire about this film is the lack of dialogue, so there was no Aussie twang to cringe about. The effective campy horror suspense music with the wild and sometimes abstract editing made it more engrossing.

If you peel away all the zany technical aspects of the movie and look at the bare bones, you are left with the hammy performances which was perfect for this slasher. On top of that was the very thin storyline, about a woman who loses her way in the Aussie bush and comes across this mad man who plays a game of cat and mouse with her. Nothing creative in the telling of this story, but still good ole trashy slasher fun.

The highlight for me was those freaky cuts to naked bodies and sacrificial sex scenes, which almost made it very close to being an experimental slasher film. Maybe if it was recut to ten minutes, then this could have been a great experimental short film of the bizarre kind!

Aussie-Exploitation Rocks!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 2 July 2009]

According to the writings of several of my respectable fellow reviewers around here, "Night of Fear" was the very first Australian horror/exploitation movie ever made. This bit of trivia also got confirmed in the brilliant documentary "Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation", so I just had to see it sooner or later… Well, the first Aussie horror flick definitely is a peculiar one. "Night of Fear" is very rudimentary, both in terms of plotting and execution, as if writer/director Terry Bourke was reading in his Horror for Dummies manual whilst operating the camera. There are no dialogs, only female screams and a lot of panting, no attempts to provide depth or background to the characters and the plot is simplistic as can be. Following a banal car accident, a sole young girl ends up on a rural backwoods road and quickly finds herself confronted with a hillbilly waving around an ax. She flees and seeks shelter in a nearby cabin, but obviously her troubles only get worse in there. It may all come across as formulaic and amateurish, but "Night of Fear" actually works quite effectively! The pacing is moderately fast and the suspense is non-stop throughout the short running time. Yup, a modest and straightforward little genre outing with some nasty images and authentic shocks. Sometimes that's all it takes to satisfy a horror fanatic. The ending is very shocking and immediately explains why Terry Bourke struggled against so much controversy when it came out. "Night of Fear" was supposed to be the kick-off installment of an Aussie horror TV-series, but the idiot censors didn't agree.

70's Backwoods Slasher

[jfgibson73 · 4/10 · 3 October 2012]

I want to say that this movie is very much a product of its time, but it might actually be the influence that led other movies like it to be what they were. Many of the reviews on this site compare it to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but note that this movie came first. It follows a girl who gets stranded in the woods and is terrorized by a killer who lives in a remote shack. There is lots of trippy music and Easy Rider-like editing. There wasn't much indication that it was set in Austrailia except for a road sign, and there is no dialog. It does create a very distinct atmosphere, both in look and tone, and there are some gory images. One scene that wasn't done very convincingly was the rat attack. Fans of bad movies would enjoy the ineptitude of that sequence, but there is little else to recommend it for those with only a general interest.

Probably Australia's First Horror Film.

[Snowygooner · 9/10 · 29 April 2006]

Night of Fear was supposed to be the pilot for a twelve-part anthology series titled 'Fright'. That series never saw the light of day. Night of Fear went on to become Australia's most controversial film of the '70s. The censor, who banned the movie, branded it "indecent" and "obscene". Which led to the film's producers fighting a long and defiant battle before it could be shown in theatres. It then remained unseen for 30 years until its DVD release.

This is a very interesting film in the style of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre', which incidentally it predates by a couple of years. It tells the story of a young woman who takes a ride into the Australian countryside. She takes a wrong turn, hits a bump in the road and crashes her car near a ramshackle lodge, where a redneck psychopath lives with a colony of rats. The girl is then stalked and terrorised throughout the rest of the film. I should also mention that since this was the pilot for the proposed anthology series. It still carries the original title 'Fright' in the opening credits and has run time of 50 minutes. Oh, I nearly forgot...there is no dialogue whatsoever in the film.

I enjoyed this film: it is relatively tame by today's standards but has a bit of nudity along with a quite bizarre scene involving a human skull. The beautiful Carla Hoogeveen gives a great performance as 'The Woman', throwing herself right into the part. If you are a fan of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' or 1970s exploitation films in general, you might want to give it a look.

Running from the madman, must contend with the rats

[Chase_Witherspoon · 6/10 · 18 March 2024]

Pursued by madman (Yemm) after making a wrong turn, young secretary Hoogeveen finds herself at the mercy of the elements (and animals) in this taut Ozploitation thriller that's light on detail but entertaining nonetheless.

Virtually no dialogue is spoken, instead set design, makeup and location cinematography are the stars whilst the usually conservative Yemm (formerly one of the lead detectives from TV's 'Homicide') is cast as a backwoods tramp with just one thing on his mind (besides eating rats). TV soap star Behets also appears in the beginning as an ill-fated saddler.

Terry Bourke's first Australian theatrical film doesn't even make feature length at just under an hour head to tail, yet displays enough mindless mayhem to kickstart a career that would soon see the under appreciated horror-western 'Inn of the Damned', and then the more commercially successful 'Lady Stay Dead' for the 80s video market. Quick and dirty, but definitely worth a look.

Creep chases blonde through woods. Repeat.

[selfdestructo · 4/10 · 13 December 2023]

And, that makes up about half of Night of Fear. I will say, this movie has "distractions," as in, it's stylishly filmed, creates its own atmosphere, and my Umbrella Blu-ray has some nice color and clarity. That's all I can say for it. First of all, it was meant to be an Australian TV pilot, clocking in at 53 minutes. You'd think brevity would be on the side of something so incredibly primitive, straightforward, and flat-out uneventful. Nope, it is a slog through 7 minutes shy of an hour! Writer and director Terry Bourke tries in vain to artificially manufacture tension (as the killer hobbles around on his leg brace), when, pardon the pun, there's no meat on the bone.

So, here's where all the annoyances come into play. Score, sound design (there is no dialogue), and editing especially grated my nerves. What a jarring score. I mentioned artificially trying to create tension. Suspect number one. Not to mention, the score keeps you awake when there's no tension to be found for miles! They didn't even know where to put this stuff!

The editing cuts both ways. Sequences go on for an eternity. Also, fast-paced MTV-style cuts! (in 1973). Bear in mind, Night of Fear is as basic, and basically told, killer-hillbilly-in-the-woods "tale" as you're likely going to find. To sum up, none of it works.

Oh, I didn't do a synopsis. Let's see, I think I covered it! Killer hillbilly chases women through the woods. Oh, he likes rats. Yeah, that's it.

Whether or not it's a landmark Australian horror/exploitation film, I don't care. It looks good, but frankly, offers absolutely nothing to sink your teeth into.

An Oddity, But Not a Good One

[arfdawg-1 · 2/10 · 5 January 2023]

I have to admit, this is a strange movie. There is no dialog whatsoever, which is odd.

Compunding this, it's short -- well under an hour. Turns out it was made as a pilot for an Aussie TV series, but then it was banned in Australia! Not sure why. There's nothing overly graphic in it.

Some people have cut and pasted - verbatim - sections from Wiki saying this movie is similar to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's not. Not in the slightest. Not sure where that idea came from.

In any case, it's just not a good movie. The premise is not worked out real well and it's rather dumb anyway. The direction is frenetic and if you don't get a headache from it, the crazy musical score will definitely do the job.

Honestly, I was bored most of the time and that's saing something since the running time is 40 some minutes!

Overall enjoyable and well done, a short and straightforward horror-thriller

[I_Ailurophile · 6/10 · 7 October 2023]

I appreciate that this was accordingly conceived as the pilot for a TV show. One had better appreciate it, or else the stylized opening credits and predominant lighthearted music would turn one off right away. Likewise, between Terry Bourke's direction and Peter Hendry's cinematography, there were many choices made here in terms of how shots were arranged that were choices of novelty and not of sincere intent; it's readily evident that the TV program that did not materialize was to have carried a wry, tongue-in-cheek tone even amidst the horror-thriller violence. A bit more plainly questionable is the editing, which carries the same latter sensibility but has the effect of chopping up the viewing experience in a tiresome manner. I could also do without the animal cruelty, a needless, tasteless addition even in a genre that already capitalizes on death and violence. No matter how you want to look at it, 'Night of fear' is neither free of issues nor an essential must-see.

The plot is emphatically straightforward - admittedly in keeping with the slant of the original apparent intent - and the storytelling is so direct and unsophisticated that there's not necessarily much lasting entertainment value to be had here. In the very least I commend the cast for their committed, intense performances, even if Norman Yemm is a little over the top as the hermit. I will also say that to the credit of filmmaker Bourke, the feature is able to achieve a measure of tense atmosphere. With smart use of sound effects, lighting, and art direction in addition to the acting, some more horror-appropriate themes in the score, and instances of fine scene writing, all the key ingredients are in place for a dash of suspense; say what one will of the man's direction, he's capable enough to judiciously exercise those advantages. Furthermore, it's noteworthy that Bourke doesn't bog down the abbreviated tale with extraneous dialogue; save for some passing instances of verbalized exclamations, 'Night of fear' sagely frees itself of words that sometimes just get in the way. Off the top of my head I can think of few genre flicks - or sound pictures generally - that adopted such an approach, and I admire the welcome change of pace.

In fairness to cinematographer Hendry and editor Ray Alchin, their contributions also lend to the harrowing air about the film despite the most overzealous instances. While these fifty-odd minutes are brief and forthright, they nevertheless evoke earnest feelings of horror for as dark and grisly as the story gets before all is said and done. What it really comes down to is that the production quite comes off as the audiovisual equivalent of a short story, the sort one might find in 'Scary stories to tell in the dark' or other such collections; nevermind television - Bourke may well have collaborated on an anthology movie with contemporaries, and 'Night of fear' would have fit right in. For those who appreciate all the places the genre can go, whatever form that might take, this will be modestly satisfying. It's no zenith of thrills of ambience, but it's suitably enjoyable in its grimness, and for as short as it is, it's readily digestible for something light and quick. Don't go out of your way, but 'Night of fear' is a fine little piece if you come across it, and that's all it needs to be.

An interesting piece of...

[dontfeedthewabbit · 5/10 · 28 January 2023]

It's not a work of great entertainment, but it's artistically competent and well worth it for anyone who likes to dip and wallow in Horror.

The editing merges a bit of the raison d'être of a movie trailer, that is, clippings of what will come next, without clarifying what will actually come - which didn't particularly work for me. But, knowing now that this is a movie crafted into a TV series, this almost stylized edit makes sense.

The characters present themselves in the standards of horror films, already very well established in the 1970s, and do not develop a complete arc, they are just there to do what is expected of the genre: kill and die. What you have then is the art around it. Photography, performances and soundtrack.

A short film with pretensions of being a feature film

[grantss · 5/10 · 1 November 2016]

A young woman is riding her horse in the forest but is left to walk when her horse bolts. She is then stalked and taken prisoner by a maniac. Some time later another young woman is forced off the road while driving. Her car is damaged and immobile and the maniac is now after her...

Reasonably interesting and intriguing, though a bit lacking. This is really a short film with pretensions of being a feature film. Only 50 or so minutes long and some scenes feel padded.

A tighter script with more plot development and this would have been great.

Arguably the first Australian horror film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 9/10 · 8 June 2006]

"Night of Fear" tells the story of a young woman terrorized by a crazy drifter,who lives in the abandoned hut with his colony of rats.This grisly,grainy and unsettling horror is the first part of never completed anthology series called "Fright".The film was banned by Australian censors on the grounds of being indecent and obscene and is pretty close to an exploitation cinema.The most interesting aspect of "Night of Fear" is the lack of dialogue.The pace is uneven,although there are some moments of unrelenting terror.Terry Bourke's little shocker in many ways reminded me Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre",however it was made two years earlier.Give it a look,if you like early 70's psycho flicks.I'm quite sure that the makers of "Wolf Creek" were also influenced by it.9 out of 10.

A true gem....

[daz-sam · 8/10 · 19 March 2020]

I was born in 1973 so was looking for Aussie movies from around that time, STAN is a goldmine at the moment with the COVID-19 lock-down.

Amazing piece of cinematography for the era, way ahead of his time. Not a single word of dialogue throughout but was totally enthralled from the first minute to the last. Hints of Hitchcock amongst others.

I am off to investigate now as I would love to know where this was filmed!

Pioneering classick of Australian horror

[Bloodwank · 8/10 · 31 July 2010]

Night of Fear, what a film. It excels with a simple plot involving a luckless lady run off the road in a car accident. Pulling herself together and getting out of the wreck, she comes across a malevolent backwoods creep who pursues her deep into the backwoods in a relentless and frightening chase. This film appears to be the first Australian horror of note, or at least it would have been were it not banned almost immediately as "obscene". By today's standards it may be relatively tame, but back in 1972, before the backwoods nightmare template had been really established, this must have been quite something. Also it was made as a pilot for a TV series, perhaps an ill advised move (after this was banned, the rest of the series was sadly never made). Director Terry Bourke puts together a real winner here, the pace is unrelenting after a bit of an introduction to our protagonist in her ordinary setting, an introduction that stays for just the right length to paint her as an everywoman, a bright, pleasant looking individual and easy to root for. Carla Hoogeveen really throws herself into the role, convincing harried and nervous she carries well the physical and mental strain of the character, if perhaps a shade too stoically (no Marilyn Burns style screaming here). Norman Yemm plays the antagonist, very well too, a genuinely muchos shifty and unnerving freakazoid his turn epitomises the sort of individual one doesn't want to meet out in the unknown. The film eschews dialogue, practically the only words heard are on a car radio, music and sound effects carry this one in an almost arty fashion, though the editing of Ray Alchin is what truly sets this one above its grind-house trappings. Things roll along looking normal for deceptive stretches, before breaking into rapid fire frenzies, the images leaping out in speedy cuts sometimes to enhance the intensity of action, but also to strafe the audience with jagged flash-forwards and nightmare fantasy, glimpses perhaps of how far the film might have gone if it hadn't been intended for television. Some will no doubt find the approach off-putting but its undeniably skilled and ambitious work for an early 70's low budgeter. The production design and camera-work is pretty impressive too (some nifty close ups if memory serves), combining to create quite a fraught and verging on delirious feel it comes across very much reminiscent at times of a certain better known horror of the 70's that came out a couple of years after…Nothing to add really, save that this is a must see for Australian horror fans, backwoods horror fans, grind-house horror fans, in fact pretty well anyone who can dig a simple, single minded freaker. Its only 50 odd minutes long too, so what are you waiting for?

Classic Aussie Horror Flick

[sydneyswesternsuburbs · 10/10 · 7 August 2011]

Director and writer Terry Bourke who also created a couple of episodes of the classic television series, Spyforce 1971-1973 has created another gem in Night of Fear.

Starring Norman Yemm.

Also starring Carla Hoogeveen.

Also starring Mike Dorsey who was also in an episode of the classic television series Spyforce.

I enjoyed the cinematography, violence and sexual scenes.

If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic Aussie horror flicks, Bloodlust 1992, The Tunnel 2011, Scare Campaign 2016, Charlie's Farm 2014 and Cut 2000.

Grimy, threadbare, and effective

[drownsoda90 · 9/10 · 23 December 2023]

"Night of Fear" focuses on a young woman who is tormented by a psychotic backwoods hermit after crashing her car in a remote area. This early Australian horror film (some cite it as possibly the first) in many ways resembles something like "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" which came the following year, albeit a more insular and shorter version.

Originally intended as a TV pilot, the film is not even an hour in length, but the threadbareness of its plot perhaps makes the proceedings more effective because of it. It also contains no spoken dialogue, but is riveting none the less. The two cast members give solid performances as predator and prey, and the film is accentuated by dark, dingy cinematography and atmospheric locations.

While optically it may not appear as such by today's standards, there is an argument to be made that "Night of Fear" was one of a number of progenitors of backwoods slasher movies, albeit a lesser-known offering from down under. It is certainly worth viewing for fans of this subgenre of horror. At 54 minutes, it manages to engage and offer a number of macabre set pieces and other surprises that are more than worth the price of admission. 9/10.