Fear in the Night

10/1/19741h 34m

Theatrical Release (US)

Overview:

It took Peggy Heller a long time to recover from the trauma of a brutal physical assault, suffered in her youth. When she married Robert, he provided her with the love and reassurance she craved for and the two settled down in a pretty house in the grounds of the public school where Robert was a master. But the headmaster of the school is not what he seems and Peggy is convinced he means to harm her - is her fear a figment of her tortured imagination or are there forces at work that intend to manipulate her anxieties with fatal consequences?

Director:

Jimmy Sangster

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

murder
psychological thriller
nervous breakdown
newlywed
schoolhouse

Cast

Joan Collins

~ as ~

Molly Carmichael

Peter Cushing

~ as ~

Michael Carmichael

Judy Geeson

~ as ~

Peggy Heller

Ralph Bates

~ as ~

Robert Heller

James Cossins

~ as ~

The Doctor

Gillian Lind

~ as ~

Mrs. Beamish

Brian Grellis

~ as ~

2nd Policeman

John Bown

~ as ~

1st Policeman

Jimmy Gardner

~ as ~

Psychiatrist (uncredited)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

John Chard
Written 6 year(s) ago
5
Brainstorm!

One of Hammer Films' ventures into the psychological horror realm, Fear in the Night is more fun than frightening. Plot has Judy Geeson as a young woman recovering from a nervous breakdown who moves with her husband to a boys' school. Once there she appears to be once again terrorized by a man with an artificial arm, but nobody believes her.

Peter Cushing, Ralph Bates and Joan Collins also star, in what has to be a candidate for weakest of the Hammer psychological series of films. Things are not helped by it coming off as a cheap knock off of Hammer's own superlative "Taste of Fear 1961", a picture that firmly delivered on its promise.

Fear in the Night starts off promisingly, with a genuinely scary set-up, and once Geeson and Bates arrive at the boys school it's ripe for chills and suggestion. Unfortunately, the premise of Geeson being menaced in what is essentially a four character piece quickly wears thin - with Cushing badly under used in the process.

Atmosphere is fine, director and co-writer Jimmy Sangster always had a good eye and ear for uneasy dread. While the small cast give it a good whirl to make the modest intentions shine brighter. But ultimately it's only a diversion piece that homages better films of its type instead of making its own mark. 5/10