Fear in the Night (1972)

• Year: 1972
• Released: 01 Oct 1974
• Country: United Kingdom
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068577/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fear_in_the_night
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Horror, Thriller
• Runtime: 94 min
• Writer: Jimmy Sangster, Michael Syson
• Director: Jimmy Sangster
• Cast: Judy Geeson, Joan Collins, Ralph Bates
• Keywords: murder, psychological thriller, newlywed, nervous breakdown, schoolhouse,

	5.9/10
	31% – Audience

Fear in the Night Storyline

A young woman recovering from a nervous breakdown moves with her husband to a boys’ school, and finds herself being terrorized by a mysterious one-armed man, but nobody believes her.

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Fear in the Night Movie Reviews

Old-school terror.

Pretty, neurotic newlywed Peggy (Judy Geeson) survives an attack by a leather-gloved, one-armed assailant the day before she is due to leave London to live with her husband Robert (Ralph Bates) who teaches at a posh boys school in the country owned by sinister headmaster Michael Carmichael (Peter Cushing) and his bitchy young wife (the lovely Joan Collins).

Once there, though, poor Peggy soon realises that, even though she is now miles from the city, she still isn’t safe: the one-armed maniac appears to have followed her to her new home…

It shouldn’t take seasoned fans of psychological thrillers very long to suss that the mysterious goings on in Hammer’s Fear In the Night are intended to turn the protagonist completely insane, drive her to murder, or both. But although the film’s plot doesn’t earn many points for originality, being heavily reminiscent of the French thriller Les Diaboliques, director Jimmy Sangster delivers enough startling imagery (Cushing’s shattered glasses; a gloved prosthetic arm) and well-handled scenes of suspense to ensure that the film is certainly never dull: from its wonderful opening credits sequence, in which the camera pans across the school to eventually reveal the legs of a man hanging from a tree, to its tense denouement, Fear in the Night is a solid slice of macabre entertainment.

A great cast in a solid Hammer psycho-thriller

A slow-moving psychodrama from the Hammer stable, this was the last of the Hammer psycho-thrillers (probably due to the law of diminishing returns). Although the film is flawed, there is still a considerable amount of fun to be had with the twisting plot as alliances change throughout the film. It’s also good fun to watch actors and actresses from a typically period setting act in a contemporary setting like this. The acting in this film keeps the interest throughout. Judy Geeson has a good stab at a less than sympathetic lead role, but Ralph Bates is too morose and feels tedious whenever he’s around. Better still are Joan Collins, having a ball as one of her bitchy characters, and Peter Cushing is also on hand as the crippled, one-armed headmaster of the school, and he’s great as always, stealing every scene in an enjoyably sinister role. His presence is felt even when he’s not on screen.

While the film is hardly original – the premise had already been done by Hammer many times before – and offers up nothing new in the way of suspense, there are some chills to be had, mainly in the scenes in the deserted school, while recordings of the children play in the background. There is little gore on offer, apart from a shot rabbit; this film works on suspense instead. For many fans this is going to be a turn-off, mainly because of the slow pace. For the first hour not much really happens and things are over-simplistic, it’s not until the final half an hour that things hot up and become quite exciting. Is the climax worth waiting for? I’d say so, but then again I’m biased in this film’s favour, in that I like the cast so much.

(k)not to be remade

“Fear in the Night” has a familiar plot (people move into country house and strange things start happening). Set in a boarding school in the British countryside, the movie doesn’t quite live up to its potential, but has some neat surprises along the way. Maybe I should have predicted the ending, but I didn’t. The movie’s strength seems to be mostly in its gradual revelation of things, and the case of a possible mental breakdown.

And the cast? Well, Peter Cushing – as the headmaster – obviously adds a good dimension with his eerie stare. I guess that by 1972, it was a given that any English horror movie had to star Peter Cushing and/or Christopher Lee. Judy Geeson, as the tormented young bride, is gorgeous as ever and has the perfect appearance for someone seeking into despair. Ralph Bates, as her husband, is pretty routine. Joan Collins, as the headmaster’s wife, is also pretty routine.

So, for the most part, there’s nothing particularly special about this movie, but it’s not terrible by any stretch. It’s probably a must for Hammer fans. Oh, and Judy Geeson is really hot.