grantss
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.
jfgibson73
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.
LoneWolfAndCub
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
HumanoidOfFlesh
"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.