Fright Movie Review 210

Fright is a British horror/thriller movie released in 1972. It is directed by Peter Collinson who also directed The Italian Job(1969). It stars Susan George(Straw Dogs), Honor Blackman(The Avengers), George Cole(Minder) and Dennis Waterman(Minder and The Sweeney).

The movie begins with a young college girl called Amanda(George) who is going to babysit for the night. She arrives at the house and the mother, Helen Lloyd(Blackman) answers the door. She introduces her to her husband Jim(Cole) and their son Tara. They chat for a while. Helen seems a little on edge. They eventually leave and Amanda is left alone in their large house. She is a little spooked by the noises from the house. She hears a tapping noise and opens the back door to see what it is. It is just a tree branch making the noise. She goes  back inside and the lights go out in the living room. Someone knocks on the front door. Amanda is scared. It turns out to be her boyfriend, Chris(Waterman). Meanwhile, Helen and Jim are out in a restaurant. They are celebrating her divorce.

Back at the creepy house, Amanda lets Chris in and they chat. He tries to scare her for fun, but she gets very annoyed with him. He tells Amanda that Jim isn't Helen's husband. Helen was married to a man who tried to kill her and Tara. He is currently residing in a mental institution somewhere. This scares Amanda even more. Helen and Jim are chatting about her estranged husband, Brian(Ian Bannen). Helen is talking to their friend, Dr. Cordell(John Gregson) who has joined them. He thinks that Helen can't let go of what happened with Brian and it is affecting her. Chris and Amanda are having some fun but he goes too far and Amanda throws him out of the house. While he is outside, he sees another person lurking around. The person attacks him.

Meanwhile, someone rings the doorbell and Amanda assumes that it is Chris messing with her. She sees a face at the window and it is not Chris'. She calls the restaurant and when Helen comes to the phone, the line goes dead. Helen is worried that something is wrong, but her hubby and friend convince her that she is overreacting. Dr. Cordell calls the mental institution to find out about Brian and is told that he has escaped. Helen, Dr. Cordell and Jim jump into the car to get back to the house. Amanda is terrified by Brian who is banging at the front door . She opens the front door and Chris falls in, bloodied. Amanda is hysterical . Dr. Cordell informs the police. Amanda runs into Brian and thinks that he is a kindly neighbour. He soothes her and she doesn't realise that he is Helen's mad ex husband. When she does realise, she tries to escape,but it is too late. Brian holds her and Tara hostage until Helen and the police arrive to get him to release them.

This was a good thriller. I enjoyed the first hour but the end part was a little silly. If you have watched this movie, then you will know what I mean. When Amanda finally realises that Brian is mad, she totally overreacts and this is really silly. But, all in all, it is a good watch and there is some good acting..I will give this a 6/10.