Night of Fear

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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