The Fatal Night

I saw this film, when I was 10 years old, and I can honestly say that this film is the only one that ever scared the pants off me. I can still remember the story now(60 years later) and I still get goose bumps when I think about it.It was the most chilling film ever, and although it had no violence in it, it left you shivering. A similar story was in "Appointment With Fear" on the radio in the 50's and that was excellent as well.A good film does not need blood and gore to frighten you, this film preyed on your imagination, and although you did not actually see anything, your heart was in your mouth from start to finish. Anyone who is lucky enough to get their hands on a copy is really blessed.

I first saw this movie when I was 12 years old (that's a long time ago) and it scared the living daylights out of me. I didn't remember much about it (as I spent most of the movie under the seat) until I saw it much later. What a cracker for a low budget film made in 1948. It said everything in a short time as it was only 50 minutes long. Of course it would be dated now but in its time it must have been one of the best horror-type films around. I had seen Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman which were classics of their time but quite laughable when you come to think of it but this one stilled scared the life out of me even at the later viewing. Again, as with "Incident at Owl Creek" and "The Stranger Left No Card" length did not matter. See it if you can!

When I first looked up this film on the IMDb over ten years ago all three reviewers said the same thing: it had scared the hell out of them as youngsters, but none had seen it recently.

I finally caught up with it today and it's certainly not as scary seen today as those who saw it at the time remembered it (for me the most frightening film I've ever seen remains Larry Peerce's 1967 'The Incident'); although Mario Zampi certainly fulfilled the promise he showed here with his slick direction, with elegant and mobile camera work by Cedric Williams.

It's fun to see a young Patrick Nacnee and Dandy Nichols in supporting roles, but opera singer Lester Ferguson, although he makes an interesting and offbeat lead - and gets to sing a little - (SLIGHT SPOILER COMING:) is far too little changed (even down to the clothes he's wearing) in the epilogue supposedly set seven years later.

I saw this film when I was eleven years old and I will never forget the gripping atmosphere which lasted throughout the entire film. This movie was based on a story which I read in one of the Dorothy L. Sayers books of short stories. It was called The Gentleman from America and proved to be a genuine thriller when made into a movie. If it is ever re-released dont miss it it is a top drawer "spook" film with an excellent twist at the end. Why some of these old "creepies" are not available is a shame, they don,t rely on sex and bloodletting just good old atmospherics and imagination.