The Night Holds Terror

I have often confounded NIGHT OF TERROR with CRY TERROR, because both have "terror" in the title, and also because both are made by the same director; and let's admit that both stories are quite close. Hoodlums against the common law abiding citizen living in the suburb. John Cassavetes and Vince Edwards literally steal the show because of their performances. This story could have been perfect for a seventies or even eighties film, partly because inspired from true events that occured in february 1953. It is predictable, easy to know how it will end, but just enjoy the directing and acting too. Useless to insist on this same topic as DESPERATE HOURS.

The Night Holds Terror doesn't have a whole lot going for it except for tension – but maybe that's enough. Like Detour (which may be a distant ancestor), it's the story of how a whim, a twist of fate, can turn lives upside down. Driving home from his job at Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Kelly picks up a hitch-hiker (Vince Edwards) who pulls a gun on him. The rest of Edwards' gang (John Cassavettes and David Gross) join up, but spare Kelly's life when he has only 10 bucks on him. Deciding that trading in his car for cash is a better deal, they take over Kelly's knotty-pine home – he has a wife (Hildy Parks) and two kids – until the following day.

From then on in it's a standard family-held-hostage suspenser, with Edwards putting the moves on the wife and the inevitable sorting out of the pecking order among the gang members. When they depart next morning, taking Kelly along for insurance, Parks disobeys orders and calls the police. But will the police locate the gang before they kill Kelly?

His five years of glory as Ben Casey, M.D. still down the road, Edwards, smoldering and stretching the seams of his T-shirt, makes the strongest impression in the movie – maybe the only impression. Cassavettes (occasionally looking like Jerry Lewis at about the same time) delivers an unremarkable performance, and the rest of the cast is no more than passable. Photography is the flat, ‘50s style until the end, when some night shots in driving rain add atmosphere. The story unfolds in the semi-documentary style common to its times, complete with voice-over narration (first by Kelly, then by an anonymous authority figure).

The Night Holds Terror gets compared frequently to The Desperate Hours, a better production but a stagier one as well. For all its low-budget look and low-price acting, the movie retains some authenticity. At times it almost seems like cinema-verité – like those edgy little films Cassavettes himself would soon be making.

Gene Courtier picks up a hitchhiker. It turns out to be wanted criminal Victor Gosset. He is forced to drive out to a remote location where Victor is joined by his fellow criminals Robert Batsford (John Cassavetes) and Luther Logan. At first, they threaten to kill him. Then they take over his house and family while they wait for the bank to open to get their money.

This alternates between threatening realism and weaker B-movie material. There is some over-acting melodrama. It is interesting to see a young Cassavetes earning his chops. Despite its limitations, it is a tense little thriller. Once the criminals leave the house, the intensity gets a bit muddled. If it's ransom, the crooks should take the kids. If they're worried about witnesses, they can't leave the wife behind. The movie becomes tied down by the police minutia. It's better to stay in the house but it's still a solid crime drama B-movie.

These types of films seemed to be quite common in the 1950s. Drivers making the foolish mistake of picking up the worst possible type of hitch-hiker--a criminal. One who might take him hostage or kill him at any moment. A very real fear of the possible.

This film feels like a mix of THE HITCH-HIKER and THE DESPERATE HOURS but isn't quite on par with either. Unlike those, this feels like a Made For TV film. The Narration is very much a negative and will probably make many laugh due to its dire seriousness.

But the characters in this film are well-played and certainly entertaining enough to make this film an enjoyable ride. Especially good are Hildy Parks as the terrorized wife who won't stand for it and Jack Kelly as her husband who is thinking only of his family's welfare. John Cassavetes is also good in his role as the mastermind criminal. There's some terrific cinematography in the film featuring scenes out in the desert and the climatic ending in the rain.

Saw "The Nite Holds Terror" in 1956. Enjoyed it so much I wanted to see it again, but it was showing for just 2 or 3 days in my small home town. I don't recall it ever coming to nearby towns or being listed on tv and wondered why. Perhaps because the Humphrey Bogart version called "The Desperate Hours" garnered a larger following. Did not see the Bogart version until June 2002 and even after 40 years I see the remarkable similarities. I think the pictures were equally as good. Thank you.