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.

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.

Gritty little suspenser that holds interest throughout. Writer-director Andrew Stone's and wife Virginia's reputation rests on a documentary-style approach to film-making. Making a movie about people on board a sinking ship?-- then sink an actual ship, The Last Voyage (1958). I believe it was Andrew Sarris who observed that it was a good thing they never made a film about the end of the world!

There's a lot of that documentary approach in this low-budgeter taken from an actual kidnapping case of the period. Kidnapping was much in the news in 1953 with the sensational abduction for ransom of little Bobby Greenlease, of Kansas City, I believe. And, of course, then as now, screen-writers love to chase the headlines of the day. So it's no surprise that several of these plot-lines turned up at about the same time, including the rather eerie Big House, USA (1955).

Here the screenplay recreates the abduction of the offspring of a wealthy LA-area family, Gene Couture. What makes the movie work is the inspired casting (probably a happy accident) that brings together three fast-rising young actors-- a sullen Vince Edwards, a moody John Cassavetes, and an appealing Jack Kelly as the victim. You really get the feeling from the former two-- who look edgy and act even edgier-- that anything can happen at any time. Together as the lead abductors, they're little short of the proverbial dynamite. When they take Kelly into the desert, you get the feeling he's a dead duck for sure.

Then too, the Stone's insistence on real suburban locations lends the proceedings a look and feel different from the usual. The procedural part gets kind of draggy as the cops enter the case and was likely inspired by the police mega-hit of the day, Dragnet. But at least it's consistent with the over-all documentary tone. Some buffs see the movie as noir. I don't, taking it instead as a particularly effective example of the "home invasion" genre that was also popular at the time. But however you cut it, this is still a darn good little 90 minute nail-biter.

Enjoyed this 1955 film with great actors like Vince Edwards,( Victor Gosset) and John Cassavetes, (Robert Batsford) who were just starting their careers. In this picture Jack Kelly,(Gene Courtier) makes a very bad mistake and picks up a hitchhiker in the desert and Victor Gosset commanders his car and wants him to sell it for money and then meets up with Robert Batsford who is the boss of the kidnapping and then they decide to go to Gene Courtier home and hold his wife, Doris Courtier,(Hildy Parks) and two children hostage in their own home. Victor Gosset is crazy about women and can't seem to keep his hands off Doris Courtier and starts all kinds of problems with her husband. There is very high tension through out the entire picture and it was a great film for 1955. Enjoy