Night of Terror

Two young women in present-day Los Angeles are menaced by syndicate hit-men after one of their couriers, a guy on the take, apparently hid a package or a safe-deposit box key in the ladies' apartment. Surprisingly engrossing TV-movie with a taut direction by Jean (Jeannot) Szwarc, solid cinematography by television mainstay Howard Schwartz, and colorful performances by Martin Balsam as a detective, Agnes Moorehead as a physical therapist and Chuck Connors as the head bruiser for the mob. Only Donna Mills disappoints in the central role (she's blandly incredulous throughout, with a whiny voice). Teleplay by Cliff Gould shamelessly apes "Wait Until Dark" in its final stretch, however the plot is satisfyingly worked through. Schwartz's work won him the Emmy, most likely for his handling of an escape sequence by car in an underground parking lot; art director William L. Campbell was also Emmy-nominated.

This is a 1972 ABC movie of the week and whilst not startlingly original is fairly diverting. Most interesting for the excellent performance of Eddie Egan as an ex-cop, when, of course, he was the ex-cop that inspired The French Connection, in which he also had a small part. Similarly convincing is the ever menacing Chuck Connors as chief bad man who spends the whole film trying to get at the heroine, played by Donna MIlls. Donna is excellent here in a difficult role, mostly performed in a wheelchair, and yes we do get a sequence of her travelling up one of those sinister little one man internal lifts. She would later perform equally effectively with Clint Eastwood in Play Misty For Me.

Could have been better but, then again, it's was a TV movie.

The mob is after something and due to an unfortunate set of circumstances they believe that a school teacher by the name of "Lindy Daniels" (Donna Mills) may have it. And they will stop at nothing to get what they are after. In one specific scene Lindy Daniels is seriously injured trying to get away and this makes her plight even more difficult for her in the days ahead. Now, since I don't want to spoil this movie by giving out too many details, I will just say that this is a "made for television" film that has a couple of tense moments and Donna Mills looks as beautiful as always. Martin Balsam also gives a decent performance as a retired policeman-turned-private investigator named "Captain Caleb Sark". On the other hand, I was underwhelmed by the one-dimensional performance of Chuck Connors who played the hit man "Brian DiPaulo" and I suspect that some of this film was left on the cutting room floor. Be that as it may, this film doesn't have any graphic violence, sex or profanity that one would find in a typical movie today and because of that it may appear tame to some. In any case, it's worth a look for anyone who is interested in a good crime-drama from the early 70's.

Look at that cover image, doesn't that look like an 80's horror movie? Well, this isn't 80's and it isn't a horror either.

Night of Terror tells the story of a woman forced into hiding after a mysterious man comes after her and those she loves hunting for something he believes she has.

It was an ABC movie of the month so for those unfamiliar with what that means it was essentially a made for television Lifetime like movie.

So minimal budget, faces you recognise but can't name and a plot so generic you couldn't pick the script out of a lineup of other similiar films.

Unoriginal tripe with little going for it.

The Good:

Martin Balsam

The Bad:

Seen it all before

Catherine Burns

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Sometimes he splurges