In 1971, Susan George couldn't seem to get a break. If she wasn't being raped and assaulted in "Straw Dogs," she was being terrorized by a lunatic at a remote mansion in "Fright." This film follows George as a young college student who takes a babysitting job at a rural English manor. What begins as a fairly normal evening of babysitting gets progressively dangerous when the housewife's unhinged former husband arrives hellbent on taking his child."Fright" has been on my must-watch list for years now, and I'm happy to report after finally giving it a viewing that it met my expectations on most accounts. I am a sucker for the Hammer films and the British psychothrillers of the '60s and '70s in general, and "Fright" falls in line with the better of them. The story is a 20th century staple that we've seen done again and again: babysitter home alone gets terrorized by a madman. It's a story arc that would come to be the basis of "Halloween" and "When a Stranger Calls" about eight years later, so in some ways, "Fright" is one of the earliest "babysitter horror" movies.Aesthetically, "Fright" is characterized by a starkly British sensibility, with moody pan shots of the large Gothic manor, extreme angles of George running up and down the wooden staircase, and rapid splices and prominent use of parallel editing to generate tension. The tricks are standard, but director Peter Collinson makes them work. George is diminutive and appropriately frightful, while Ian Bannen plays the unhinged assailant with a keen sense of lunacy; his maddening rants and lashing out are at times genuinely threatening. Honor Blackman is also very commendable as the tortured wife. Like a great deal of these films of this era tend to do, the conclusion is a bit abrupt, but the handling of the final act—which could have been disastrous, but manages to be engaging—makes up for the premature credit roll.Overall, "Fright" is an above-average British psychothriller that works as much as a suspense film as it does an outright horror. Susan George is a great choice for the lead, and the film is tense and unnerving in the right doses. If Gothic, woodsy English manors and madman lurking outside are your cup of tea, then give this film a watch. It's definitely mine. 8/10.

This movie sets up a fairly simple premise, but manages to maintain a creepy, uncomfortable atmosphere. Basically, Susan George is a baby sitter who is terrorized by a madman; as others have noted, the first half of the move bubbles along but then it tends to get a little bogged down in the second half, but hey, it's hardly high art. The actors do a good job of keeping the tension high with the exception of George Cole, whose face never seems to betray anything apart from a slightly ambiguous surprise, the sort of face you'd expect from somebody who'd just seen a streaker on the 6 o'clock news while eating dinner. Part of the fun of the movie is the hideous/awesome 70s fashions, Dennis Waterman's cardigan being the prime offender, his robust 'romancing' of George would not go down well in this day and age I suspect. In summary: worth a go if you're a fan of old Hammer films and 70s retro styling.

Fright is directed by Peter Collinson and written by Tudor gates. It stars Susan George, Ian Bannen, Honor Blackman, George Cole, Dennis Waterman and John Gregson. Music is by Harry Robinson and cinematography by Ian Wilson.A young babysitter is terrorised by an escaped mental patient.It plays as stock fair now, but Fright is undoubtedly influential in the line of "maniac stalks girl alone" movies. But! That is no gauge of quality because in spite of some good initial ground work in the first half, the pic fails to deliver on its promise. Susan George as Amanda, in fetching mini-dress, falls prey to an unhinged Ian Bannen as Brian who literally has come home. The build up consists of Amanda turning up for her babysitting assignment and finding the lady of the house (Blackman over acting big time) on tender hooks. Once Amanda is alone in the house noises are used as scare tactics, Waterman turns up as a horny boyfriend and soon gets sent packing with a flea in his ear, and then the lights go out and Brian turns up thinking that Amanda is his wife (Blackman who is out doing some awful dancing with Cole).General hysterics ensue as Amanda becomes a simpering wreck whilst trying to hold it together long enough to keep the baby safe from harm. Bannen goes into over drive convincing us he's mad, which leads to some very unsettling scenes as Amanda is put through a nightmare (1971 really saw George at the mercy of film makers!) until the conclusion which comes with the inevitable outcome.Horror really wasn't Collinson's forte, and his choices in the genre tended to revolve around a woman in peril, and that's kind of the problem with Fright, it just comes off as unsavoury (do I smell misogyny?). Collinson shows some nice touches, such as a pendulum sequence, while the sense of dread in that first half is well marshalled, but most of the time he's using the picture as an excuse to leer at George's skirt, legs and ripped blouse! Don't get me wrong, as a red blooded male I find George sexy in the extreme, but I don't need it as an excuse to cover up a scripts failings.It proves to be a most interesting viewing experience now, where armed with the knowledge of the sub-genre offerings that followed, you can't help but acknowledge that it's a film only of its time; yet still important on its basic formula terms. However, and casting aside that we are in a world where George Cole can net Honor Blackman, it really is distinctly average at best. 5/10

Interesting early slasher film has loads of atmosphere, and I might have rated it higher if it had a more exciting script. Honor Blackman is a young babysitter taking care of a small child in a very remote house. The parents are unusually paranoid, but Blackman doesn't catch on until the wife's psychotic ex-husband, who has just escaped from the asylum, shows up to terrorize her and the baby.I can imagine that this was considered pretty brutal in 1971, particularly in one scene where the murderer beats somebody within an inch of his life. Now that time has dulled a lot of our sensibilities about horror movies, this will probably not seem very shocking at all to the average viewer. The best reason to watch it now is because of the interesting way the film is photographed, as well as the effective location. The house itself is very creepy, and a brilliantly conceived credit sequence shows Blackman walking all alone through a darkened rural area to get to where she's going. It's actually one of the best moments of the film. The dark interiors of the house do a lot to further the tension--as does the horrifying 70s decor.Finally, Ian Bannen is great as the crazy ex-husband. Do yourself a favor and watch this if you're a fan of 70s horror films. It's not "Texas Chainsaw" by any means, but it's worth seeing just the same.