Joan Collins & Judy Geeson in Fear in the Night (1972)
Yesterday's Joan Collins film, I Don't Want to be Born, brought this little thriller, also featuring Collins and also from Hammer productions, to mind. Peggy Heller has recently been married and is about to go live with her husband at the boy's school he teaches at. Not only is she a newly wed, she's also recovering from a nervous breakdown, so when she's attacked in her bathroom by a mysterious man who has a prosthetic arm, nobody believes her. She puts it behind her and sets her mind on her new life in the country, but finds that her attacker has followed her to the school. Again, she is not believed - by her husband (Ralph Bates), the head master (Michael Carmichael) or his wife (Collins). Will she be able to convince someone before she winds up dead?
This film is a bit of a departure for Hammer studios. It's less of a horror film and more of a thriller. It's still chock full of frights, though with no gore to speak of.
A DVD release of this film was produced, though it's now out of print and can be a trifle pricy. It's available in full on YouTube, thanks to an upload by 70sHorrorRealm. Part one is above.
Obscurity factor: 7 (on DVD, available on YouTube, largely forgotten except for Hammer fans)
It took an hour to really get going, but I did enjoy the film...for the most part. It's a bit muddled, and leaves some loose ends. Joan Collins does, well, what she does best (although almost a cameo performance, in this case). Surfing led me to this factoid about the "school" filming location.....Bhaktivedanta Manor was donated to the Hare Krishna movement in the early 1970's by the former Beatle George Harrison (apparently soon after this was filmed). A current Krishna web site has photos. Also, the VHS version of this film, was released in the US, during the early 80s, as "Dynasty of Fear" (Ha!).
It took an hour to really get going, but I did enjoy the film...for the most part. It's a bit muddled, and leaves some loose ends. Joan Collins does, well, what she does best (although almost a cameo performance, in this case). Surfing led me to this factoid about the "school" filming location.....Bhaktivedanta Manor was donated to the Hare Krishna movement in the early 1970's by the former Beatle George Harrison (apparently soon after this was filmed). A current Krishna web site has photos. Also, the VHS version of this film, was released in the US, during the early 80s, as "Dynasty of Fear" (Ha!).
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