FRIGHT

 FRIGHT (1971). Director: Peter Collinson. 

Amanda (Susan George) comes to an isolated mansion to babysit the little son, Tara (Tara Collinson), of Helen Lloyd (Honor Blackman of Account Rendered) and her husband, Jim (George Cole). Helen's ex-husband, Brian (Ian Bannen), the father of Tara, has been institutionalized since he tried to murder both Helen and their son. As the Lloyds have dinner and talk things over with Brian's shrink, Dr. Cordell (John Gregson), Amanda has the feeling that someone is stalking the grounds of the estate. A wannabee boyfriend, Chris (Dennis Waterman), shows up, wanting sex, but there's a far worse visitor in store for the terrified babysitter.

Fright has some genuine scenes of suspense, tension and creepiness, but the final quarter is far too drawn out, so that you're almost screaming for the damn thing to finally be over. Susan George gives a generally good performance, while Blackman and Ian Bannen are really top-notch. Bannen, in particular, seems always on the edge of a terrible violence. The film is rather unpleasant, however, and some may not enjoy the fact that a small child is endangered throughout. The boy is portrayed by the director's own four-year-old son. Another problem with the film is that it has several illogical moments. In at least one sequence you have to wonder why the heroine doesn't just run out the back door? Collinson also directed the 1974 version of Ten Little Indians for producer Harry Alan Towers.

Verdict: Comes quite close but somehow drops the ball. **1/4. 

 

TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1974)

Lom, Frobe, Attenborough, Reed and Sommer

TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1974). Director: Peter Collinson. 

Several people receive invitations to an empty luxury hotel built in the Iranian desert near some ruins. While there they learn that their unknown host has assembled them for past misdeeds and an unseen killer strikes at them one by one, the murders related in some way to a nursery rhyme. Eventually the rapidly-dwindling group comes to realize that the murderer is one of their own. Paranoia sets in as the deaths continue and everyone falls under suspicion. 

Unlikely lovers: Elke Sommer and Oliver Reed

This is the second of three versions of Agatha Christie's venerable story that was produced by Harry Alan Towers, who would seemingly produce any piece of shit if he thought he could turn a profit. At least he has assembled an interesting cast in this misfire: Richard Attenborough as the judge; Elke Sommer and Oliver Reed [The Shuttered Room] as the unlikeliest pair of young lovers ever; Stephane Audran as the actress who may have murdered her husband; two Bond villains -- Gert Frobe of Goldfinger and Adolfo Celi of Thunderball -- as, respectively, a detective and a general; French entertainer Charles Aznavour as the drunken first victim; Herbert Lom [Mysterious Island] as Dr. Armstrong, and no less than Orson Welles as the voice of the host. 

The most notable things about this production are the settings and the cinematography of Fernando Arribas. The musical score is atrocious, and the clumsily-directed film -- there are way too many long shots and the murder scenes are devoid of elan -- has virtually no tension or suspense. The acting is generally good, with Attenborough coming off the best. Towers had one more version of the story to go. 

Verdict: Another tax write-off for Towers. **.