EDITOR’S NOTE: Fright was on Chiller Theater on Saturday, February 10, 1979 at 1:00 a.m., Saturday, May 2, 1981 at 1:00 a.m. and Saturday, October 9, 1982 at 1:00 a.m.
Before Halloween put Michael Myers in Haddonfield, before When a Stranger Calls asked if you checked the children, and way before Bob Clark sent a psycho up the stairs in Black Christmas, British Lion and director Peter Collinson dropped Fright. If you think the “babysitter in peril” trope started in the late 1970s American drive-in circuit, guess again! Written by Tudor Gates—fresh off writing Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers—this tight little psycho-thriller is widely considered the blueprint for the modern slasher setup.
If you think the “babysitter in peril” trope started in the late 1970s American drive-in circuit, guess again! Written by Tudor Gates—fresh off writing Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers—this tight little psycho-thriller is widely considered the blueprint for the modern slasher setup.
College student Amanda (Susan George) lands a quiet evening babysitting gig for Helen (Honor Blackman) and Jim (George Cole) at their sprawling, secluded estate tucked away in the woods. Right off the bat, things are a bit off— starting with the absurd number of heavy locks on the front door. Amanda puts little Tara to bed, brews herself a cup of tea and instantly gets that classic crawling feeling of eyes watching her through the kitchen window.
Things get messier when her boyfriend Chris (Dennis Waterman) drops by unannounced to drop some heavy local gossip: Helen and Jim aren’t actually married, and Helen’s real husband was thrown into an asylum after trying to murder her. Amanda kicks Chris out after Helen calls to check in, but as soon as Chris steps into the dark yard, he gets savagely ambushed by a lurking maniac. What follows is an absolute pressure-cooker. Brian (Ian Bannen), the escaped psycho ex-husband, maneuvers his way inside under the guise of a helpful neighbor who found a bloody, unconscious Chris on the lawn. Once inside, Brian’s mind snaps completely. He starts mistaking Amanda for his ex-wife Helen, trapping her in the house while she frantically plays along with his delusions to survive. When a bloody standoff erupts on the front lawn between the police, Dr. Cordell (John Gregson) and Helen herself, Amanda has to take matters into her own hands with a sharp shard of glass.
Peter Collinson (who previously directed Susan George in Up the Junction) turns a single country house into a suffocating chamber of horrors. Susan George carries the entire middle act on her shoulders and delivers. I wonder, did she ever ask her agent, “Can I not be sexually menaced in a movie? Or maybe not be married to a man way too old or American for me?” But no, there she is in movies like Straw Dogs, Sonny and Jed and Twinky.
You can watch this on Tubi.
