Night of Fear (1973)

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A woman wrecks her car on a rural, dead end road where she’s stalked by a scary hermit (Norman Yemm) and his pet rat in this Australian film from writer/director Terry Bourke (Inn of the Damned, Noon Sunday). Night of Fear is an exercise in tension and dread that undoubtedly inspired The Texas Chain Saw Massacre a year later. You’ll find similarities between the two films in art direction, editing style, wardrobe, sound design, and even specific shots and performances. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Night of Fear is that it contains not a word of dialogue, except for a brief scene featuring a radio announcement.

Night of Fear may strike you as just a random slasher flick, but Bourke approaches the film with artistic sensibilities. The camera angles are consistently inventive and the editing is often downright experimental in its flash-cuts and cross-cutting, pulling you into a claustrophobic world of horror in an uncommonly powerful way. For film students in the audience, some of the editing will invoke Russian filmmaking pioneer Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin), as Bourke uses montage to powerful, sordid effect.

For horror fans who might be looking for a conventional narrative, the screenplay may be too thin to maintain interest to the end. Even at a short 54 minutes, the film becomes exhausting through its repetitious cycle of ever-winding suspense. The protagonist (Carla Hoogeveen) also makes a number of eye-roll inducing decisions. Animal lovers are warned in advance that the horse in the opening scene does not fare well.

Even though the film’s a bit of a mixed bag as entertainment goes, there’s no denying the power in its distinct style. It delivers a couple of unshakable moments, and certainly deserves respect for heavily inspiring the later, greater The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.