Story Movie
Peggy, who has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital, is attacked by a stranger who tries to strangle her. Her young husband, Robert, refuses to believe what has happened and takes her to the village where he works as a schoolteacher. But even there, Peggy cannot find peace; she feels as though she is being watched, and soon the attack happens again.
Review 4K Movie
Remember that humorous skit by Yan Arlazorov about movies, in which he said something like: “I’ve brought you a thriller! Don’t laugh. It’s not contagious!” Well, Hammer Studios has brought us a thriller this time around. In the 1970s, as it noticeably lost its former popularity, the British “Hammer” film studio began scaling back production of its signature gothic horror films, experimenting with genres. Even comedies began to appear, but the action-packed genre didn’t fade away; in addition to horror films, it delighted fans with thrillers. “Fear in the Night” is one of them—a film where traditional mysticism is gone, where adaptations of various eerie superstitions featuring monsters and vampires have faded, and the costumed retro spirit has evaporated, yet the studio star remains in place with lavish sets. Originally, the script was written for the American studio “Universal,” which endured many years of trials and tribulations and all sorts of rewrites before it finally came to life in the hands of the British as a detective story set in the prosaic world of the modern era, where the most terrifying monster is not an enchanted mummy, an immortal bloodsucker, or a terrifying ghost, but a selfish person.
It all begins with a young woman who has left a psychiatric hospital and recently married a schoolteacher. Hoping for a happy future with her beloved husband, who has secured a job at a rural boarding school, she keeps quiet about an attack by a mysterious man with a prosthetic arm—her reputation as a former lunatic makes it unlikely anyone would believe her, and besides, there is no evidence. Upon arriving at the location, our heroine finds herself in the desolate world of a spacious school that has been abandoned. The very atmosphere of the empty classrooms, the huge dining hall, the gymnasium, the soccer field, and the surrounding autumn forest weighs heavily on her psyche. Every echoing corridor and the silhouette of furniture covered with sheets to keep the dust off evokes something sinister, not to mention the mysterious headmaster of the boarding school. The gray-haired man, despite his respectable appearance and courteous manners, harbors some frightening secret, hiding a motionless hand beneath his teacher’s robe, as if it were a prosthesis. His beautiful wife is the complete opposite of the guest—confident, active, and mercilessly shooting rabbits while hunting.
It feels awkward and insecure to be around someone like that, especially when you yourself resemble a small, quiet little animal, flinching at every loud sound and dreaming of finding peace of mind in a little burrow. Naturally, given the genre, there can be no question of any peace.
It should be noted right away that the film is not flawless, noticeably stalling in its plot development. The story moves slowly, relying solely on hints and the anticipation of a twist in every neutral phrase, glance, or location, without amplifying the suspense with anything obvious. The viewer is cast in the role of an observer of a fragile young woman who finds herself in a new environment that intuitively feels uncomfortable and ominous, though all of this may be caused solely by her own paranoia. Like her, we cannot determine the true source of the threat with complete certainty. At the same time, we shouldn’t discount the heroine’s past mental illness, as she doesn’t trust herself either. What unfolds on screen comes across as a paranoid thriller with brief flashes of a detective story that’s hard to unravel. It is no coincidence that the audience’s initial theories fall flat, for as the story nears its climax, it gains a sharp edge, revealing a hidden layer. Interest intensifies thanks to an adventurous twist that allows us to view the entire situation anew, as many of the characters are revealed in a different light, shifting from apparent positivity to negativity—or vice versa. The crime thriller delivers long-awaited tension and a highly gripping climax. It is, alas, fleeting compared to the groundwork laid over a good two-thirds of the runtime, but it is captivating. A cunning murder plot, manipulation, treacherous collusion, false facades, double-crossing, yesterday’s prey becoming the hunter, ruthless hunters turning into prey, and the “Chekhovian gun” that is bound to fire more than once—these are excellent ingredients for any detective thriller. Moreover, for fans of the studio’s productions, the film is graced by the presence of Peter Cushing, who became one of Hammer’s indispensable figures. The actor, embodying the status of a seasoned star in this role, skillfully portrays the enigmatic director from whom one can expect anything. This character is a mystery, managing to appear both good-natured and sinister in turn. His on-screen wife is played by the equally famous Joan Collins, who returned to her homeland in the early 1970s as an international star, embarking on an unofficial series of action-packed films in her career. The role is straightforward, designed more for the archetype of an attractive femme fatale, which the actress embodied on screen with ease. The rest of the cast also performs well, despite the characters’ similar simplicity—after all, the film focuses more on the adventure-thriller aspect than on complex characterizations. The production did not become a landmark for the studio—one we would not rank among the first in association with “Hammer”—nevertheless, this detective horror film is capable of enhancing an evening or even late-night viewing, provided you remember its title.
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