Here’s the plan for Friday nights: a film that’s a bit odd, a bit wrong, and costs nothing to watch. Tonight it’s Fright (1971), a tense babysitter thriller with Susan George, on ordinary telly. Channel premiere on Talking Pictures.
Tonight on Talking Pictures
Talking Pictures TV, Freeview 82, tonight (Friday 16 October). Caroline Munro opens the Cellar Club at 9pm and Fright starts at 9:05pm.
What it’s about
Amanda (Susan George) is a college student who takes a babysitting job for a couple going out for the evening. The mother’s ex-husband has other ideas. That’s all you need going in.
Why it’s worth staying in for
Peter Collinson (The Italian Job) directs a tight, underrated home-invasion thriller that a lot of horror fans say paved the way for Halloween and Scream. Susan George is already wound tight before anything happens, and the cast is stacked for a 1971 British thriller: Honor Blackman, Ian Bannen, John Gregson, George Cole, and Dennis Waterman (years before Minder). Tudor Gates wrote it; the producers had just made The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil for Hammer.
It’s a proper Cellar Club pick: short, mean, and free tonight.
Stay up for: The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
Straight after the Cellar Club outro, at about 10:55pm, Talking Pictures has Jimmy Sangster’s tongue-in-cheek Hammer take on Frankenstein, with Ralph Bates as a colder, younger Baron. Scruffier than Fright, and a fair late-night follow-on if you’re still awake.
Where to watch free
– Fright: tonight on Talking Pictures TV at 9:05pm. – The Horror of Frankenstein: tonight on Talking Pictures after the Cellar Club outro.
Content note
Home invasion, violence against a young woman, and threats involving children in the house (they are not the focus, but they are present).
Over to you
I haven’t seen it yet. I’m watching tonight and will add thoughts in the comments afterwards. If you’ve already seen Fright, what got under your skin? And if you’re watching because of this post, come back and tell me how it went.
Odd, a bit wrong, very watchable, nothing to pay. See you next Friday.
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