In a bid for independence, red-haired country girl Meg (Heather Bolton) moves from the New Zealand countryside to the city of Wellington, where she is swayed into buying a snazzy used Jaguar (the car, not the animal) for a song.
Once she drives it home, though, she finds it makes some unusual noises – like the sound of someone being strangled in the back seat. Something is amiss.
On a rainy drive back to the city from her family’s home in the countryside, Meg stops at a railway crossing, and two mysterious strangers hop into the car. At different times during the ride, both disappear.
Naturally, this upsets Meg.
Back at the antique shop where she works, Meg recognises one of the strangers from a picture in an old newspaper. But Mary Carmichael (Perry Piercy) is presumed dead, though her body was never found. Just her car. You guessed, it was a Jaguar . . .
The other stranger, in the meantime, is following her.
Soon, Meg takes to screaming a lot and tries to sell the Jag, but the car doesn’t want to go (must be related to Christine). There’s also the threatening calls and the attempted rape. No wonder the poor dear is having horrible nightmares.
Meg decides to take matters into her own hands.
It’s a nice, eerie, atmospheric, low-budget horror film – with some funny moments – that feels reminiscent of the old BBC horror thrillers that were made for television in the 1970s.
The movie was originally released as Mr Wrong, but outside of the film festival circuit and a few art house showings, the film was rejected by film distributors in New Zealand for not being commercial enough for a wide release.
The film did enjoy a limited release in the US in 1986 under the title Dark of the Night.
Meg
Heather Bolton The Man
David Letch Mary Carmichael
Perry Piercy Val
Suzanne Lee Samantha
Margaret Umbers Wayne
Danny Mulheron Bruce
Gary Stalker Mr Whitehorn
Michael Haigh Clive
Phillip Gordon Meg’s Mother
Kate Harcourt Edith
Jan Fisher Neighbour
Ross Jolly Martin
Don Linke Meg’s Father
John Bullock Petrol Pump Attendant
Jonathan Crayford Clive’s Secretary
Rebecca Gibney
Director
Gaylene Preston
Video
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On a rainy drive back to the city from her family’s home in the countryside, Meg stops at a railway crossing, and two mysterious strangers hop into the car. At different times during the ride, both disappear.
Meg decides to take matters into her own hands.
