Night of Fear (1972)

A young woman (Briony Behets) is riding her horse in the forest but is left to walk when her horse bolts. She is then stalked and taken prisoner by a crazed maniac (Norman Yemm).

Later, another young woman (the beautiful Carla Hoogeveen who later starred in the popular Aussie TV series The Class of ’74) is driving in the Australian bush when she crashes her car near a ramshackle lodge where the limping redneck psychopath lives with a colony of rats.

The film features no dialogue – just a soundtrack,  sound effects and quite a lot of screaming.

It became Australia’s most controversial film of the ’70s. The censor banned the movie, branding it “indecent” and “obscene”, leading to the film’s producers fighting a long and defiant battle before it could be shown in theatres.

Filmed in Narrabeen and the Kuringai Chase National Park (Sydney) in just 12 days, Night of Fear was originally planned to be the first episode of a 12-part Australian Broadcasting Commission horror series entitled Fright. Hence the short (52-minute) running time.

The Man
Norman Yemm
The Woman
Carla Hoogeveen
Horse Girl
Briony Behets
The Lover
Mike Dorsey
The Truckie
Peter Armstrong
The Client
James Moss
Garage Attendant
Curt Jansen

Director
Tony Bourke

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