This could have been much better had the pretty young babysitter Susan George not screamed every time that she looked out the door. Yes, on occasion she does have a genuine reason to scream, but every now and then, if for no other reason than the fact that her character is just annoying. She has really no reason to scream half the time and after a while that just becomes annoying. She's a first-time babysitter for Honor Blackman and George Cole, with Blackman seemingly jealous over the pretty young thing even though her husband barely looks at Ms. George. A bunch of scary incidents (including the appearance of a bloodied man at the door) do give George real reason to panic, but often, it's much ado about nothing.

This thriller with elements of horror has a heroine that is so vapid and ridiculously dumb is that at times you wish she'd just lose her voice, especially when she pants during an awkward sex scene that comes out of nowhere. You can't tell if this is her first time or if she feels she's being raped so that makes it all the even more awkward. She's certainly one of the worst babysitters ever, and after a while, the performance just becomes grating and the film irritating. The art direction is good as is the photography but rather than fright, I just felt like the title should be called "Irritation". After a while, the sound of her voice did just that. Indeed if you take a shot every time she screeches, screams or moans, you will end up with alcohol poisoning.

FRIGHT is an early example of the slasher movie, neatly predating BLACK Christmas by two years, and featuring a lone babysitter menaced by a psychopath a good while before WHEN A STRANGER CALLS and HALLOWEEN came along. In fact the film it most reminded me of is TALES FROM THE CRYPT, specifically the segment where Joan Collins is menaced by a psycho Santa.

It's a good, if not great little horror movie that takes no time in actually getting on with the storytelling. From the outset, in which sexy Susan George is left to fend for herself in a spooky old house, the chills pile up; the door handles rattle, there are distorted faces at the window and lurkers on the driveway outside. For a horror fan, the story of an escaped lunatic is very familiar, but writer Tudor Gates brings the horror back into the family circle and as the film goes on it moves away from a strict slasher flick and becomes more of a tragedy.

It's fair to say that Ian Bannen makes for a complex villain. On the one hand, he's as disturbingly frightening as you could wish for in a scare film, but on the other he's genuinely disturbed and in need of psychiatric attention. Much of the suspense comes from the complex psychological games that victim George plays with him as the story goes on. George, dressed in a torn-open mini dress for most of the running time, looks gorgeous and plays a less irritating character than the one in STRAW DOGS (although there's still a fair bit of shrieking and crying).

The supporting cast is packed with familiar faces from British TV (such as George Cole and Dennis Waterman, teaming up long before MINDER),including an amusing bit-part for an extremely young Roger Lloyd Pack as a copper. Honor Blackman appears in one of her more memorable parts - and gets to show a bit of spirit - as the put-upon wife, and Peter Collinson's direction adds an extra sheen of quality to the proceedings. I wouldn't call FRIGHT a classic, as it's too basic and familiar for that, but it's a nice example of what the slasher film can achieve when it doesn't rely on gore for effect.

British thriller has comely college student Susan George (studying child welfare and psychology!) babysitting for Honor Blackman's little boy, unaware that Blackman's estranged husband--a homicidal maniac--has just escaped from the institution and is lurking about in the darkness. Early precursor to the killer-in-the-house/terrorizing-the-babysitter genre is well-enough made and acted, despite an extremely thin script. There are no twists to the plot (it's all routine),though the overwrought finale makes an attempt to surprise us. George, who always looks on the verge of crying, suffers and screams with her blouse open and her brassiere showing. It's that kind of picture... *1/2 from ****