Night Fright

Director - James A. Sullivan (Fair Play)
Starring - John Agar (The Vampire Hunters Club, The Naked Monster), Carol Gilley (Zontar: The Thing from Venus), and Ralph Baker Jr.
Release Date - 1967
Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (15 Horror Movie Collection Vol. 1)

Rating (out of 5):

 
     There is a certain charm that films made in the 50s and 60s have that movies now can no longer fabricate.  Regardless of how bad the movies are they still entertain the viewer. The most widely watched of these films are the ones that have fell in to public domain only to be picked up by various horror hosts and aired on late night television. These films are generally bad but added to the time of night and the quirky antics of the horror host makes for an overall enjoyable experience.  Sadly, growing up where I did I was unable to see any of these films in that way.  Most of the public domain films I saw growing up were late at night but ran on cable with no horror hosts and most of the film was cut out for commercials and infomercials.  In middle school I came across a few Elvira VHS tapes at the local rental store and loved her ever since.  This also helped inspire a small public domain collection in my own movie collection.  Whenever I come across a cheap box set of public domain films I grab it regardless if I have the films on DVD already or not. 
     The film follows a small community that has been under siege as a string of grisly murders has taken place.  The townsfolk is in a panic.  The police block of certain parts of the woods and place a ban preventing people from visiting those areas.  A small group of youths are looking to party 60s beach party style and go out into the woods anyway.  The group start to die one by one before it is revealed that NASA has been conducting experiments with radiation which creates a giant beast that can not be stopped by bullets.  The remaining members of the group teams up with the police to fight the beast.
     When you think about 50s and 60s horror films you often think about how campy and cheesy most of them are and for the most part that helps most of them out. Sadly, this one skips on that and goes straight from camp to being just bad.  The film had a lot of problems right from the start.  The editing is horrible and this is the first time that I have seen bad editing actually ruin a film.  Some scenes abruptly end while characters are still talking while others randomly jump from image to image.  I don't see how someone could release a film that has a problem like this one had.  I am also a little pissed that the film did not show the creature more clearly.  I understand that at first you do not want to reveal the beast to keep the audience watching but this film never did show a clear picture of the beast.  The acting in this is actually very well done and that made the film go down a little easier but the acting could not save this incredibly unoriginal story.  This story could be found in abundance during the 50s and 60s just like the same slasher formula was used in almost every slasher flick during the 80s.  There is nothing original here nor entertaining.  This film was clearly made to make a few dollars and cash in on the huge drive-in scene of the time.  Finally, the film offers us nothing in the special effects and on screen department.  We get no real on screen deaths, no blood and gore, and the split second you can see the beast it looks like utter shit.  Overall, this film is a waste of time and money.  Avoid it like your in-law's meatloaf!