The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Its refusal to behave is the point.”
The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.
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Fear in the Night
Mystery · Thriller · Horror · 1972
It took Peggy Heller a long time to recover from the trauma of a brutal physical assault, suffered in her youth. When she married Robert, he provided her with the love and reassurance she craved for and the two settled down in a pretty house in the grounds of the public school where Robert was a master. But the headmaster of the school is not what he seems and Peggy is convinced he means to harm her - is her fear a figment of her tortured imagination or are there forces at work that intend to manipulate her anxieties with fatal consequences?
Movie details
Fear in the Night
1972 Mystery · Thriller · Horror 1h 34m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
5.9 / 10
2.5K votes
TMDB
5.8 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
It took Peggy Heller a long time to recover from the trauma of a brutal physical assault, suffered in her youth. When she married Robert, he provided her with the love and reassurance she craved for and the two settled down in a pretty house in the grounds of the public school where Robert was a master. But the headmaster of the school is not what he seems and Peggy is convinced he means to harm her - is her fear a figment of her tortured imagination or are there forces at work that intend to manipulate her anxieties with fatal consequences?
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Fear in the Night?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Chasing Sleep
Horror · 2001
A college professor wakes up to find his wife has not returned home, then struggles to understand her disappearance.
Night Watch
Mystery · 1973
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
Burnt Offerings
Horror · 1976
A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.
The Jester
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A malevolent being known as The Jester terrorizes the inhabitants of a small town on Halloween night, including two estranged sisters who must come together to find a way to defeat this evil entity.
The Night Walker
Thriller · 1964
A woman is haunted by recurring nightmares, which seem to be instigated by her late husband who supposedly was killed in a fire.
The Invitation
Thriller · 2016
Will and his new girlfriend Kira are invited to a dinner with old friends at the house of Will’s ex Eden and her new partner David. Although the evening appears to be relaxed, Will soon gets a creeping suspicion that their charming host David is up to something.
The Cellar
Horror · 2022
When Keira Woods' daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of their new house in the country, she soon discovers there is an ancient and powerful entity controlling their home that she will have to face or risk losing her family's souls forever.
The Invisible
Fantasy · 2007
After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able help him is his attacker.
Nightmare
Thriller · 1964
A young woman is plagued by nightmares of her asylum-patient mother. Upon returning to her family home, the nightmares become real when she sees a strange woman pacing the halls.
The Mean Season
Mystery · 1985
A routine investigation of a shocking murder takes a bizarre twist when the killer contacts the reporter and appoints him his personal spokesman. As the killer's calls and clues increase, the reporter is lured into a deadly trap.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jimmy Sangster
Written by
Jimmy Sangster · Michael Syson
Joan Collins
Molly Carmichael
Peter Cushing
Michael Carmichael
Judy Geeson
Peggy Heller
Ralph Bates
Robert Heller
James Cossins
The Doctor
Gillian Lind
Mrs. Beamish
Brian Grellis
2nd Policeman
Court is in session
Put Fear in the Night on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Prestige Tourist
“Oddness is not depth.”
A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.