Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Night Terror (1977)

Let’s Ride #19!

Valerie Harper takes a terrifying trip across the deserts of Arizona in 1977’s Night Terror. The film, which is also known as Night Drive, is a Made-For-TV movie starring Harper as Carol Turner and Richard Romanus as a mute killer that uses a “talk box” or electrolarynx. Released on February 7, 1977, the film is a surprisingly engaging suspense thriller directed by E.W. Swackhamer.

In the film, Harper, known primarily as a comedic actress (and a good one at that), portrays a hapless housewife trekking home to see her ill son. She witnesses the violent death of a police officer by Romanus’ character. Romanus, who had a very long film and television career, then pursues Harper in a series events and situations where Harper’s character has to prove that she isn’t as helpless as the viewers are first led to believe. This makes for an interesting film, as Harper matches wits with Romanus and ultimately becomes confident in defending herself.

This could have been just another cat-and-mouse thriller but, instead, director E.W. Swackhamer and writers Carl Gabler and Richard DeNeut give Harper a meaty role to really develop and grow Carol across the length of the film. With Swackhamer at the helm and two veteran actors like Harper and Romanus taking the lead, this film really punches above its weight-class as a Made-For-TV movie.

I definitely recommend this film. It’s engaging, loaded with character development, and graced with a brilliant cast and director. I normally go a bit easy on Made-For-TV films because they are often hindered by budget concerns, but Night Terror is a lean, mean thrilling machine that could go toe-to-toe with some of the best big screen thrillers out there.

Thanks for checking out my review!