Night of the Prowler (1962)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

the audience applauded

Such a frustrating disappointment

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

NIGHT OF THE PROWLER is another cheap thriller from the Butcher's studio and another effort from director Francis Searle who seemed to churn out one picture after another during the period. This one's a little rough around the edges, marred by some weak writing and even weaker performances, although at just an hour in length it's a watchable enough picture.The action is set in and around an engineering firm in which the directors are being mercilessly bumped off one by one by a mysterious hat-wearing figure. Old-time copper John Horsley suspects an ex-con with a grievance but the plot thickens when bizarre incidents begin to occur to the remaining directors. I have to say that I found this story quite predictable as I managed to work out the end about twenty minutes in, but it remains watchable in spite of this.The title is a bit of a misnomer as it makes this film sound like a proto slasher when it isn't. There isn't really much in the way of prowling around at all, certainly no more so than in other thrillers from the era. Patrick Holt is good value as the rather unlikeable lead, juggling his ex-wife and new girlfriend along with his business. There's some early car racing stuff which is quite interesting although the lack of a real budget is always apparent. Marianne Stone has her usual cameo. Anne Clune as Holt's new girlfriend threatens to derail events with an appalling performance but thankfully she doesn't have too much screen time.

The director of a successful engineering firm, Trevor Watson, is shot dead at his office. His business partners, Robert and Marie Langton (Patrick Holt and Colette Wild) and Paul Conrad (Bill Nagy) fear for their lives because a former employee called Don Lacey has recently been released from Parkhurst prison. Lacey stole five grand from the firm and it was the evidence they gave at the trial that sent him there. The company has landed a lucrative contract to design a new mark three racing car and the three partners receive threatening letters and parcels signed with Lacey's initials. But, after successive murder attempts are made against them, Detective Inspector Cameron (John Horsley), is unconvinced that he is hunting down a disgruntled employee. Instead he suspects that one of the partners has hatched an elaborate plan to kill his or her colleagues in order to take over the firm completely, but which one? Don't be fooled by the title because the movie is nowhere near as exciting. It is a mediocre b-pic crime drama from quota-quickie specialists Butcher's Film Distributors. It is not the storyline nor the setting that is the problem here although my indispensable film encyclopedia, which is held together with string is scathing of the "apparently cut throat world of the motor trade." It goes on to describe the film as a "laughably bad low budget crime movie" and advises fans of this kind of thing to set their videos accordingly.One of the joys of watching the best British second features was their realistic working class settings featuring ordinary, everyday people getting drawn into deadly situations that were way beyond their control and having to fight their way out of it. Here we have what could have been a much darker and suspenseful story line, but everything is sadly ruined because everything about this production has a rushed appearance. The plot is implausible thanks to Paul Erickson's screenplay with its twists and turns failing to run neatly into a logical whole leaving you thinking: "That's absurd!" If more time and care had been put into it we would have had a perfectly passable thriller. The flat direction is by b-pic journeyman Francis Searle who only got to make one 'A' feature in his entire life, Girl In A Million, before being confined to making quota-quickies and comedy shorts for the remainder of his career. Even the best efforts of the cast including Patrick Holt - here atypically cast as a villain -Colette Wild and the reliable John Horsley struggle to lift this one above average. For me, the best part of the film is the opening nightclub sequence with singing waiter Benny Lee who gets to sing an R&R number called "Let's Kick It Around" in between serving his customers.

Reasonable Butchers thriller.The title is misleading.There is a night and there is a prowler but not together and not at the same time. Although it has a lot of predictable moments there is nonetheless one jaw dropping moment in the bedroom of a hotel run by the ubiquitous Marriane Stone. Bodies keep dropping like flies and enough red herrings swim around to fill the North Sea. There are a lot of clichés to be found.A lot of people phone up with information only to be told they can't give it over the phone. Anyway it passes a reasonable hour or so. Not much more that you can say about it.Difficult to find ten lines to write about it.

Nothing great here but by no means is it a waste of time. A group of directors of a small auto producing company begin to turn up dead. The prime suspect is an ex-employee who had been sent up the river for stealing company funds. The man got out of prison the day of the first murder. The police are on the trail but really have no evidence it is the just released con. A couple more close calls have all the bosses on edge when the con is found in a less than alive state. If it was not this man, then who the hell is trying to kill everyone? A couple more red herrings and a twist or two are thrown at the viewer before the bad guy is grabbed up. It seems the owner was killing of the people so he could keep the profits. Nasty git!