A UFO is recorded crashing in a wooded area of Texas near a college town. The UFO was determined to be a rocket sent up by the government. When Sheriff Clint Crawford (John Agar) tries to investigate he is turned away by government agents. They have the whole area cordoned off and aren’t allowing anyone in.
The sheriff is called away to an emergency. Two college kids that had been making out in a lover’s lane area were attacked. Two other college kids find the bodies. The boy is severely injured and the girl is dead. She was torn to pieces and her face was chewed off.
The rocket was part of an experiment about the effects of cosmic rays on animal life. The experiment went haywire and created a genetically mutated creature. The creature is now on a rampage in the woods killing and terrorizing the residents of the area.
Of course no one is allowed to tell anyone about the danger in fear of creating a panic. Instead all the teens in the area are lined up to be snacks.
“Night Fright” was released in 1967 and was directed by James A. Sullivan. The budget for this film was about $18,000. Even for 1967 that’s low.
The mid sixties wasn’t exactly a good time for teen monster movies. Case in point; “Night Fright”. Another teen movie with really bad actors. The pace is slow. It takes about forty-five minutes before the monster shows up. When it does its nighttime so you can’t see much of anything. I’m not even sure what the monster looked like. The best I can describe it is a guy in a gorilla suit with a Klingon forehead. At least that’s what I think it looked like.
Most of the movie is nighttime and the monster is late to the party so the only thing you really get to see are people running through the woods and teenagers being stupid. The film is a good look at what teenagers did in the sixties. Pretty much nothing.
John Agar is the only one in the movie with any real acting chops. Although not the best actor he is the best on in this movie. Carol Gilley, who plays Agar’s girlfriend Joan, only had three credits to her name. Besides “Night Fright” she was in “The Yesterday Machine” and “Zontar, The Thing From Venus”. All three are campy “B” movies. Bill Thurman, who plays Deputy Ben Whitfield, is probably the only other actor in the film that can actually act. He actually might even have been better than Agar in this film but his part is a lot smaller.
Besides being boring and the bad acting the film was basically non-descript. There really isn’t anything here to latch on to and say, Oh. Unfortunately I can’t even say that it’s so bad it’s good. Even the camp is boring.
If you love John Agar, Bill Thurman or are an insomniac are the only reasons I could come up with to really want this movie.