Young babysitter Amanda arrives at the Lloyd residence to spend the evening looking after their young son. Soon after the Lloyds leave, a series of frightening occurrences in the gloomy old house have Amanda's nerves on edge. The real terror begins, however, when the child's biological father appears after recently escaping from a nearby mental institution.
Acting
Susan George's raw panic — she makes screaming an art form.
Direction
Collinson squeezing dread from every creaky floorboard.
Sound
That child's crying — weaponized to shred your nerves.
Director
Peter Collinson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released the same year as 'Straw Dogs,' this cemented Susan George as the patron saint of violated British femininity — a typecasting she spent decades escaping.
The 'escaped mental patient' trope here predates 'Halloween' by seven years, yet Michael Myers borrowed everything except this film's bleak class commentary.
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