Fright (1971)

A pretty young babysitter (Susan George, STRAW DOGS) arrives at the home of a couple (Honor Blackman, George Cole), who are going out to dinner for a special occasion, to watch their 3 year old son (Tara Collinson). But what they don't know is that the woman's homicidal ex-husband (Ian Bannen) has escaped from a mental asylum and is on his way to their house! This entry in the "babysitter alone in the house, maniac on the loose" genre is surprisingly effective for about 85% of the film, the 15% that doesn't work is the film's extenuated ending which comes across as implausible. Released some eight years before WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, perhaps the definitive terrorized babysitter film, the director Peter Collinson takes his time creating the mood and providing a nervous tension to the proceedings before going full force with the terror. Susan George does very well balancing the hysteria with a more restrained fear while Bannen pushes almost going over the top in his psycho. Harry Robertson's underscore is persuasive. With John Gregson, Dennis Waterman and Maurice Kaufman.