Good movie but grossly overrated

A Disappointing Continuation

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Night Drive is one of my favourite movies. For a start, I find Valerie Harper to be a really great actress who brings a real vibe to whatever role she is in. Richard Romanus plays the killer who is unable to speak with an electric device, is creepy and very unsettling as he stalk Harper after she sees him kill a highway patrol officer.There is added stress as her son sick in hospital and she is trying to drive home to see him. This and being chased by a crazed killer just ramps it all up to eleven. The thing I really enjoy though is watching Harper become more and more resourceful as she is chased across the desert with no help. She is terrified but keeps her head enough to be able to elude the killer. The ending of the movie made me chuckle as her husband treats her like a child even though she has managed to not only survive, but incapacitate a dangerous man. This movie would also pass the Bechdel test which is nice considering the time the film was made in, 1977 when there not many brave, resourceful female characters.All in all, a strong, tense movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat and have you cheering for heroine.

I recently discovered this movie on YouTube, while trying to find a different movie. I had never heard of or seen this movie before, but I figured "what the heck..." I was pleasantly surprised to find myself sucked into it and 80 minutes later I realized I'd like to have a copy of this movie for future enjoyment. Yes, I'll agree that it borrows a lot from the movie "Duel" but it mixes it up just enough to were people aren't screaming "RIP-OFF" The movie is a bit short though, it would have been nice to have more of a back-story for the killer, we see him loading an army crate into a car, was he a Korean or Vietnam Veteran? Is that how he lost his voice? Was he an assassin or something? Did he live or die at the end? These unanswered questions are one of the things that prevented me from giving this movie a perfect score, the other reason was that there were too many coincidences. Carol just happens to run out of gas, the first time, only feet from a gas station, sure the station is closed but you don't see her having to push the car 5 miles up a hill. The second time she runs out gas it's only feet from a house, (the only one for miles I might add) sure there's no phone at this house, but at least there's people. Yeah, they're not much help but at least there's someone to, at least, verify that she was there. What happened to the Native-American couple before the killer steals their truck? Did he kill them? Despite all these unanswered questions, I found this movie to be quite engrossing and have been going back to YouTube to watch some of the more suspenseful scenes. If you're a fan of these old suspense movies then you should give this one a try, you can find it on YouTube under its original title "Night Terror"

An dated, cheesy but atmospheric and somewhat suspenseful 1977 made for television thriller that has a great concept going for it but the way it was delivered was just not thrilling enough. The acting wasn't the best but the camera is definitely in love with Valerie Harper who plays Carol Turner a mother of two who's family is moving to Denver, Colorado from California and the kids fly there early with grandma as the father works late and she finishes packing and stays at an hotel waiting for her husband to finish work. She gets a phone call late at night saying that her son is in the hospital and in a frantic rush she decides to drive there herself a 16 hour drive after she can't reach her husband and her flight is snow bound. She soon runs out of gas and sees a cop that pulled someone over she slows down to ask for help and the man who was pulled over pulls out a gun and shoots the policeman and she speeds in terror and the getaway for survival begins. Compared to television movies of today which mostly suck this one is halfway acceptable and decent but goes in the typical television path which is playing it safe but Hollywood could make a good remake out of it hell they remade the television movie of 1973 Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark why not this as well. 5.6 out of 10

Night Terror is a simple thriller that tells the story of a woman driving across country by herself. The drive turns into what might be classed as a REALLY bad day, and the film effectively charts her run of bad luck which reaches it's most frightening when a psychopathic creep starts to follow her.I used the term "simple" not as a criticism. The film achieves what it sets out to do, charting a frightening journey for a lone traveller out in the middle of nowhere. Valerie Harper is superb as the central character Carol, and for a lot of the running time she carries the whole movie single handedly. What impressed me about the film was that all the experiences are portrayed convincingly. Carol initially just runs low on gas, but from this, she stumbles from one stressful situation to another, each worse than the last, yet she handles each challenge with realistic ingenuity. I really liked her resourcefulness as more and more danger is thrown at her.The film starts quite slowly as Carol leaves her family for a long drive, but it gets going soon enough and the middle third is the best as night falls and the real drama of Carol's ordeal is played out. Night Terror is actually a fitting title, as the movie lives up to it in this middle section. The story ends satisfyingly, although without all the loose ends tied up, but I really enjoyed it.Only available on rental VHS from years ago, it's very unlikely that many people will see this now, which is a shame. I'm glad I did, as it's another little gem of 70's made-for-TV-movie fun.