ladymidath 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.

Rainey Dawn This one has good and bad points. The climax and ending were the bad points. It's as if they really didn't know how to end it so they threw in the desert and helicopter stuff... followed by the hospital scene.The good to it is that most of it is fairly interesting - all the middle stuff going on is sorta thrilling. The gas station scene is simply weird. I thought for a minute she was trying to break into a wall safe to try to find coins to use the phone, then I realized it was to turn on the gas pump. lol.This would have a really good movie but the ending - when it became daylight in the desert and then the hospital scene was a bad way to end an otherwise decent made for TV thriller.5/10

Michael_Elliott Night Terror (1977) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Fairly suspenseful made-for-TV thriller about a woman (Valerie Harper) who must drive through the night alone so that she can reach her son who is in the hospital. Along the way she sees that a cop has another driver (Richard Romanus) pulled over and when she pulls up to talk to the cop he's shot in the back. Now the woman must race in her car to try and find help while this psycho is stalking and trying to kill her. A movie like this would never sit well in today's times for a couple reasons. For starters, today we'd just pick up our cell phone and call for help but that's a luxury not available here. Another major plot point deals with the woman running out of gas and since there's not any 24-hour stations this here is a big problem and leads to one of the most suspenseful scenes in the film as she stops as a rundown gas station, which is closed and she must try and find a key to the pump. I think what makes this film work so well is that director E.W. Swackhamer really makes you feel as if this woman is alone in the world with no one to help here and she has no where to turn. I think the isolation really leads to some nice atmosphere as the woman frantically searching for help that seemingly never comes. Another strong part is that Romanus is so good as the killer. We never figure out what this guy's problem is but that just adds to the fun and the mystery. He uses a voice box, which we get to hear a couple times in the film and the eerie sound just adds to the drama. I think there are some perfectly built up scenes including the before mentioned gas station and another is when the drivers get caught in a rain storm and briefly take shelter. I won't ruin what happens but it's a pretty well-directed sequence. At just 73-minutes the film doesn't have any filler and instead we're just taken on this drive and for the most part everything works. The one major flaw I had was with Harper's performance, which was just way too over-the-top and jumpy for my liking. I also thought her character was incredibly annoying and some of the dumb things she did will get on your nerves. With that said, with such a short running time it's nearly impossible not to recommend this film. Yes, it's clearly influenced by Steven Spielberg's DUEL but there's enough going for it to make it worth viewing.

mibertolini I agree with all the messages . I saw this TV movie when I was a girl... I still remember the real fear that I felt Nevermore I could see it again in TV or find it in VHS or DVD I known that my English..is so poor... I ' m Argentine...Here in my country ..I can't find this film... Who can help me to find this copy movie?I saw a lot of suspense ..terror film..thrillers... but I ever remember this one... Up to the last moment it supports the suspense... The one who sees it does not know even there how it ends .. it is to say does not have a predictable end