The Night Digger (1971)

‘A tale of the strange and perverse.’

The Night Digger is a 1971 British psychological horror film scripted by Roald Dahl (The Witches; Tales of the Unexpected) and set to an edgy Bernard Herrmann (Psycho; Twisted Nerve; Dressed to Kill) score. Psychosexual tensions, menacing ambiance and murders most foul are unearthed. The film was also released as The Road Builder.

Based on the novel Nest in a Fallen Tree by Joy Cowley, it was adapted by Dahl and starred his wife Patricia Neal (The Day the Earth Stood Still), plus Pamela Brown (Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Nicholas Clay (The Damned; Terror of Frankenstein; Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense), Jean Anderson (Late Night Horror – 1968 TV series), Graham Crowden (The Company of Wolves), Yootha Joyce (Die! Die! My Darling!; Burke & Hare; Frankenstein: The True Story), Peter Sallis (Taste the Blood of Dracula; Full Circle; The Curse of the Were-Rabbit), Brigit Forsyth (Doctor Who: The Evil of Daleks), Sebastian Breaks (Out of the Unknown), Diana Patrick and Jenny McCracken.

Plot:

Maura Prince (Patricia Neal) leads a lonely life in a dilapidated country mansion, sensing the world is passing her by as she cares for the demanding, invalid mother (Pamela Brown) who adopted her years ago. Then a much younger stranger (Nicholas Clay) takes up residence as a handyman. He’s handsome, helpful. Wary Maura grows to love him… but it’s all too good to be true.

Reviews:

“Horror fans looking for something beyond gory thrills will find 1971’s The Night Digger a true surprise. In a year that saw the horror genre reaching deeper into the limits of formerly forbidden subject material, this show gives us a strong drama with excellent acting and a convincing storyline.” Alastair Reid, DVD Savant

“Even if richly atmospheric and finely acted, all the characters are unsympathetic and the undeveloped story is so unpleasant without an upside that I can’t see an audience for it. The pic hits rock bottom when it depicts the implausible romance between the psychopathic serial killer and the unhappy sexually frustrated spinster…” Dennis Schwartz, Ozus’ World Movie Reviews

“The problem is that director Alistair Reid doesn’t quite find a way of blending the mad killer business with the rural petty snobbery, failing to make much of the horrific or even the erotic potential of the storyline.” Kim Newman, Ten Years of Terror (FAB Press, 2001)