Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Sudden Terror Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 12, 2019

John Hough's "Sudden Terror" a.k.a. "Eyewitness" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailers for the film; new video interview with actor Mark Lester; audio commentary by director John Hough and uncredited writer/executive producer Bryan Forber; and audio commentary by critics Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

John Hough’s directorial debut, Sudden Terror, is set in a place that is never identified. It is some exotic island with a heavy military presence and plenty of Englishmen who are calling it home. A former colony? Maybe. But in the grand scheme of things, it actually does not matter.

In the midst of a big parade, 11-year-old Ziggy (Mark Lester) becomes intrigued by a man in a police uniform who abruptly abandons his post and enters an old building. After he quietly follows him inside, Ziggy then accidentally witnesses how the man kills a visiting African dignitary with a long-range rifle, and while trying to exit the building overwhelmed by fear for his life attracts his attention. The man with the rifle is then joined by another man (Peter Bowles) in a police uniform, and together they go after Ziggy.

In the ensuing chaos, Ziggy finds a way to confuse the ‘policemen’ and send them in the wrong direction, and shortly after reunites with his angry older sister, Pippa (Susan George), and her new friend, Tom (Tony Bonner). However, when he attempts to explain that he has evaded a pair of fake policemen because he has witnessed the assassination of the prominent African visitor that the failed parade was organized for, Pippa threatens to punish him for trying to impress with yet another outrageous lie. While trying to remain fair, Tom, who does not know that the boy has a long history of manufacturing exotic stories and pulling off pranks, agrees to hear a quick description of his adventure.

The three eventually reach an old mansion by the sea, where Grandpa (Lionel Jeffries) and his trusted housekeeper (Betty Marsden) are awaiting them for dinner. Ziggy gets a second chance to tell his story, but much to his disappointment, once again fails to convince that he has become a target and the two ‘policemen’ that were chasing him most likely want him dead. A few hours later, however, all hell breaks loose.

Sudden Terror reminds of another film that emerged in 1970, Figures in a Landscape, which was directed by Joseph Losey. In it, a pair of fugitives are running for their lives in an unnamed country where the local army has been mobilized to get them, but the nature of the chase remains quite ambiguous because the focus of attention is entirely on its maddening atmosphere. Indeed, the film completely ignores the identities of the fugitives, the events behind the initiation of their escape, and the logic of their plan to get to the ‘other side’ where freedom awaits them. This allows the film to pull its audience right in the middle of the chase and experience the same rush that the fugitives do. Hough’s film attempts to do the same, but only after Ziggy, Pippa, Tom, and Grandpa finally realize that for once the little boy is actually telling the truth, but there isn’t enough time to build the same heavy atmosphere that defines Losey’s film. Also, Hough’s film actually does spend a good deal of time on the evolving relationships between its characters and even allows quite a bit of light humor to strengthen them. So, the concept behind the film is pretty similar, but the shift where the rush becomes the narrative occurs only after the action gets going in the second half.

Hough’s inexperience behind the camera easily shows, and this will likely be the main reason why plenty of viewers will find the film too dated. However, it is not its appearance that makes it look so; rather, it is the mismanagement of numerous sequences where Hough leaves histrionic behavior to flourish in random ways that end up eroding the credibility of crucial situations. Simply put, the right type of drama that is supposed to shape up the film’s identity never materializes.

Vaughn and Jeffries impress the most, though the ways in which they embrace their characters could not be any more different.

The soundtrack features music from cult progressive/psychedelic rock bands Van der Graaf Generator and Fairfield Parlour.

Sudden Terror Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sudden Terror arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K remaster. It is quite good and provides the film with a very solid organic appearance that makes it easy to enjoy it. However, there is room for some cosmetic improvements. For examples, there are a few sequences that convey very light momentary color fading, plus elsewhere trained eyes will spot some random density fluctuations that are also a byproduct of aging, but these are the type of minor imperfections that are extremely easy to ignore. The key qualities of the remaster are solid, and you don't have to project to appreciate them. Depth, for instance, is consistently very pleasing, and even fluidity looks good. The color grading job is also solid. There are very nice and healthy primaries as well as wide ranges of equally healthy nuances. A few specks and tiny scratches pop up, but there are no distracting cuts, damage marks, or other serious imperfections to report. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Sudden Terror Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

On my system the lossless track sounded great. It has nice and solid depth and consistently pleasing clarity, plus its dynamic is very good. The the mid/high registers are also completely free of distortions and other similar anomalies that typically pop up on older films, which tells me that the audio was cleaned up when the remaster was prepared.

Sudden Terror Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Mark Lester - in this new video interview, actor Mark Lester remembers how he was cast to play Ziggy in Sudden Terror and what it was like to be around and work with various cast members. There are some particularly good comments about Lionel Jeffries and his sense of humor. In English, not subtitled English. (6 min, 1080p).

• Commentary One - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger. If you purchase many of Kino Lorber's releases then you probably already know the type of commentaries these two gentlemen deliver -- they always have plenty of interesting information to share about the era in which the film that they are commenting on was made, its production history and values, its tone and atmosphere, and the careers of the people that made it. I enjoy their work a lot, and this new commentary for Sudden Terror was again a winner. Well done.

• Commentary Two - this audio commentary was recorded by director John Hough and uncredited writer/executive producer Bryan Forber. There is a lot of technical information here about the production history of the film, the exact locations that were chosen for various sequences, the editing of the film, the atmosphere and drama of the main story, etc.

• Trailer One - an original U.S. trailer for the film that uses the Sudden Terror title. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 480/60i).

• Trailer Two - an original UK trailer for the film that uses the Eye Witness title. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 480/60i).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for the following releases from Kino Lorber's catalog:
  
  1. And Soon the Darkness
  2. The Naked Face
  3. Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art with the film's UK title, Eyewitness.

Sudden Terror Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My suspicion that John Hough was much more comfortable shooting action footage than directing his cast was confirmed in the new interview that Mark Lester recorded for this release. However, I was not surprised that it was so because there is quite a bit of material where Hough allows histrionic behavior to flourish in pretty random ways. This is the main weakness of Sudden Terror, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit because it has a nice period atmosphere and the action from the second half is as good as advertised. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a good recent 4K remaster and also features two very solid audio commentaries. RECOMMENDED.