''Assault'' (also known as ''The Creepers'', U.S. title: ''In the Devil's Garden'') is a 1971 British

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by Sidney Hayers and starring Suzy Kendall,

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English actor. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Iago in ''Othello'' (1965). His first leading television role came in 1971 in '' Casanova''.

Freddie Jones Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for ...

, and

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress and singer. She made her motion picture debut in the 1969 drama film '' The Smashing Bird I Used to Know'' and later appeared in films ''Assault'' (1971), '' Countess Dracula'' (1971) a ...

. The screenplay was by John Kruse based on the 1962 novel ''The Ravine'' by Phyllis Bretty Young (as Kendal Young) and tells about a police attempt to track down a dangerous rapist/killer on the loose.

Plot

Schoolgirl Tessa Hurst is raped on her way home from school. She is so traumatised she is unable to speak, despite the efforts of Dr Lomax. Some weeks later, another girl, Susan, is raped and killed. Art teacher Julie West stumbles upon Susan's corpse when she is with some other pupils and glimpses the killer, who has glowing eyes and demonic appearance. Julie decides in conjunction with a reporter to offer herself up as bait for the killer. Sgt Milton is assigned to be Julie's bodyguard. Possible suspects include Leslie Sanford, husband of the owner of the school, Lomax, and Bartell, head of the hospital where Lomax works. The killer is revealed and is electrocuted.

Cast

* Suzy Kendall as Julie West *

as Det. Chief Supt. Velyan *

as Reporter * James Laurenson as Dr Greg Lomax *

as Tessa Hurst * Tony Beckley as Leslie Sanford * Anthony Ainley as Mr. Bartell *

Dilys Hamlett Dilys Hamlett (31 March 1928 in South Tidworth, Hampshire – 7 November 2002 in Cupar, Fife) was a British actress. Early life Dilys Hamlett was born on 31 March 1928 in South Tidworth, Hampshire (now in Wiltshire), and developed an early int ...

as Mrs. Sanford *

James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland (born 1947), known professionally as James Cosmo, is a Scottish actor. Known for his character work, he has played supporting roles in films such as '' Highlander'' (1986), ''Braveheart'' (1995), '' Trainspotting' ...

as Det. Sgt. Beale * Patrick Jordan as Sgt. Milton * Allan Cuthbertson as coroner * Anabel Littledale as Susan Miller * Tom Chatto as police doctor * Kit Taylor as doctor * Jan Butlin as day receptionist * William Hoyland as chemist in hospital * John Swindells as desk sergeant * Jill Carey as night receptionist * David Essex as young man in chemist shop * Valerie Shute as girl in chemist shop * John Stone as fire chief * Siobhan Quinlan as Jenny Greenaway *

Marianne Stone Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone app ...

as matron * Janet Lynn as girl in library

Production

Peter Rodgers produced the '' Carry On'' series for the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

and made an arrangement to produce other films for them "thrillers and romantic subjects". Filming started 22 June 1970 at Pinewood Studios. It was the first major film for James Laurenson and Lesley Anne Down.

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "An unremarkable throwback to those Fifties thrillers whose elements have subsequently been scattered through any number of television dramas, with just a little more gloss and amateur psychologising than before. The film makes few demands on its actors, though Frank Finlay plays his familiar dour policeman with precision; and the tracking down of the murderer is more a matter of simple mathematics than of any developed logic in either plot or characters. ... The film's only striking effect is its pummelling method of keeping the psychopath's identity a secret in the early scenes of the rape by casting the camera – and the spectator – in his role." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called it "a straightforward British thriller whose only concession to modernity is nice colour and a bit more bra-tearing than was once permissible. Otherwise, it remains firmly rooted in the B picture traditions of the fifties." ''

The Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'' said "barring a bit of bra groping it's the kind of film they were making years ago." '' Variety'' called it an "unpretentious action offering ... which, with the right companion film, should make a successful double-bill ... the type of film which used to fulfil a useful function in earlier screen days and can well do nowadays." ''The

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

Guide to Films'' gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Apart from its rather leery approach to the subject matter, this is a resolutely old-fashioned whodunnit, complete with a gallery of not-so-likely suspects, a series of mini-skirted would-be victims and a baffled cop played by Frank Finlay."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Old-fashioned police mystery with new-fangled shock treatment. Routine excitements." The ''

Ottawa Journal The ''Ottawa Journal'' was a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from 1885 to 1980. It was founded in 1885 by A. Woodburn as the ''Ottawa Evening Journal''. Its first editor was John Wesley Dafoe who came from the ...

'' claimed "you will enjoy it for its skilled horror suspense, or you will reject it for its brutal motivation."

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

References

External links