Bond of Fear (1956) User Reviews

Well-made British thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 30 August 2016]

BOND OF FEAR is one of those low key, low budget British thrillers that I love so much. It feels very much like a British reworking of the US thriller THE HITCH-HIKER albeit made on a much smaller scale and with a typically British down-to-earth twist. The main characters are an ordinary family (husband, wife, two kids, one of each gender) who embark on a caravan holiday to France by way of Dover, little realising that a murderer is hiding out in their caravan.

It's a simple tale, well told by director Henry Cass (a steadfast B-picture director whose highlight other than this is probably the full-blooded Hammer horror copy BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE). The script is by the ubiquitous John Gilling with support from comedy writer Norman Hudis. The tale brings to life the English countryside and the journey structure of the narrative means that the viewer never gets bored during the brief running time.

Dermot Walsh is excellently cast as the resourceful father caught up in a nightmare world, but the real stand out is John Colicos, displaying some of the edgy talent that would later make him a popular figure in American TV. Even the child actors give good performances here. Okay, so the tale is occasionally predictable, particularly at the climax, but it's also tense and oddly gripping, which is why I give it the thumbs up.

No way would I have ever recognized John Colicos

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 1 August 2019]

It wasn't until the end of "Bond of Fear" that I remembered John Colicos was listed in the cast and realized who he was. Wow.

Dermot Walsh plays a dad taking his family on a trip in a caravan (trailer) when a wanted criminal, Dewar (Colicos) takes over the trip, keeping the son in the caravan with him, gun in tow, and ordering Walsh not to turn him in.

This I think was one of those "quota" films done in Britain, and I found it absorbing and well acted. The little boy was a riot. He tells Dewar, "I said a prayer for you." Dewar asks, what did you pray for? The boy says, "I won't tell you. It's horrible."

Desperate criminal

[jimjamjonny39 · 7/10 · 14 January 2023]

Well done.

A young family named Sewell are planning to take a holiday abroad and with all the mod-cons of the day i.e a caravan they can go anywhere and have decided to travel abroad.

They are making their way to Dover from Birmingham, (no motorways or sat nav, just simple map directions.) Unfortunately, they find some criminal in their caravan, named Dewar.

This man is a bad piece of work and he's just killed a night watchman so he's desperate to get away from the police who want to speak to him. The police are making stop and search road checks to find him. He has found a way of avoiding them.

Hook up the caravan and get more than you bargain for

[philipjetsimpson · 8/10 · 29 February 2004]

I remember seeing this film on TV when I was a kid and was totally absorbed. I still like this type of old British movie. I think it's the good old-fashioned storyline with lots of suspense that does it for me.

So here we have good old Dermot Walsh minding his own business, taking his family on a trip with the caravan in tow and ending up with a wanted criminal holding them hostage whilst on the move with their trailer. For me, the acting is more than decent and for anyone like me who has a penchant for rather cheaply made, but nonetheless good, black and white British second features of this era, it would be a very decent purchase if only it were available on DVD or VHS (hint, hint).

Yes, it's a pity that - ahem - Amazon don't have a great many of this type of good old British black and white on either DVD or VHS.

"Great suspense let down by a predictable climax."

[jamesraeburn2003 · 14 May 2009]

A West Midlands factory manager John Sewell (Dermot Walsh) is planning to take his family on a caravan holiday in the South of France. He is looking forward to it since it has been three years since his last. The newspaper reports that a ruthless criminal called Terence Dewar (John Colicos) is on the run from the law wanted for killing a night watchman and assaulting a police officer. When Sewell sets off with his wife, Mary (Jane Barrett) and their two children, Michael (Anthony Pavey) and Ann (Marilyn Baker), they soon discover that Dewar is hiding in the caravan. He holds Michael at gunpoint in the caravan and forces the family to help him escape across the channel into France threatening to kill Michael if they don't...

An average British second-feature thriller with a premise that promises much in the way of suspense. In the first half, director Henry Cass (The Glass Mountain, No Place For Jennifer) succeeds in racking it up to quite high levels like when the family are stopped at the police road block in Southern England with Dewar in the back. They have no alternative but to try and prevent the police from looking in the back of the caravan by saying that their young son is ill but an irritating and overly helpful police officer suggests they take him to be checked over at the local hospital and he insists that he accompany them on his motorcycle and the Sewells are faced with the dilemma of losing him. There is also another good moment when the family are on the road again and are flagged down by a hiker (Bill Shine) who wants a lift to the hospital as his wife has fallen and twisted her leg. Naturally, Sewell is a good natured man by heart but has to refuse due to his predicament of having a psychotic killer in the back with his son. But the hiker is obviously unaware of this and asks him "What sort of man are you?, you've got a big car and a ruddy great caravan". But it transpires that the hiker's wife played by Avril Angers is a nagging wife who says "Well he wouldn't have driven off if you had been a bit more tactful" before whacking him across the nose with her arm. You sympathise for Sewell as he had to appear to be unhelpful and uncaring owing to his deadly situation but later we see the wife for who she is and evidently Sewell himself was feeling bad about it but he has no idea of what the hiker's nagging wife is like. However, the film sadly tails off at the climax for a routine showdown at the Port of Dover, which is indifferently staged and it all ends predictably as most of these b-pics usually do. I felt that this film would have benefited from a darker ending as it would have made all the difference since the film on the whole is better acted and directed than one would normally associate with this type of picture. I was expecting a lot more for the big finale and was left disappointed as the end credits rolled. John Colicos offers the best performance as the ruthless Dewar portraying him with quite a feeling for character.

All in all, Bond Of Fear gets off to a good start with suspense which holds its grip a lot better than one would normally expect of a b-pic thanks to Henry Cass' tight direction although he is finally defeated by the predictable climax, which leaves one feeling disappointed that the suspense earlier on promised much more and really it added up to little. But this is still far from the worst of those tawdry b-movies that came out back then and it still makes for a good time filler and not a boring one either I might add.

French Leave

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 8 June 2020]

Only recently unearthed in Australia. This exemplary, very low-budget transposition of 'The Desperate Hours' to a family caravan vividly shot almost entirely on location in Kent by cameraman/co.producer Monty Berman had obviously not been seen by either Quinlan or Chibnall & McFarlane when they wrote it up in their books, since they both describe it wrongly and grossly underrate it.

A lean, mean, moustached young John Colicos plays the fearsome zoot-suited killer on the run with a gun; and like most British films of the period it's enlivened by yet another familiar face every few minutes.

The unwanted passenger.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 27 November 2019]

There is no bon voyage for this family as they set off for a well earned caravan holiday, they've set off with an unwelcome guest, the killer Dewar.

It's a very good movie, it's well paced, and despite dating back to the 1950's it manages to keep you gripped, with lots of tension. James Colicos is the show stealer as Dewar, there is something very sinister about his performance, it's menacing but understated. The family are all a little straight laced, very much a product of the time, starched collars and stuff upper lips, Dermot Walsh in particular.

Don't expect big budget, but do expect to be entertained, the injured hitcher provides a giggle, but otherwise it's a serious, straight affair.

It's enjoyable. 8/10

A typical example of a British film of the 1950s.

[ecdh-56157 · 10/10 · 29 January 2021]

As a Series Land Rover enthusiast, a railway enthusiast and someone who lived and worked in west London and Kent, and now living in Bournemouth, there were so many connections I made with this film. The film location website Reelstreets has info on Bond of Fear.

The shot of the steam hauled train taking John Sewell and his workmate home was a stock shot, on the Western Region of British Railways. Then came the Southern Region electric train that the two men and Dewar arrived home on.

The double decker bus has no company name on its side; only "Smith's" in flowing script on the back. The destination "Dudley Depot" and the route "5B" look painted on. Was the bus owned by the film company as a prop? Does it appear in other films?

The train at the level crossing is hauled by an ex-Southern Railway Maunsell U class 2-6-0 piloting an ex-LSWR Drummond T9 'Greyhound' 4-4-0. Possibly Surrey or even Hampshire.

The full tilt Series One Land Rover with the front folded back reminded me of my army days in Aden. Correctly removing the driver's seat cushion to open the fuel tank to fill it unnecessarily with the petrol the police motorcycle escort had brought from a garage was so correct. No steering lock ignition keys in those days. The NRT registration was from East Suffolk

The supposed blow-out was not supported by the still inflated offside front tyre, but never mind. And lifting the spare off the bonnet was so familiar.

The Fairholme model of caravan was almost certainly one of the Bluebird range, built in Bournemouth for many years. Photos of similar looking caravans by Bluebird can be seen on Flickr, etc.

One curiosity is the Northern Ireland registered car - IZ 5999 - standing beside the police Austin Cambridge at the Dover ferry terminal. Its front end has similarities with the Willys Jeep. Did someone take a Jeep and build a station wagon version? The 5999 number stands out.

All in all, a good simply made film with tension point after tension point. My childhood family caravan holidays were never so exciting. We did have a blow-out once, on the caravan, not on the Rover 105. A typical example of a British film of the 1950s.

Runs along very nicely.

[plan99 · 8/10 · 3 January 2023]

I liked this film a lot as it had plenty of twists and turns and it was very well acted, one of the few films from this time where the posh kids were not horrible irritating whiny brats whose early death would have been a great relief to the audience, I even managed to recognise the actor who played the baddie also later appeared in Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, he had the perfect face for playing baddies and has a smile to match. The war hero dad is more than a match for the horrible baddie of course as would be expected in a film from the 1950s, evil must not triumph especially against a war hero dad.

Exciting little thriller

[searchanddestroy-1 · 19 September 2023]

It is rather long to start, but the tension rapidly increases for this short length thriler. Directed by Henry Cass, a brilliant grade B British director for whom BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE is the most known movie. But he made other films, thrillers and dramas worth watching too. This one is tense, grabbing your attention after ten minutes, and the family taken as hostages is the main reason to concern many audiences. American film industry made dozens of movies of this kind; so this plot is not purely British, and I find it interesting. It looks like an Andrew Stone's feature. Good cast for a taut film.