The Horror!? 20: Night Fright (1967)

Mere words can hardly contain the glowing brilliance of this film. Just listen to the basic plot: NASA tests the effect of cosmic radiation on animals. Their test rocket crashes near a small Texan town (of course, we are shown nothing of this) unleashing a man in an ape monster costume (what is it with all these apes anyway?) who stomps stealthily through the woods and kills (more or less off-camera) obnoxious teenagers. The local sheriff (only -kind of- actor in town John Agar) uses both of his brain cells to trap the creature.
But a mere plot outline cannot describe pure genius. True beauty lies in the execution. And what execution it is. The 75 minute running time is filled with approximately 40 minutes of people getting in and out of cars, people driving said cars veeeerrryyyy sloooowly, people walking through the woods, people walking through the woods some more, people running through the woods. Also, we are treated to about twenty minutes of dialogue about nothing much of import to the plot, but spoken with the kind of unconvincing conviction only the worst of actors can achieve and only if and when blessed with dialogue as poetic as in The Giant Claw.Then, there are ten minutes (or hours?) of dancing. Oh, the dancing!
And as if all that wasn't already more than enough: An explosion! But don't blink, or you'll miss it.
Just as praiseworthy as the explosion are some dadaist attempts at suspense. Will the deputy sheriff return from the percolator fast enough to hear the death screams of his co-deputy on the radio? Oh no! He forgot the sugar!!!
I could go on and on...
Alright, I am going to be honest: I would marry this movie, but am too afraid of the form our mutant love child would probably take.