The film apparently went under two titles: "The Night Digger" and "The Road Builder." I caught this film on Turner Classic Movies recently. I have always been a big Patricia Neal fan. The film was released in 1971, a tough time for actors like Neal from the "golden age of Hollywood." The times were changing fast, and film was going right with them. Middle-aged actors like Neal often had trouble finding film work, as producers and studios were catering to much younger audiences. Anyway, the story revolves around Maura (Patricia Neal) a spinster whose life revolves taking care of her domineering blind mother Edith (Pamela Brown)in a decaying England mansion. Enter a handsome handyman named Billy (Nicholas Clay) to turn their world upside down. Billy is quite a disturbed young man with a small problem: murdering women! We are given only small clues as to what turned him into such a maniac, seen in somewhat confusing flashbacks. Maura falls for Billy, despite the obvious age difference. We learn she probably eventually catches on to what he is doing, although she never really says so. The performances are good in this film. I loved Neal especially, she portrays the dowdy Maura with her usual intelligence and natural abilities. Pamela Brown as the overbearing mother is also effective. As to the young actor Nicholas Clay, he is wonderfully creepy as the the seriously disturbed murderer. The big problems with the film are the script and the obvious lack of a budget to make this film more credible. The script was written by Roald Dahl, Patricia Neal's husband of that time. Apparently the back story is Neal did not really want to do the film, but Dahl wrote it for her. The story has some confusing gaps, and the last 15 minutes or so of the film is just downright ridiculous and tough to believe. This is a case of good actors stuck in a mediocre film that could have been a more worthy one.
Review of The Night Digger
