A Pocketful of Fear (1963)

• 82%
• 1963

A road trip soon takes a sinister turn for a woman who stops at a lonely, rural petrol station on the A19 and finds herself in the driving seat with an unwelcome passenger. Claustrophobically-framed shots inside the car and quick cutting rack up the suspense in this well-made amateur thriller. A crew from the Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers Association take to the road through County Durham and Wearside, improvising a spot of roadside Americana at Testos Service Station and the Parkarest diner on the A19. The 'baddie' was played by Reginald Townsend, a civil engineer with the North Eastern Electricity Board, and other cast members were hired for their access to motor vehicles rather than their acting ambitions. The camerawork was by Doug Collender who joined Tyne Tees TV in December 1958 and became a Senior Lighting Director, working on both outside broadcast and studio productions, including the cult live music programme, The Tube.