Network DVD are doing a pretty good job of hoovering up some of the better titles of older British cinema for DVD release and this is another.
Given the subject matter, reasonably low-budget and eye-catching title, you might expect this 1970 offering to be a bit grubbier and more exploitative than it is. The attacker's-eye views of the assaults thankfully fall just short enough of being a little too lurid and instead what we get is a pretty neat little whodunnit with a real air of danger at times.
Very much in the style of an Italian giallo film, the story unfolds to present us with a criminal at large, an eyewitness who can't quite make sense of what she's seen, a plan to trap the killer and a set of equally likely suspects. It's genuinely difficult to pick out who the culprit is until the reveal and the follow-up panic is nicely executed.
Apart from the more well-known names, you'll undoubtedly spot a few more familiar faces amongst the cast, and a look through the full credits will confirm them.
One of Network's other releases recently is Hell Drivers, which was co-scripted by John Kruse and he also wrote this script with a similar sense of directness driven by the needs of the plot, with instant characterisations, including nothing irrelevent or time-wasting.
If there's any real criticism of this release, I'd have to say that the dialogue is somewhat muddy at times. This means you'll have to turn up the volume a little to catch it all, but be ready to turn it down for the huge blasts of the already-strident music score. That said, this may be a problem with the mix on the original film and out of Network's easy reach.
The DVD also includes the original theatrical trailer and an image gallery to complement the title, which is probably the sum total of extra material available. Also included is a bonus Tales Of The Unexpected episode featuring Frank Finlay.
It's probably a bit of a stretch for Network to claim that Assault hasn't been seen since its original theatrical release, given that it's been on TV in the distant past, but in any event this is undoubtedly your best chance to see it these days.
As these films go, Assault has a reasonable pedigree of cast, crew and writer and probably deserves a slightly higher profile than the one it seems to have to date. If you like your giallo, this British example is a fine one.