Assault (1971): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1971, Assault is a drama, crime, horror and mystery film directed by Sidney Hayers, running about 91 minutes. “Evil grows wild... nothing else lives very long.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. After one schoolgirl is raped while taking a short cut through the local woods, and another is murdered in the same woods a few days later, the local police are baffled. With the help of a reporter from one of the local papers, and against the wishes of a psychologist at the local hospital, a young teacher at the school the girls attended uses herself as bait to lure the perpetrator out. Could it be the creepy husband of the head mistress at the school, the psychologist who seems to be taking an unusual interest in the case, or something altogether more sinister?

Who’s in it. Assault stars Suzy Kendall as Julie West, Frank Finlay as Det. Chief Supt. Velyan, Freddie Jones as Reporter and James Laurenson as Greg Lomax, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.5/10, Assault has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime Video with Ads and rent or buy it from Amazon Video. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Assault page.

If you liked it. Fans of Assault tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.