|
|
|
Night
Creatures
Hammer Horror Series
|
|
U.K.
|
1962
Directed
by Peter Graham Scott
Starring
Peter Cushing
Patrick Allen
Oliver Reed
Color
| 83 Minutes
| Not Rated
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC |
2-disc set)
Universal Home Video
|
 |
|
|
|
Hold
your mouse pointer over an image for a pop-up caption
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
6
|
|
 |
|
8 |
|
10
= Highest Rating |
|
|
|
•
A look at one of the films in the Hammer
Horror Series
• DVD Rating is for entire set
|
One
of a handful of 'landlocked' pirate movies produced by Hammer
Films in the early 1960s, Night Creatures
presents a standard tale of mystery and adventure on the English
moors, livened considerably by an enjoyable cast.
England, 1792: Acting as revenue agents of
the Crown, the Royal Navy's Captain Collier (Patrick Allen)
and a detachment of sailors are sent to the village of Dymchurch,
Romney Marsh, to ferret out an illegal smuggling ring. The trade
embargo against revolutionary France is being violated; someone
in the Dymchurch area is trafficking in contraband French wines.
On the surface the pleasant, quiet little village would seem
anything but a headquarters for smugglers. Its only claim to
fame is that the infamous pirate Captain Clegg, hanged for his
crimes, lies buried in the cemetery there. Yet a local informer
has passed word to Collier that all is not on the up-and-up.
Upon arriving in Dymchurch the naval officer is told that the
informant has met an untimely demise, found dead — apparently
of fright — in the marsh. There is talk among the villagers
that the dead man must've run afoul of the legendary "Marsh
Phantoms", skeletal ghost riders glimpsed in the night
from time to time over the years.
The
no-nonsense Collier doesn't believe this tale of superstitious
hoodoo. Meanwhile, preliminary searches by his men turn up nary
a bottle of Bordeaux —
if there are smugglers
at work here they're being very clever about it. The locals
seem friendly but aren't going out of their way to be cooperative.
Collier begins to suspect he's being played for a chump, that
something isn't quite right with
the town's kindly, erudite pastor, the good Reverend Blyss (Peter
Cushing). The officer decides to billet his men in Dymchurch
until he's resolved the mystery, one way or another. Then one
of Collier's men — a hulking mulatto and former pirate who years
earlier had been left to die on a desert isle, his tongue cut
out, by the evil Captain Clegg — inexplicably goes berserk when
he sees Rev. Blyss. The mulatto is chained up before any harm
can be done, but later escapes to threaten the village. Under
cover of night the brute makes for the cemetery to dig up Clegg's
grave...
Released
in its native Britain as Captain Clegg, Night
Creatures is based on the Russell Thorndyke novel Dr.
Syn, which was adapted for the screen in 1937 and also for
TV by Disney as The Scarecrow Of Romney
Marsh (1963) starring Patrick McGoohan. In the case of
Night Creatures the central character's
name was changed to "Blyss" to avoid copyright infringement.
While the film is often referenced as a "swashbuckler"
in descriptions and reviews, in truth not much swash actually
gets buckled. In lieu of any real excitement we mostly get Collier
and his squad of swabbies tramping about the countryside on
wild goose chases, hardly what I'd call "action".
The only significant fight scene —
the mulatto sneaks into Blyss' house and tries to kill him with
an iron spear —
is marred by the much-too-obvious stunt men subbing for the
actors. From shot to shot Cushing seems to gain, then lose,
40 lbs.; that clearly isn't Milton Reid falling over
a table onto the floor but a much skinnier 'double' in a wrinkly
bald cap. Cushing does get to swing from a chandelier at one
point (a swashbuckler staple) but this hardly qualifies. As
far as gothic/horror elements go, the appearances of the spooky
marsh phantoms are limited to only two scenes; it's left to
the burly Reid (Dr. Phibes
Rises Again!), in full Tor Johnson mode as the murderous
mulatto, to provide the menace. Nor is the film's central mystery
much of a puzzle. The viewer will have everything figured out
long before Capt. Collier does.
Television director
Peter Graham Scott (Danger Man, The Prisoner)
keeps things moving briskly along for such a talky melodrama,
making good use of rural English locations. (Night
Creatures has less of a studio-bound feel to it than
most Hammers.) But what makes the film
so entertaining, especially for Hammer fans, is watching
a great cast having fun with the material. Peter Cushing, who
reportedly had an uncredited hand in polishing the script, is
clearly enjoying himself as the clever, duplicitous clergyman.
With his bemused demeanor and droll sense of humor turning to
cold calculation and quick-thinking purpose at the drop of a
tricorn, Rev. Blyss is one of Cushing's most vivid characterizations.
Patrick Allen (Island Of The Burning Doomed)
fits the role of the square-jawed, by-the-book naval officer
to a "T"; Yvonne Romain and a young Oliver Reed (both
in Hammer's Curse
Of The Werewolf) are on hand for the requisite romantic
subplot. Hammer veteran Michael Ripper, who typically played
innkeepers and coachmen in the studio's Dracula and Frankenstein
pics, has a somewhat larger role than usual here as the town
coffinmaker.
|
|
|
Night
Creatures
made its DVD debut as part of Universal's two-disc, eight-film
Hammer Horror Series set released in September 2005. Back
then EC covered five of the films — Brides
Of Dracula, Curse Of The Werewolf,
Phantom Of The Opera
(1962), Kiss Of The
Vampire, and Evil
Of Frankenstein; I felt it might be a good time to check out
one of the titles that hadn't been reviewed. Besides, I watched
the movie this past weekend so it's still fresh in my mind.
A/V specs for Night
Creatures —
the movie is on the "B" side of Disc Two —
is on a par with the other titles in the set, which is to say
very good to excellent. Apart from some mild strobing (in one
brief scene) and a light sheen of grain throughout, the anamorphically
letterboxed 2.00:1 transfer looks marvelous. Dialog, music and
sound effects are clean and clear courtesy of a strong mono audio
track. The Hammer Horror Series collection doesn't offer
any extras but the price is certainly right for an eight-film
package. 4/08/07 |
•
Home
| Reviews | Top
•
|
