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

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		Review by Brian Lindsey

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

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