NIGHT CREATURES (1962)
We are in Hammer territory, so this film's pertinence to a genre fansite is warranted. However, a word of warning seems befitting; Night Creatures isn't quite a horror treat. Rest assured, it's a treat, but none of its devilry is supernatural in the slightest. A royal covey of servicemen are sent to a marsh to monitor the rumored smuggling of alcohol and other vendibles. It proves difficult to burrow down to the truth, what with the rector (a sharp Peter Cushing) having an answer for everything and advances in the inquest being obstructed by appearances of phantoms in the wetlands. Are these bog ghosts genuine articles? If so, are their horses--I'm an idiot. I already spoiled the mundane nature of the supposed "phantoms."
It's okay! You can still watch Night Creatures and enjoy it as much as I did. I alluded to Cushing's shipshape performance, but the rest of the cast is uniformly sans pareil. You know the acting is stupendous when I break out French words. We get to see Oliver Reed, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen, and Michael Ripper all flex their chops. I was trying to think of a clever way to call attention to Romain's staggering bust, but I am not a clever man. It's just as well. The romance between Reed and Romain (squire and barmaid) is stilted at best. Any other misgivings? Eh, the script is dialogue-heavy. That's not necessarily a negative trait, but I recommend leaving subtitles in the "on" position. You don't want to miss out on expository details on account of heavy accents.
If this were a full-length review, I would expound on the shaded duality of many of the characters and how I appreciated the fact that Captain Collier, for instance, was neither 100% noble nor 100% villainous. But it isn't. I may retire early tonight.
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