Night Creatures

 

Though I am generally not a huge fan of horror movies, there is something about Hammer Films that I really dig.  The studio produced a huge slew of horror films in the 1950s and 1960s, many starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.  Many of the films were not great, but they had a goofy gothic charm that I really enjoyed.  I've seen a lot of movies by the studio over the years.   And after watching The Curse of the Werewolf, I had to ask myself whether it would be wise to stop.  Was I now scraping the bottom of the barrel?  Had I already seen all the good movies and was now just torturing myself with the dreck?  

And then I came across Night Creatures, otherwise known as Captain Clegg, which is an odd little film.  It's really a movie that shouldn't work.  And truth be told, it kind of doesn't.  But also, truth be told, I kinda don't care.  Night Creatures is silly fun, and I enjoyed myself! 

In a small village along the coast of England, Captain Collier (Patrick Allen, Dial M for Murder) of the Royal Navy arrives to investigate reports of illegal smuggling and piracy.  He suspects that an infamous pirate named Captain Clegg is responsible.  But Clegg has been dead for years, and the local villagers are too worried about the haunted marshes to be thinking about bootlegging.  You see, there are these phantoms deep in the marshes, glowing skeletons that ride out of the darkness, literally frightening people to death with their sheer presence.  Captain Collier thinks this is all a ridiculous distraction, but it will only be a matter of time before his investigation crosses paths with...the Night Creatures!!  

In the town, we have an assortment of odd characters, including the gentle Reverend Blyss (Peter Cushing, Horror of Dracula), his ward Imogene (Yvonne Romain, The Curse of the Werewolf), coffin maker Jeremiah Mipps (Michael Ripper, The Reptile), innkeeper Mister Rash (Martin Benson, Goldfinger) and Harry Cobtree (Oliver Reed, Gladiator), the son of the local government official.  These characters all take turns "helping" Captain Collier when actually frustrating his efforts.  

I guess this is a SPOILER, but not really since the movie reveals certain facts very early on.  The entire town is in on this bootlegging operation, which is led by the Reverend Blyss.  Their challenge is to somehow try and keep to their schedule while Captain Collier is sniffing around.  

Of course, it would make more sense if the criminals would just stop their activities for a day or two until Collier leaves.  And once you think about that, you start realizing that the most of the plot just breaks down under even a little bit of scrutiny. "Well, how did that happen?" "Why did he do that?" "How is that possible?"   Even the secret of the Night Creatures is a huge disappointment and a fun idea that never lives up to its potential.  On paper, this is probably not a particularly good movie.  

So why did I like it?  I enjoyed the Gothic Hammer atmosphere which is well utilized here.  I thought the concept of an entire town of bootleggers was interesting, and there are some genuinely fun and creative flourishes in their plotting.  But most of all, Night Creatures brings in Hammer's most reliable weapon: the always watchable Peter Cushing, who just elevates everything he is in.  Whether he is in kindly reverend mode or ruthless pirate leader mode, Cushing is just on a different level than the rest of the cast.  

So do I recommend Night Creatures?   Yes, I would.  But take that recommendation with a grain of salt.  It's definitely one of the lesser Hammer Films.  If Hammer isn't your thing, then I would avoid it.  This isn't the movie that will change your mind!  But personally, I really enjoyed it.  

MVP:

My love for Peter Cushing is no secret.  I've liked him since I was a little kid and I realized he was the one guy in the original Star Wars who could boss Darth Vader around.  He elevates Night Creatures, especially when he is allowed to dump his gentle reverend cover and go into ruthless pirate captain mode.  The film is constantly in danger of being overwhelmed by its plot contrivances, and then Peter Cushing shows up and all is forgotten and forgiven.  If that is not an MVP performance, I don't know what is.  

BEST LINE:

Captain Collier: Did you sleep last night? 

Reverend Blyss: Why, exceptionally well.  And you?  Oh no, you were out looking for the phantoms, weren't you?  Of course!  Don't tell me you've only just returned.

Captain Collier: Yes.

Reverend Blyss: Dear me, you must have walked a long way.  Did you have any luck?

Captain Collier: Yes and no.

Reverend Blyss: That's comprehensive, anyway.  

TRIVIA: 

I have two fun bits of trivia here.  As I mentioned, the original title of this movie was Captain Clegg, and in most of the world, that is what most people call the film.  However, in the United States, the film was called Night Creatures.  What happened behind the scenes was this: Hammer had planned on producing an adaptation of the classic horror story I Am Legend.  They were going to call the film Night Creatures.  But the British censors warned the studio that they would never allow the film to be made, so those plans had to be abandoned.  The problem is that Hammer already promised a film called Night Creatures to the U.S. distributors.   So they hastily changed the title of this film and the rest is history. 

I have to be honest.  That bit of trivia also makes me a bit sad.  Can you imagine a Hammer version of I Am Legend with Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee in the lead?  That would have been amazing.  

The second bit of trivia is about the small town where the film was made, Denham.  The red brick house where Reverend Blyss lives was actually the home of legendary producer Alexander Korda (The Third Man) and his wife Merle Oberon (Wuthering Heights).  The house was later owned by Sir John Mills (the father in Swiss Family Robinson).  Years later, Mills' daughter, Hayley Mills from The Parent Trap restored the local windmill, which can also be seen in the film.  

Dracula has Risen from the Grave

Dracula has Risen from the Grave
I know that by the late 60s and 70s, the Hammer films were on a decline. While Dracula has Risen from the Grave was produced before the fall, the cracks are beginning to show. Trying to keep the franchise vibrant, the producers throw a whole lot of absurdity at the screen. Just listen to the set up of the movie:

Dracula has been dead for a year, trapped underneath the massive ice moat that surrounds his castle. But in a nearby town, the townspeople are still terrified. They even refuse to go to church because the castle's shadow touches the church in the afternoon. So Monsignor Mueller (Rupert Davies) and the town priest (Ewan Hooper) climb up to the castle to purge the site of its evil and seal the entrance with a giant cross. Continuity be damned - the road that led to the castle in the last movie no longer exists and the only way to get there is by climbing up a treacherous mountainside.

And that massive moat I mentioned? It's gone, and has been replaced by a tiny frozen stream at the bottom of the cliff. During the exorcism, there is a great storm and the priest trips and falls on the ice. He cuts his head, and a tiny bit of blood goes through the ice and just happens to fall in the mouth of Dracula's drowned corpse. The vile count of course wakes up and puts the priest under his spell. When he learns that a cross is barring the way to his home, does he ask the priest to just take it down? No! Instead, he concocts some sort of bizarre revenge scheme against the Monsignor.

At this point, I was really worried. I got even more worried when I met our young hero, Paul (Barry Andrews), an atheist graduate student who works part time and shirtless in a bakery. Yes, he likes to bake shirtless. Our hero is in love with the Monsignor's neice, Maria (Veronica Carlson). The stage is set. Dracula and the now-evil priest vs. the atheist Paul and the Monsignor. The movie is gonna stink. 

But then something happens - it doesn't stink. With all the pieces clumsily put into place, the movie suddenly gels together and becomes really entertaining. The acting is all quite good. I knew Christopher Lee and Rupert Davies would be good, but I assumed that the young couple would be a pair of wooden pretty faces. On the contrary, Andrews' Paul is nowhere near as annoying as his shirtless baking introduction hinted at. And Veronica Carlson is quite good as the Count's ultimate target. She is certainly one of the most beautiful Hammer starlets, but she's also one of the better actresses I've seen so far in these films. And Hooper is also quite good as the priest, a good but weak man trapped in the thrall of evil. Dracula has Risen from the Grave also ramps up the sex and gore factor. It is never over-the-top, and is very effective. If anyone had any doubts that Hammer was responsible for the sexual subtext of vampires, they should see this movie. As one virginal victim is "seduced" by Dracula, we got a shot of her hand pushing a teddy bear off the bed. If there was ever a visual metaphor for deflowering/the end of youthful innocence, there you go. It's so bad, it's good! And the violence? The attempted staking in this film is not just the highlight of the movie, but one of the more entertaining moments in the franchise.

 The movie was directed by Freddie Francis, who is better known as a superb cinematographer (he won the Oscar for Glory). He experiments with filters and colors, and really gives the film a unique look over the previous Dracula movies. Sometimes he pushes the experimentation too far, adding a burnt hue to the scenes by the castle which are really just distracting. But for the most part, the film looks superb. I have to be honest, I can see why this film was one of Hammer's biggest hits. Once the adventure starts, it doesn't let up. And the climactic battle is actually one of the more exciting of the series so far. As long as you can get past the silly set-up, Dracula has Risen from the Grave is actually very good - maybe not as good as the first two, but a definite step up from Dracula: Prince of Darkness But even in its fun, you can see the cracks forming. And even if Dracula has Risen from the Grave ends up working, you can see that this is the beginning of the end.

MVP: Back to Christopher Lee, who actually puts in his best performance as the famous Count. The ten years since Horror of Dracula have been good for the character. The extra wrinkles and the gray streaks in his hair all add to his imposing stature. Though his dialogue is hokey (lots of lines like "At last my revenge is complete"), Lee sells every line with menace and rage. He was good in the other films, but he knocks it out of the park here.

TRIVIA: The very first film to ever be rated by the newly formed MPAA.

BEST LINE: A drunk Paul, after drinking some water, "That's better. Ah, that's delicious!" It's more the performance than the line itself. It made me laugh.

Horror of Dracula

Horror of Dracula

Interview with the Vampire, Twilight, True Blood, and all those other movies that rely on sexy, pouting vampires and plentiful violence owe their existence to this movie, Horror of Dracula, the first Dracula film put out by the famous English movie studio, Hammer Pictures.

Loosely based on Bram Stoker's novel, Horror of Dracula is not necessarily scary any more. I have to admit that it is pretty tame by today's standards. But this doesn't make the movie any less enjoyable.

The most important thing in a Dracula movie is to cast your vampire right. If you get Dracula right, then that will make up for goofiness elsewhere (Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula), but if you cast Dracula wrong (looking at you, Frank Langella), then it doesn't matter how prestigious your cast and crew are, the film isn't going to work.

Christopher Lee (Saruman in Lord of the Rings) is a good Dracula, and I can see why he became so iconic in the part. At first, I had my doubts about him. He is a little too civil in the first act and I found myself distracted by his uni-brow (easily the scariest thing in the movie). But once he first makes his appearance as a vampire, his mouth covered in blood, snarling like a wolf, I was hooked. This was a shocking moment in cinema history, and the moment when vampires went from politely deadly to animalistic and primal.

The other important thing Horror of Dracula brings to the table is the sensuality. Dracula is not a frumpy Hungarian (no offense, Bela), but a handsome aristocrat. When he visits the young women in their bedrooms, they want to be bitten. The director Terence Fisher said he wanted to make the vampire's bite like a drug addiction; the victims know it will eventually kill them, but they still want it; they need it. And they will wait in their night gowns, excitedly staring at the door, waiting for Dracula to visit their bedroom. It's all very tame now, with the sensuality coming through nervous and excited glances, but make no mistake - these are the roots that changed vampire lore in cinema, and without Horror of Dracula, there would be no True Blood, The Hunger, or heck, even Bram Stoker's Dracula. This changed everything.

Overall, the movie is quite good, but not the masterpiece some would claim. The pacing is a bit slow in the first half, and there is one ill-timed and unfunny moment of slapstick comedy near the end that befuddles me. And while everyone gives Christopher Lee the credit for the film's success, I found he wasn't in it enough. The secret weapon of the movie is Peter Cushing as Professor van Helsing, doctor and vampire hunter. His Van Helsing is a terrific performance, clipped and efficient. He is a perfect English gentlemen, but doesn't waste time explaining or babbling. He knows what needs to be done, and does it. Van Helsings, from Edward van Sloan to Laurence Olivier to Anthony Hopkins, have either been dotty old men or crazy, dotty old men. Cushing is old enough to have the knowledge, but young enough that he can still chase Dracula down for a good ol' fashioned fist fight. He's pretty awesome.

I can definitely recommend this movie. While its not necessarily scary any more, it is worth seeing because of its place in cinematic history, for its entertaining story, and for the performances by two icons of the genre. 

MVP: SPOILERS-BE WARNED: So why do I like Peter Cushing's Van Helsing so much? Maybe it is because when they finally reveal where Dracula is hiding, he doesn't waste time thinking about it and just flings into action. Maybe it is because when he finds Dracula's coffin, he takes an extra second from the chase to toss a rosary inside (just in case the vampire wins their battle and then tries to return to his resting place). But I think the defining moment for me is when they rescue a little girl from one of the vampires. After chasing the monster away with a cross, Van Helsing doesn't follow immediately. He knows where the vampire is going; there is no rush. Instead he approaches the little girl and asks if she's cold. He wraps his fur coat over her shoulders, applauds her for her bravery and only then does he leave to go kick butt. The way Cushing plays the scene is brilliant, his tenderness in the middle of what should be such a terrifying moment is real and important. His resolve is always to protect first, and then kill second. If some other actor played the scene, I'd scream, "no, you idiot, kill the vampire first and then come back to see if the girl is okay!!!" But not only did I believe Cushing when he did this, he made it clear that this would be the right thing to do. Peter Cushing is the man and easily my favorite Van Helsing.

TRIVIA: While there are all sorts of snorts and snarls, Christopher Lee actually only has 13 lines in this movie, all spoken in the first act.