Night Creatures

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Jason W Don't go into this expecting a scary horror film with ghostly, skeletal riders on horseback terrorizing a small town. Night Creatures is more of a drama concerning alcohol smuggling in the 1700s with a love story threaded in. I loved the cover art, which sold me on buying it, but the film was dry and lacked substance in my opinion. The "phantoms" arrival in tail end was a bit confusing and lackluster. The film wasn't what I was expecting. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 08/02/24 Full Review Audience Member Based on the Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn series of books by Russell Thorndike — just like Disney's The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh which was released a year later — this Hammer film was called Night Creatures* in the U.S. A sailor (Milton Reid, who wrestled as The Mighty Chang and showed up in three Bond movies) has his tongue removed fromhis mouth and is left behind to die on an island after attacking the wife of pirate captain Nathaniel Clegg. However, when we get back to England, the prevailing theory is that Clegg has been hung by the Royal Navy and rests in the Romney Marsh. However, by night, glowing spectral riders known as the Marsh Phantoms are terrorizing the people of the village of Dymchurch. Captain Collier rescued that sailor and keeps him as a slave. He arrives in the village to investigate rumors of smuggling, attacking bars and safehouses before he finds a secret passage in the home of Jeremiah Mipps (Michael Ripper), a coffin maker, that leads to the smugglers' headquarters. When the mute sailor goes into their lair, he meets clergyman Dr. Blyss (Peter Cushing), who he attacks and even tries to open the grave of Clegg. Is Clegg still alive? Is he one of the phantoms that roam the night? Are the villagers in on it? All of these questions have very easy answers, but this film has so much style that you just enjoy it. It's directed by Peter Graham Scott, who created Into the Labyrinth, which aired in the U.S. as part of Nickelodeon's The Third Eye, along with The Haunting of Cassie Palmer, Under the Mountain, Children of the Stones and The Witches and the Grinnygog. It was written by Anthony Hinds, who wrote a ton of films for Hammer, including The Curse of the Werewolf**, The Kiss of the Vampire, The Reptile, Frankenstein Created Woman, Taste the Blood of Dracula and many more. In Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, the band in the movie is Captain Clegg & the Night Creatures. It's Jesse Dayton, who played as the band Banjo and Sullivan for The Devil's Rejects. *Hammer was planning to adapt the Richard Matheson story I Am Legend into a film that would be titled Night Creatures. The British Board of Film Classification told them that they would not pass the film — the script must be sent to the BBFC before a movie is filmed — and because Hammer had promised Universal a movie with that title, Captain Clegg became Night Creature. **The werewolf star from that movie — Oliver Reed — is in this in a rare heroic role. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Part of an 8 film set of Hammer horror. The poster seems to reference skeletal horses and riders such as appeared in some Georges Melies' and other early silent horror films. I looked forward to how the British studio handled this effect. However, the black costumes with white skeletons painted on shot mostly in a dark forest did not blend well to sell the illusion, and when they were shot in a studio with Universal's Invisible Man like effect then superimposed on scenery it also appeared shaky. Several stock cast and crew of Hammer are involved such as Cushing, Reed, and Hinds. The 18-century coastal town in England is a somewhat unique setting. The antagonism between the villagers and the soldiers is well played. The drama is a bit dull, but when you figure out the twist (involving pirates) the pieces begin to fall into place. Even though the skeletal Marsh Phantoms do not ride to inspire fear in other races, but in those who support the authority of the crown, it suggests an uncomfortable parallel. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Captain Clegg is a little devil. It's a pretty fun hammer affair in their typical Gothic style. Cushing and Reed stand out, as they chew the scenery. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member This is yet another great Hammer effort. It's a mashup of a pirate/ghost/conspiracy story. Cushing is brilliant as always, while Oliver Reed and Michael Ripper give solid supporting performances. The look of the "marsh phantoms" is simple but wonderfully effective. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Hammer tries their hand at the oft-told tale of Dr. Syn (here renamed Dr. Blyss), who defies the King's men and their taxes to smuggle brandy and gin and deliver the proceeds to the poor. Disney's film starring Patrick McGoohan is perhaps better known but with Peter Cushing in the lead, the Hammer version is solid enough with some creepy moments out on the marsh (where the smugglers pretend to be phantoms) added to up the horror quotient. Probably there is more bustling about than true action here but things still feel adventuresome and suitably enticing with secret passages and men in scarecrow costumes and all that. For only 81 minutes, what more can you ask? Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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