Night Creature

Starring:Night Creature
Studio: Trinity Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

No ordinary cult film, Night Tide covers a variety of different waterfronts. It's a film from the American underground, it's a horror movie, and it's an early example of independent cinema (before there was such a term). Shot in 1960, it's also a strangely haunting artifact of its time. Night Tide was written and directed by Curtis Harrington, a member of the experimental avant-garde of the '50s who went on to make the atmospheric shocker Games and many an episode of Dynasty. Mounted on the cheap, and shot on authentic locations in Santa Monica and crumbling Venice, California, Night Tide has a loose, lyrical quality not found outside Cassavetes and Godard films of the same era.

Dennis Hopper, whose youthful looks and Method style were still intact at this point, plays an innocent sailor at liberty in a coastal town; he falls for a girl who plays a mermaid at the sideshow. Or is she really a mermaid? Inspired by Val Lewton's horror classic Cat People, Harrington cooks up a supernatural stew with the suggestion that the willowy lass is one of the "Sea People," called back to her ocean home by a weird sea witch (played by a real-life occult celebrity called Cameron). Yet Night Tide only occasionally feels like a horror movie; with its naturalistic exteriors, bongos, and coffeehouse atmosphere, it's more a slice of poetic bohemia. Luana Anders, who should have had a major movie career but later became a B-movie leading lady, is wonderfully fresh as the good girl, and the music score by Hollywood pro David Raksin (Laura) is inventive and offbeat. Shown at the Venice Film Festival in 1961, the film did not secure a U.S. release until 1963, when its New-Wave-ish style probably looked less innovative. Seen today, Night Tide is both a lovely mood piece and a look back at a peculiar moment in American moviemaking, and either way a bit of low-cost enchantment. --Robert Horton

Description

A lonely sailor, Johnny Drake (Dennis Hopper), meets the beautiful, mysterious Mora (Linda Lawson) who performs as a mermaid on the Santa Monica Pier. After they become lovers, Johnny discovers that Mora's past two boyfriends inexplicably disappeared. As his suspicions grow, Mora's doomed and sinister past is slowly revealed. In his first leading role, Hopper is captivating as the naive and eager Johnny. Like Val Lewton's "The Cat People," Curtis Harrington's "Night Tide" is hypnotic and eerie, macabre and haunting.

Customer Reviews:

CLASSIC MERMAID MOVIE!!!.......2006-07-18

This is an odd movie, but a good one none-the-less!!
I recommend this movie to conisieurs of the obscure!
It is one of the best mermaid movies ever made!!
Directed By Curtis Harrington!
Odd and unique! Great Movie!!

Dennis Hopper falls for a sexy mermaid!.......2005-01-06

This underated cult classic is very entertaining, especially considering the fact it was made on a shoe-string budget. That just goes to show that you can make a great movie with little money! If you're considering buying this on dvd, then the Image Entertainment edition is the one you should get.

A very young Dennis Hopper stars as a sailor on leave in California who meets a beautiful young woman who works as a mermaid in the seafront carnival. He knows nothing about her but quickly falls for her (can't blame him for that!). Over time, however, he notices she's got a dark, mysterious side to her that she's hiding.

Hopper confronts the woman's guardian (a step-father, sort of) and tries to learn more, but he's told that she is a real mermaid who's already lured two former boyfriends to their deaths. Only too late does Hopper doscover the truth, but I won't give away the ending.

With memorable music by the legendary composer David Raksin and an independantly-filmed movie script that actually works, this is a movie that will entertain fans of suspenseful classics and especially fans of Dennis Hopper. The picture and sound quality of this dvd are surprisingly good for an independant movie this old. Highly recommended!

Something's happening here...........2004-12-04

A haunting, mysterious and magical movie. Marjorie Cameron adds an element of real life magic. Kenneth Anger also had done this when he used her in `The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)'. Marjorie Easton also adds to the spell, and Dennis Hopper is wonderful. The carnival is the perfect background for a a plot about fantasy and reality. Filmed at the Santa Monica Pier, Venice and Ocean Park, California, where Anton LaVey played organ at strip joints in the late 1940's. The name Mora is found in many parts of the world as the death aspect of the `Triple Goddess', or Night Mare, or female vampire.

Beware the Siren's Song........2004-11-24

NIGHT TIDE stars a very young and quite handsome Dennis Hopper as Johnny Drake, a sailor on leave visiting a California beach somewhere not too far from Hollywood. The movie begins when a horny Johnny Drake enters the Blue Grotto looking for someone to share his mojo with. Unfortunately, most of the women in the jazz night club already have partners or don't even acknowledge Johnny's existence. Then, across the crowded room, Johnny catches the eye of a beautiful brunette sitting across the way. He approaches and though she pushes him off, the romantic sparks start to fly. He learns that her name is Mora. Then some strange woman shows up mumbling some wierd words to the girl. Whatever the old lady said makes the girl get up in a hurry. Johnny follows and catches up with her. The persistent little devil walks with her to her apartment and gets her to invite him to breakfast the next day. The relationship begins. Things don't get very far before Johnny learns from the people who run the carousel below Mora's apartment that her last two boyfriends disappeared and have never been seen. Mora also works as a mermaid at the local side show run by her former guardian. The job pays pretty well, but Mora actually believes that she is a mermaid allowed to live on land and that when the moon gets full the sea beckons her back home. By this time Johnny is madly in love with the girl and doesn't know what to do. A full moon is approaching and Mora acts more strange all the time. A fateful diving expedition ends up revealing the truth.

NIGHT TIDE was filmed on a budget of less than $76,000. It was the film that gave Dennis Hopper his first major break. The title of the movie is based upon a poem by Edgar Allen Poe and the film has gained a cult following over the years. The movie reminded me of watching an episode from ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. With a mood such as that, it's easy to understand the cult following. Nevertheless, though I was impressed at how well the film was made on such a small budget, I found the picture to just be an average movie. Nothing more and nothing less.

Essential viewing for cult movie fans.......2003-09-01

I adore this little film . It was obviously made on a shoe string but it offers more entertainment value than many big budget blockbusters. All the players do a grand job and they've all got interesting characters to work with . The two standouts for me , however , are the woman who plays the fortune teller (haven't got her name on me right now) and Gavin Muir as Captain Samuel Murdock. The fact that much of the action takes place at the Santa Monica pier amusement park adds to the film's surrealistic air of fantasy. If you're looking for an excellent , low budget early 60's movie that's really well crafted stick this one in your trolley and proceed straight to the check out. If you like "Carnival of Souls" you'll like "Night Tide". It certainy goes into my basket of "Desert Island" videos. Essential viewing for cult movie fans.

Average customer rating:

A suggestion for those responsible for this bomb
Fish Tale...
Dennis Hopper meets a mysterious woman with long black hair.
Noir Tide

Night Tide
Starring: Thomas P. Dillon , Marjorie Eaton , Linda Lawson , Gavin Muir , and Ben Roseman
Director: Curtis Harrington
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000087F1L
Release Date: 2003-01-21

Customer Reviews:

A suggestion for those responsible for this bomb.......2007-04-25

If you are going to make a horror movie, here is an idea. How about a monster? Wouldn't that be something? Yes Dennis Hopper is in this and it is probably the only reason anyone would watch this. For those who like old horror movies with hoaky monsters, all you get out of this is a giant rubber octopus that comes in a dream.

Dennis Hopper is a sailer in the Navy spending some time on the Santa Monica boardwalk. He meets and pursues a beautiful woman named Mora. Turns out she works with her guardian in a boardwalk sideshow as a mermaid.

There is a lot in this movie that has nothing or little to do with the plot. If I wanted to see a lonely military service member spending time on leave doing nothing interesting at all, I would just videotape myself.

Dennis is warned that his life is in danger when the full moon arrives. Mora has already had two boyfriends die in mysterious drowning accidents. He pays no attention to his tarot card reading and decides to go scuba diving with Mora. This is where I get lost.

They dive together and Mora takes Dennis' knife and cuts his air hose. He makes it back to the service. Then he sits on the dingy for hours, Mora never comes back up. Then he spends the night by himself in a hotel.

OK, then he goes back to the boardwalk to see Mora as the mermaid. HE goes in to see her and SHE'S dead! How did this happen. Then her guardian the drunk old retired Royal Navy Captain pulls a gun on him.

At the police station the old man admits that Mora was just an ordinary girl and it was he himself that had been killing boyfriends. So the monster in this movie is an old drunk pervert.

I would not watch this again. There is enough pain in my life.

Fish Tale..........2005-08-25

Johnny Drake (Dennis Hopper) is a lonely sailor on liberty. He wanders the santa monica boardwalk, looking for entertainment. After stopping into the Blue Grotto lounge for a beer and some jazz, Johnny is instantly smitten by a beautiful girl named Mora (Linda Lawson), who is also sitting alone. A strange old woman comes in and speaks to Mora, causing her to leave in a hurry. Johnny follows her, drawn to her. This begins an odd relationship between the young sailor and the mysterious Mora. Soon, Johnny finds out that Mora is a mermaid in a sideshow. Her boss, captain Sam Murdock (Gavin Muir) tells Johnny an unbelievable story about Mora, a tale of ancient myths and their basis in facts. He tells Johnny that Mora is an actual siren! A mermaid! Murdock warns him that she could even be dangerous. Also, Johnny is told by a local gal named Ella (Luana "Dementia 13" Anders) that Mora's last two boyfriends met with untimely deaths! If that's not enough, a tarot-card reader (Marjorie Eaton) shows Johnny a perplexing future! Does Johnny heed any of these warnings / signs? Nah, he's in love! He stays with Mora to the end, and what an end it is! I like this movie. It keeps Mora's true identity / species a secret. I'm still not sure if she's human! Check it out...

Dennis Hopper meets a mysterious woman with long black hair........2003-10-01

This is one of those little-known films I watched during late night television in the 1980's. I was so intrigued, I never forgot it. Now I finally own the DVD copy of it. This film is interesting to watch and really has that weird 1960's feel to it. Set during the month of August. This film offers the most relaxed performance I've ever seen Dennis Hopper play in any film and he was the age of 24 at the time. This isn't your normal beach movie and it's in black & white. Dennis Hopper plays a sailor on shore leave. He roams around Santa Monica pier and comes across the Blue Grotto, a nice jazz place. There he meets a woman with long black hair, "Mora" (Linda Lawson). A mysterious old woman comes out and tells "Mora" she must leave quickly. John the sailor is so drawn to her that he follows her into the night on the beach. She lives in a apartment above the Merry Go-Round. The sailor asks her to see her again tomorrow for breakfast. A friendship begins. Mora's job is a pier attraction. She is the mermaid. But there is another side of Mora so mysterious that Johnny doesn't know. Memorable good scenes are those when Johnny follows the old women to Venice and who can forget Marjorie Eaton as the Fortune Teller. Also in the cast is Luana Anders, Tom Dillon and Gavin Muir.
Linda Lawson appeared in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" tv series, episode: "I Can Take Care Of Myself", May 15, 1960.
Most recently, Linda Lawson appeared in the "ER" tv series, episode "You Are Here", May 5, 2005.
Some of the locations in this film can also be seen in The NBC Mystery Movie: Columbo--Make Me A Perfect Murder (1978-TV).

Noir Tide.......2003-08-04

This otherwise typical low-budgeter probably has its fans for two reasons. One, obviously, is the intriguing presence of young Dennis Hopper. The other--maybe not so obviously--is that the feature is a not-bad little noir, replete with brooding atmosphere, smokey chiaroscuro, and an everyman enthralled with an exotic, enigmatic woman. The movie's main problem is poor pacing, exacerbated by a tinny, monotonous score. There are also plot lapses that have nothing to do with the leading lady's origins. Though reminiscent of Cat People, the film merely flirts with horror, though it smacks enough of the supernatural to pose lingering, disquieting questions. Is she or isn't she--the ultimate femme fatale--a Siren....

Average customer rating:

Opening intro score; (UK) Different to U.S.!!!
night caller from outer space
A Fun Movie To Watch
Much Better Than The Cover Would Suggest
Ganymede needs women...

Night Caller from Outer Space
Starring: John Saxon , Alfred Burke , Patricia Haines , Maurice Denham , and John Carson
Director: John Gilling
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 6305473153
Release Date: 1999-07-20

Amazon.com

Two different kinds of movie coexist within this low-budget thriller. One is a civilized sci-fi picture, with a discreet monster (we barely see him, actually) and more impenetrable scientific jargon than you hear in an average episode of ER. The other is a British police procedural, with lots of men in trench coats marching stolidly around murky London streets. Neither works especially well, which may be why Night Caller from Outer Space isn't better known to film history--even under its alternate title, the more lurid Blood Beast from Outer Space. A glowing beach ball lands in English farm country, allowing an alien from Jupiter's moon Ganymede to beam himself down. The alien places an ad in Bikini Girl magazine (hey, it was swinging London, remember?) in order to lure human females into his plan to repopulate his planet. Pretty dull overall, with journeyman B-movie actor John Saxon as the token American presence. The ending is actually rather surprising, and includes a little Day the Earth Stood Still jibe at mankind's insistence on messing up a perfectly good world. The theme song at the beginning is surprising, too, adding an irrelevant touch of soft-jazz romance to an already askew movie. --Robert Horton

Description

Unique special effects combine with taut suspense in this gripping tale of a city caught up in a nightmare! A baffling alien object falls from the sky, a few miles outside London. The city becomes prey to a series of deadly kidnappings. Innocent women are being stalked, then disappearing without a trace. When it becomes apparent the reign of terror is caused by the horrifying creature from outer space, it's a chase to find him, before many more women fall into his clutches.

Customer Reviews:

Opening intro score; (UK) Different to U.S.!!!.......2007-01-27

There have been many good reviews about this odd little film already by fellow IMDB users.
One note of interest however, is that very unfortunately the new crisp release of 'The Night Caller' has omitted the fantastic opening (UK)score to the film.
"Image" was recorded by Alan Haven; A superb musician who specialised in Hammond Organ, the opening scenes have a tracking shot over London by night and the music on original U.K. release, perfectly captures the essence of Mid-sixties Britain.
The piece has a spooky organ mix set to a mod (ish) and orchestral background, it has become a bit of a 'Northern Soul' classic in the UK having been released in Britain in February 1965!
Great shame then, that the USA release has a totally inappropriate male vocalist-romantic-lounge piece SINGING the title track!
For those who haven't heard the UK original you'd be very pleasantly surprised...

night caller from outer space.......2006-08-05

Even it's set in London 1965 , It's a pretty good movie in the Scifi category.

A Fun Movie To Watch.......2006-02-24

Truth be told, the only reason I bought this movie was because my favorite actor, John Carson, was in it. All in all, it's a fun movie to watch when you want just that - a fun movie to watch. The plot was certainly different, the ending was VERY odd, but all in all, it was fun. John Saxon was an odd casting to this - I wasn't really sure if he was supposed to be "British" because sometimes he had a slight accent, while other times he didn't. The only thing I didn't like was that my favorite guy was killed. The quality of the picture was amazingly fantastic - very crisp and clear! I've got DVD's of television shows and movies made today and the quality is nothing like this. The quality alone of the picture is 5 Stars! Enjoy and just have fun watching it!

Much Better Than The Cover Would Suggest.......2004-06-10

I am a huge fan of B-Movies from the 1950s to the present, and when I saw the cover art (surely a near reproduction of the original theater poster) I highly suspected that this would be a first class piece of cheese.

I was wrong.

This film is an extremely well made black and white psychological thriller from the mid 1960s. It is taut, has good (for the day) special effects, a plausible story line, genuine suspense, and excellent acting, especially by the young John Saxon (much better than his later role opposite Joe Don Baker in "Mitchell" that MST3K fans would be better acquainted with.) The story concerns an object from Ganymede (a moon of Jupiter) which is an energy door which allows a being, the night caller of the title, to come to Earth. The night caller sets up a system to recruit women (via ads in 'Bikini Girl' magazine!) to return to Ganymede with him. The plot is well executed, and keeps tension high throughout. The conclusion proves both dramatic and cautionary about the future of Earth, and is not overdone with the histrionics so common today.

I liked this film for totally different reasons than I expected to. Although frequently lumped in with other monster movies from that era, this film is well executed, well acted, and suspenseful from start to finish.

Ganymede needs women..........2004-04-09

Ganymede ("GAN uh meed"), in case you weren't aware, is the seventh and largest of Jupiter's known satellites and third of the Galilean moons. It's also the name of a Trojan boy of great beauty whom Zeus carried away to be cup bearer to the gods. In the case of The Night Caller (1965), my reference relates to the very real moon and not the mythological figure.

This British film, directed by the prolific and well known John Gilling, stars John Saxon as Dr. Jack Costain, an American scientist working in a research facility in England. While doing some routine research work, an object is observed traveling to Earth. What makes it so strange is that it appears not to be a random piece of space flotsam, but an object guided by some unseen force. The military is also aware of the object, having tracked its' decent, has concern that it may be an atomic device from an unfriendly country, so they are actively seeking the mysterious widget. Once found, the mystery deepens as the orb, about the size of a bowling ball, is comprised of an unknown material and has a temperature of below zero.

After a couple of incidents, one involving a death, the cosmic bowling ball vanishes, and young women from the area begin disappearing. The women all seem to have a common link in that they answered an ad in a magazine, one that is calling for attractive women to model on television, promotional advertising, and such, and a strangely garbed individual calling himself Mr. Medra. As the police search for clues, Dr. Costain feels that the timing of the disappearance of the space orb and the missing girls are linked, along with this shady Medra character. The police, with the help of Dr. Costain, begin to put the pieces together, and the hunt for Medra begins. Will they learn the true nature of the sphere, Medra, and the missing girls? If you've read the cover of the box, you've probably already deduced that Medra is an alien and he is kidnapping the women to take back to his planet, Ganymede, so I don't think I am really giving anything away. For what purpose, though?

The Night Caller is listed as a horror/sci-fi film, but it has a strong element of mystery throughout as the police and Dr. Costain try to track down this Medra, and learn of the nature of his appearance on Earth, and for what purpose he needs the women. The casting of John Saxon in the lead role seems an odd one, but I suppose it was done to help the film sell within the US, as similarly done with other British productions like The Quatermass Experiment (1955) and The Trollenberg Terror (1958), starring American actors Brian Donlevy (actually, Donlevy was sort of a transplanted American, being born in Ireland but immigrating to the US early in his life) and Forrest Tucker, respectively. The science fiction portion is obvious, but certainly competes with the mystery element of the story. The horror aspect is not really in a visual sense, but more of an underlying theme as we are unaware of what purpose the women will serve, and if they will ever be seen again. The reference of the Night Caller is because the character Medra always stayed in the shadows, appearing only at night, and wore dark garments further shrouding himself in darkness. The box would appear to make this look like a cheap, schlocky, run of the mill science fiction feature, but when I saw that Gilling had directed it, I took a bit more interest in it, as I knew I would, at the very least, get an visually entertaining story. Not only that, but it's pretty intelligent and has a light smattering of comedy (the part where the police and Dr. Costain interview the parents of one of the missing girls is rife with your classical, dry British humor). I found surprising a few of the plot twists within the film, and found it interesting that the story developed the way it did. What really shocked (well, maybe not so much shocked, but more startled) me was the way the film ended. I didn't see it coming, and, while some may be unsatisfied with it, I thought it was a pretty gutsy move, going against the some of the conventions I am used to seeing in other science fiction films of the time.

Image Entertainment provides a really good looking print here in full screen format. I am unsure if this was the original aspect ratio, but it shows very little, if any signs of wear and tear. Also provided are fairly detailed listing of filmographies of director Gilling and Saxon, looking like complete listings, rather than `selected' listings as I am used to seeing whenever a disc has this feature. By the way, love that opening song sung in classical Las Vegas lounge style...you wouldn't think serious science fiction and cheesy lounge music could mix...and you'd be right.

Customer Reviews:

A beast, but not at night, and hardly any blood.......2006-03-27

The one time I spit pop out of my nose was when the beast, who had spent the entire film shambling around, suddenly turns broad-jumper and makes a tremendous leap into the woods. After that, he (she?) goes back to shambling around. I'm suprised the poor thing even wanted to come to Earth, considering all the people it encountered were trying to kill it with incomprehensible psuedo-scientific dialogue, not to mention flare guns. All in all, though, this really isn't a bad film, although the monster really looks, as other reviewers have mentioned, like a gigantic paper-mache' puffin. Then there's the cute little Sea Monkey thing with the astronaut, who no one knows if he's dead or alive, including the astronaut himself. The ending is rather inconclusive -- you really don't know if it's a Bad Monster or not. Certainly not a great film, or even a good one...but it's _almost_ a good one. Don't miss the claws on the monster. How did he (she?) operate a spaceship with those things, anyway?

Good outside of the lame monster...........2005-04-12

Not bad at all!! This flick is everything I look for in a 50's sci-fi except for the homemade looking monster. Other than this paper-mache looking parrot from outer space, the direction, camera work, acting, and story were all first rate.

For the price you it can't be beat. Make sure you get the Alpha version with the red cover. The transfer and sound are far superior to the previous release of this film.

The Moral? Never Eat Sea Monkeys........2004-05-20

This sublime little gem from the one and only Roger Corman is a fun and cheesy way to spend 62 minutes of your life. After being launched into space via the magic of some of the lamest animation you will ever see, pilot John Corcoran loses control of his spacecraft and plummets to earth. For crashing at such high speed the spaceship is in remarkably good shape. NASA dispatches their one Jeep to the crash site and arrives within minutes. (Note: it is inadvisable to smoke cigarettes at an aircraft accident site.) John has one cut, but is dead, (evidently) although there is a lot of medical doubletalk about his skin color, so they whisk him to the base in the official NASA flatbed truck for examination.

Once back at the base John comes back to life with no warning. They draw a blood sample and see a hysterical piece of animation of one cell, oh sorry, 'alien amorphic cell structure', gobbling up another in the microscope. They decide they best put John in front of a fluoroscope to look inside him, and, (oh the humanity!) he is revealed to be teeming with what appear to be Sea Monkey embryos. John rapidly realizes that the thing that has been terrorizing the base since the crash is a Blood Beast from a different planet, and he is carrying its spawn. Surprisingly, he ends up leading the pro-monster lobby, and decides to reason with the Blood Beast. We actually get to see the felonious (murder and kidnapping) Blood Beast quite a bit (and his amusing shadow a couple of times, too.) It is normally good to get a lot of screen time for the monster in one of these movies, but here, I am not so sure it was that great of an idea, especially in daylight: the Blood Beast looks like a cross between something from 'Sigmund and the Sea Monsters' and a giant puffin with beak, claws, zipper, and very bad complexion. In short, the Blood Beast is a little less than horrifying. Ultimately the movie evokes a bit of 'It Conquered the World' or 'Zontar, the Thing From Venus' in the dramatic ending.

Throughout the movie there is dreadful acting (especially the women, for some reason), and great gothic music, which has been recycled from earlier Corman films. This movie was given the MST3K treatment to good effect, and I wish that version was available on DVD as well. Even without the MST3K treatment, this movie is fun to watch and makes you wish that they still made monster movies like this one. Thanks, Roger!

Night of the Bargain Basement Beast.......2004-02-20

Co-written and produced by Gene Corman, with Roger Corman as the executive producer, Night of the Blood Beast (1958) is a good representation of the Z grade science fiction movies of the late 50's.

Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, who also helmed Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), the movie stars, among others, John Baer, Angela Greene, and Ed Nelson, from Teenage Caveman (1958), The Brain Eaters (1959), and TV's Peyton Place (1964).

The movie starts off proper with an astronaut in a small capsule supposedly returning to Earth after a brief orbit. Something goes wrong, and after much techno babble, "The negative, cross-indexed hyper dyne ion chamber is reading 8 million psi!", "The multi-functional thyroid chronometer is unfunctional!", the small capsule crashes to Earth. Two individuals find the capsule (not much of a rescue party) and discover their space-traveling colleague is no longing among the living. They radio the rest of their small group, who soon arrive, and then they document everything and take the body back to some dinky, remote radar station they are using for a base. What they don't realize is that their chum didn't come back from space alone...oooooh...(cue creepy music)

A cursory analysis of the dead man reveals he is dead, but he isn't. The older scientist keeps saying, "That's impossible" every time they find another indication that the dead man may not really be dead. Soon after stuff starts happening...the radio goes kaput, the lights no longer light, vehicles no longer run...seems a magnetic field is playing havoc with just about everything. And to top things off, there's a space thingy running around, which makes it's appearance known by breaking some windows. The dead man comes back to life, and we find out a rather disturbing fact in that the man, who was once dead and is now seemingly alive, has wee, little aliens growing inside his body. Oh yes, the man with the alien babies also develops some kind of telepathic link with the alien, who is now hiding out in one of Hollywood's more famously filmed spots, the Bronson Caves, used for, among other things, the scenes from the 60's Batman TV show where the Batmobile came barreling out whenever the characters left the Batcave.

So what happens next? Realizing that their friend and colleague's survival is linked to the alien, do they make nicey nice with the alien? Or do they destroy the abomination? And what about those alien babies? Is a satisfactory conclusion forthcoming? Watch and find out. (Don't hold your breath)

I have to say, I thought the element of the man carrying aliens inside him was interesting, and the subsequent story, although a bit talky, kept me interested. The biggest thing working against this movie was the budget. The space creature was completely funky, looking like giant, sickly sloth with google eyes wearing dirty trash bags. This may have been better received at the time, but now seems like a dusty relic. The movie certainly doesn't hold up to others of the time, but is worth checking out if you enjoy clunky, cheaply made science fiction films of the 50's. The dialogue, as I said, got rather clunky, but the direction seemed to movie things along pretty well, along with a 65 minute running time. Short and sweet, that's the way to make a movie like this. I was just really happy they didn't try to pad things out with a lot of stock footage, as was a common practice with a lot of these low budget features.

The picture quality of the movie on this disc is not all that great, being washed out and showing many flaws and lacking clarity and the audio drops out briefly a couple of times, but I guess that is to be expected. I am not too familiar with Retromedia and their other releases, so I don't know if they try to use the best possible prints or whatever they have on hand. This release seems shoddy, especially for the asking price. The only extra feature is a really poor copy of the trailer for the movie. There is a nice, lengthy piece on the back of the case about the movie, written by someone from a book I never heard of...

Cookieman108

Very Little Blood Here..........2003-08-25

Roger Corman does it again! Night Of The Blood Beast is a gooey cheese classic! An astronaut returns to earth, only to crash and burn. Scientists find him dead, yet still warm and without rigor mortis. They take him back to a research station, where a strange beast appears and kills one of them. The dead astronaut "wakes up" and starts acting weird. He is somehow linked to the monster and tells everyone that it means no harm (even though it's already murdered one of 'em). The astronaut decides he needs an x-ray and everyone sees that his body is plum full of alien embryos! The good news is that we do get to see the blood beast itself quite a bit. The bad news is that it looks pretty stupid. The beast tries to tell everyone that it is only here to help us by killing us all and melding our minds with it's own. So, the scientists burn it up in a cave. Will more blood beasts attack in the future? We are left to ponder this deep question. Still, as B movies go, this is at the top of the heap! The musical score is the same as in "Attack Of The Giant Leeches" and "Beast From Haunted Cave". Corman was a good recycler! Best when viewed after 2 am...

Average customer rating:

NOT MUCH TO ROAR ABOUT

Night Creature
Starring: Nancy Kwan , Donald Pleasence , Jennifer Rhodes , Ross Hagen , and Lesly Fine
Director: Lee Madden
Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Boggy Creek 2 - and the Legend Continues...
The Legend Of Boggy Creek

ASIN: B0009ML1MU
Release Date: 2005-06-21

Description

Synopsis: A big-game hunter brings a killer leopard to his private island and turns it loose so he can hunt it down. However, unexpected visitors arrive at the island and interrupt his hunt. Meanwhile, the leopard begins to hunt the inhabitants of the island.

Customer Reviews:

NOT MUCH TO ROAR ABOUT.......2006-01-14

NIGHT CREATURE is one of those trademark late 70s movies that moves so slow it becomes uncomfortable waiting for something to happen. And even when it does, it is so poorly filmed and edited, you don't really see much of what's going on. Add the wearisome storyline of a great hunter who loves hunting more than his two daughters, bring them together on a deserted island with a deadly black leopard and talk the audience to death. That's basically all NIGHT CREATURE accomplishes. Donald Pleasance is ludicrously inept as Axel McGregor, who brings the captured leopard to his island to kill it; and Nancy Kwan fares little better as one of his daughters. Dull and tedious, little to recommend.

Average customer rating:

A beast, but not at night, and hardly any blood
Good outside of the lame monster....
The Moral? Never Eat Sea Monkeys.
Night of the Bargain Basement Beast
Very Little Blood Here...

Night of the Blood Beast
Starring: John Baer , Angela Greene , Ed Nelson , Georgianna Carter , and Michael Emmet
Director: Bernard L. Kowalski
Manufacturer: Retromedia
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

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Classic Sci-Fi | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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4-for-3 Horror | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

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Monster from the Ocean Floor
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Cult Classics: Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast
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This Island Earth

ASIN: B000AYYVC4
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Description

The first man in space returns to Earth, appearing to be dead. While on his mission, he encountered a mysterious alien, which impregnated him with its young. Now on Earth, the alien finally emerges and the entire human race is in danger! This rare, low-budget work was executive-produced by Roger Corman.

Customer Reviews:

A beast, but not at night, and hardly any blood.......2006-03-27

Good outside of the lame monster...........2005-04-12

The Moral? Never Eat Sea Monkeys........2004-05-20

Night of the Bargain Basement Beast.......2004-02-20

Co-written and produced by Gene Corman, with Roger Corman as the executive producer, Night of the Blood Beast (1958) is a good representation of the Z grade science fiction movies of the late 50's.

Cookieman108

Very Little Blood Here..........2003-08-25

Average customer rating:

NIGHT WALKER
Starring: Mario Xavier , Mike Hicks , Melissa Almaguer , Jennifer Smallwood , and Milissa Carter
Manufacturer: CustomFlix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Slasher Flicks | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

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Product Description

THE CAST AND CREW OF THIS MOVIE WILL DONATE A PORTION OF THE PROFIT FROM THE SALES TO A SELECTED CHARITY ORGANIZATION IN NEED. CONTAINS VIOLENCE AND GORE. After a series of bizarre murders, Detective Rains (Mario Xavier) is sent in to investigate an ancient evil that has terrorized for centuries. Will he solve the grizzly crimes before it's too late, or will be become the creature's next victim?

Halloween II [PARTY PACK] Includes 3 Halloween Theme CDs {Vampire's Lair - Blood thirsty beats from Halloween / Midnight Fever - the ultimate horror party rock / Spooky Song Party - Eerie, creepy, spooky songs}

Average customer rating:

Halloween II [PARTY PACK] Includes 3 Halloween Theme CDs {Vampire's Lair - Blood thirsty beats from Halloween / Midnight Fever - the ultimate horror party rock / Spooky Song Party - Eerie, creepy, spooky songs}

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

A great gift pack. Hours of spooky fun.

[11 Monster Flicks] White Zombie, Killer Shrews, Monster Walks, Creature from the Haunted Sea, Wasp Woman, Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory, Curse of the Swamp Creature, Lady Frankenstein, Nightmare Castle, Invasion of the Bee Girls, House of 1000 Corpses

Average customer rating:

[11 Monster Flicks] White Zombie, Killer Shrews, Monster Walks, Creature from the Haunted Sea, Wasp Woman, Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory, Curse of the Swamp Creature, Lady Frankenstein, Nightmare Castle, Invasion of the Bee Girls, House of 1000 Corpses

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Digitally Remastered For Superior Picture Quality
Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound
INTERACTIVE MENUS
scene selections
director commentary, audition footage, rehearsal footage, interviews

ASIN: B000GDXCM4

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DVD

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