Welcome to the Hammer Factory. This month we dissect Night Creatures (1962).
While Hammer Studios has been in business since 1934, it was between 1955 and 1979 that it towered as one of the premier sources of edgy, gothic horror. On top of ushering the famous monsters of Universal’s horror heyday back into the public eye, resurrecting the likes of Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy in vivid color, the studio invited performers like Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and so many more to step into the genre limelight. Spanning a library housing over 300 films, Hammer Studios is a key part of horror history that until recently has been far too difficult to track down.
In late 2018, Shout Factory’s Scream Factory line began to focus on bringing Hammer’s titles to disc in the US, finally making many of the studio’s underseen gems available in packages that offered great visuals as well as insightful accompanying features. Over the course of this column, I will focus on these releases, gauging the films in context of the Hammer Studio story as well as analyzing the merits of the release. It’s time to highlight the power, impact and influence of Hammer Studios and ignite new conversation surrounding some forgotten classics.
The Context
Be it the gothic, macabre or otherwise monstrous, Hammer Studios is predominantly associated with all things horror. But sitting beside the vampires, werewolves and other assorted ghoulish brutes are all manner of adjacent genre occupants spanning the tonal spectrum. From comedies to noirs to tales of adventure and intrigue, Hammer Studios was no one-trick pony.
Of course, Hammer’s proclivity for frights and thrills, along with their technical and financial precision, lent to their execution of all flavors of movie-making, infusing even their more amusing outings with an enriching sense of tension and atmosphere. Rarely is this creative fusion more present and effective than in their swashbucklers. While apparent in movies like The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954) and The Pirates of Blood River (1961), when it comes to Hammer’s catalogue the subgenre’s most successful attributes are best represented by Night Creatures (1962).
The project initially came to Hammer when producer John Temple-Smith brought the rights to studio head Michael Carreras after having seen a previous adaptation of the source material called Doctor Syn (1937). The film had been based on the 1915 Russell Thorndike novel of the same name. It concerned a pirate turned clergyman who wields superstition regarding phantoms which haunt the nearby marshlands as a cover for his elaborate smuggling ring. Recognizing the potential for a rollicking adventure yarn colored with foggy morals, eerie imagery and constantly shifting character dynamics, Carreras was eager to put the project into motion.
Few were more excited about this development than Peter Cushing. A pirate fan in his own right having grown up devouring such stories, Cushing was not only a devotee of Thorndike’s Syn novels, he was growing concerned about being typecast in horror pictures. Enamored with the role, he even went so far as to write his own unused script treatment complete with watercolor paintings to showcase design and costuming options.
Trouble entered into the project when it was discovered that prior to selling the rights for the first film, Russell Thorndike had sold the rights to his original publisher, rights that had subsequently been acquired by Disney. Already in pre-production on their own iteration of Syn, Disney was firm in their stance that Hammer would not be able to use the book or its lead character. Unable to fight Disney’s copyrights or power as an organization, Hammer was forced to drop the name Syn and replace it with Blyss, while still maintaining the plot details that the first film and novel concerned themselves with. The title Captain Clegg was chosen for the UK release, and in true Hammer fashion, the US title Night Creatures was recycled from an unfinished adaptation of Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend that the studio had been primed to produce in the late 1950s.
With experienced director Peter Graham Scott on board, Hammer staple Arthur Grant behind the lens as cinematographer and a cast of Hammer’s best and most capable performers at the ready, Night Creatures emerged as one of the studio’s most entertaining and well constructed films. A picturesque tale that flits between ghost story, romance and heist-like espionage, all grounded by the dual performance of Peter Cushing fluctuating so seamlessly between kindly vicar and ruthless pirate that one often forgets that a contrasting persona even exists when either is predominant onscreen.
Released as the B-picture in a double bill featuring Terence Fisher’s The Phantom of the Opera (1962), it was only a matter of weeks before Night Creatures was raised to the top of the bill. While Phantom struggled to connect with audiences, Night Creatures provided everything a movie-goer could ask for, even winning over many of the critics who typically scoffed at Hammer’s oeuvre. Hammer may be best known for its gothic leanings toward monsters and maniacs, but it’s movies like Night Creatures that remind how wide the scope of their output once stretched and how a dash of the macabre can make just about any genre that much more delectable.
The Film
“The Marsh Phantoms. People around here don’t believe in them, say they don’t exist, but that’s during the daytime of course.”
1776. A ship bobs in the ocean waves. Inside an imposing man is being charged with assault on a woman, the wife of the ship’s captain. Captain Clegg signs the papers, condemning the man to being marooned on an island, his ears slit and his tongue removed. The ship leaves him bound and bleeding under a sign which reads in crude lettering: THUS PERISH ALL WHO BETRAY CAPTAIN CLEGG.
So begins Night Creatures, a movie, even from its opening moments, driven by the dualism of man. From the cold-blooded pirate captain who’s ruthlessness was brought on by violence against his wife to the perpetrator of the act left abandoned in a pitiable state, it’s clear that this will be a film unafraid to apply dimensionality to its players, regardless of their moral righteousness or lack thereof. Perception rules out, despite its validity.
The story picks up sixteen years later as Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) arrives in the small town of Dymchurch. He and his men represent the Royal Navy and they’ve come to suss out the rumors of an illegal smuggling operation, made all the more suspicious given the fact that the remote village is known as the burial place of the infamous pirate Captain Clegg. Upon arrival, Collier quickly encounters Doctor Blyss (Peter Cushing), the ecclesiastical leader of Dymchurch whose measured, thoughtful and kindly ways seem to lie in direct contrast to what Collier and his men expected to find.
Captain Collier offers the sort of rigid uprightness that would normally accompany a man of unyielding moral virtue and yet he is joined by the Mulatto, played with calculated thuggishness by Milton Reid. Rescued and kept as a slave, the damaged man that Clegg left to die in the film’s opening moments now serves as a source of power and entertainment to the man so bereft of moral ambiguity.
On the opposite side of Collier is Peter Cushing’s Blyss, his intelligence, social aptitude and empathy for his people ever present in his words and actions. Still, Night Creatures makes no qualms about the ease at which Blyss can conjure and inspire deception, revealing in short order that Collier’s suspicions are not unfounded. A man so comfortable in his deceptions that they cease to be disguises, Blyss anchors the proceedings and provides the ideal antihero to root for.
Fleshing out the town of aspiring smugglers are some of Hammer’s best performers. Michael Ripper plays the clever and endearingly fatherly Jeremiah Mipps, a coffin maker who conceals the bootleggers’ base of operations. Oliver Reed appears as Harry, the son of the town’s Squire, straight-edged loyalist to Blyss and adoring fiancé to Imogene, played by the wonderfully nuanced Yvonne Romain. Having appeared together in The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), the two have a natural chemistry and their aspiring romance serves as a noble proxy for the town’s wellbeing Blyss claims to be proliferating by way of his illicit operation.
Much of the movie has to do with the practicality of executing near-misses and fabricated business operations overseen by watchful sentries in the guise of scarecrows as Collier and his men march around Dymchurch with Blyss and his people always one step ahead. However, it’s the threat of murderous spectral phantoms that provides the proceedings with a spookier and more thrilling flavor than is typically present in its chosen genre. Created by Les Bowie using reflective paint typically designed for road signs intended to reflect headlights, the horse riding marsh phantoms are as beautifully photographed as they are designed, adding an air of disconcerting mysticism to Dymchurch and those who dare stay there.
With a script by Hammer legend Anthony Hinds and under Peter Graham Scott’s dutiful direction, Night Creatures is a film that moves quickly with levity, emotion and intrigue. Unlike some of Hammer’s other productions at the time, it is far less concerned with what is right and what is wrong, opting instead to explore the complexities of those whose internal compasses point towards what is best for them and the ones that they care about.
Ultimately, the fabrications and mythologies of Dr. Blyss come to light, colliding with those of Captain Clegg. Complicating ghostly visages, murderous pirates, saintly clergymen and loving relations, the finale arrives with much the same moral vagaries that pervaded the film preceding it. And when eye to eye with a face occupying both Blyss and Clegg, it’s Collier who must search his own soul to extract the conflicting truth about what is right.
In the end, as the longstanding grave of the fearsome Captain Clegg is finally united with its intended cargo, sadness and respect pervades the crowd gathered there, Captain Collier included. To live is to evolve and while Clegg may not have been dead and buried, Blyss did indeed kill him. The body entering the earth, it would seem, had faced the consequences of the hastily scrawled message which marked the Mulatto’s fate: THUS PERISH ALL WHO BETRAY CAPTAIN CLEGG.
Adventurous and spooky, Night Creatures twists and turns through ever deepening machinations of deceit and treachery that are as fun as they are harrowing. Weaving the criminal element through an empathetic lens and adding a dash of the eerie gothicism Hammer wields so well, the movie adds dimension to the typical swashbuckler. And, as the creatures referenced in the title suggest, things are not always as they seem, but that rarely lessens the effects of perception— valid or not.
The Bonus Features
This release comes equipped with a brand new 2K scan of the interpositive by Shout! Factory in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, a significant upgrade from the previously available studio master from Universal. The new transfer offers fine detail without sacrificing natural grain, offering vivid colors and stellar contrast, particularly in the marsh sequences. The DTS-HD Master Mono track is distinct and clean, presenting dialogue well and doing justice to the effective score. A wonderful presentation of one of Hammer’s best films.
Audio Commentary, by Bruce G. Hallenbeck
Hammer film historian Bruce Hallenbeck once again returns to provide a detailed account on the film, its production history, its players and thematics. He discusses the troubled production history and the various rights issues that Hammer had with Disney. He discusses Peter Cushing’s dedication to the role and the script as well as the sequel script Cushing wrote on his own. He expresses his sheer joy in regards to the movie and its inherent mischievousness while providing context and history regarding its many creative voices. It’s a wonderful, informative track that is worth seeking out for anyone interested in the film or Hammer Studios in general.
Pulp Friction — The Cinematic Captain Clegg (22:07)
(2022, Shout! Factory)
Film historian Kim Newman delves into the genesis of the production, beginning with Russell Thorndike’s novel and its origins. He details the plot as well as Hammer’s and Peter Cushing’s interest in the adaptation. He points out the differences between the adaptations and ultimately reflects fondly on the film and its greater legacy. Overall, an enjoyable and informative look at Night Creatures and how it fits into Hammer’s stable of films.
The Hammer Must Fall — Peter Cushing’s Changing Directions (28:09)
(2022, Shout! Factory)
Film historian Jonathan Rigby focuses on Peter Cushing’s career and why the actor was so keen on playing a character like Captain Clegg. He discusses Cushing’s TV stardom as well as the multitude of roles, both horror and otherwise, like 1961’s Cash on Demand, that Cushing played for Hammer. All in all, it’s a lovely reflection on Peter Cushing’s Hammer years and a testament to the way he would challenge and push himself as a performer.
Making of Captain Clegg (32:02)
(2014, Final Cut Entertainment)
Ported over from the 2014 UK Blu-ray release of the film, this John Carson narrated feature offers a relatively short and easy to digest breakdown of the film’s production. Delving into the rights issues with Disney, the various Hammer players that went into the film’s creation and the history of Bray Studios and the various locations where the film was shot, the short serves as a solid breakdown of the film’s creation for those seeking it in condensed form.
The Mossman Legacy: George Mossman’s Carriage Collection (6:55)
(2014, Final Cut Entertainment)
Ported over from the 2014 UK Blu-ray release of the film, this feature highlights George Mossman and his elaborate collection of traditional horse drawn carriages. Acquired mostly in the wake of World War II when the world was moving to motorcars, Mossman’s collection was often leased to the film industry to appear in all manner of productions. It’s a wonderful tribute to an often unsung hero of British cinema.
Brian with Bowie (7:56)
(2022, Universal Pictures)
Special Effects Artist Brian Johnson sits down to reflect on his time working with Les Bowie. He talks about his humble beginnings in the business, sweeping the stage floors on movie productions to loading 35mm film in magazines and eventually doing effects work. He also reminisces about working with Bernard Robinson and his time on Night Creatures creating the marsh phantoms. It’s a fun and enlightening chat.
Theatrical Trailer (2:29)
A ghostly, skeletal face appears in the darkness, as a narrator speaks: “What terrors lie behind the cloak of darkness?” A scream pierces the image and the title appears: NIGHT CREATURES. An old man stares horrified at a group of skeletons riding horseback. Images of a funeral procession and Peter Cushing’s Blyss grace the screen. The ship arrives with the Royal Navy, Yvonne Romain is attacked and the Mulatto brandishes a spear. The music swells once more as the title NIGHT CREATURES again appears.
Image Gallery (3:32)
A collection of lobby cards, publicity photos, onset photography, posters, newspaper advertisements and international artwork comprise this slideshow of the film’s initial campaign.
Final Thoughts
While horror may be the genre by which Hammer is best remembered, the studio had far more to offer than the likes of gorgons and zombies. Whether the creatives involved were embarking on a rollicking pirate adventure or a moody, psychological nightmare, there was almost always a sense of atmosphere and gothic dread infused into the picture, adding a breadth of intrigue and blurring the lines between genre tropes. It’s that approach that helps Hammer’s catalogue stand out, horror or otherwise.
Shout! Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray brings Night Creatures home in a refreshed edition with a brilliant new transfer and a slew of special features. Bruce Hallenbeck’s commentary again stands out as a highlight, offering boundless insight into the production and its various facets and the inclusion of Kim Newman and Jonathan Rigby’s assessments on the proceedings further bolster an already strong release. As one of Hammer’s most fun and enduring works, this release should be considered an essential addition to any Hammer or horror fan’s collection.
A deviation from the Terence Fisher dominated Hammer landscape at the time, most notably as compared to its double bill partner The Phantom of the Opera, Night Creatures forgoes the fairy-tale like morality tale for a more grounded story about how a man becomes myth and how a myth becomes legend. It’s not baked in clear cut rights but in the foggy mists of wrongs, uninterested in landing on a judgement in lieu of presenting its characters and their deeds just as they are.
The events of Night Creatures seem like a strange thing for Disney to have been so precious about, but it is plain to see how the character of Blyss and Clegg could be interrupted as a misunderstood hero. A Robin Hood of sorts that does all he can for the underserved class at great cost to himself and, perhaps, those he loves. That’s precisely what Disney did with Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963), a movie with neither the success nor sticking power that Hammer’s own, much smaller production ultimately achieved.
The enigmatic juxtapositions of good and evil, right and wrong and everything in between, would go on to inform Hammer’s catalogue for the remainder of their days. Their film’s would only grow to become more fascinated by murkier morals, Terence Fisher himself exploring such things in his latter Frankenstein outings Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), Frankenstein Must be Destroyed (1969) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974). Night Creatures was one of a few pictures that signified a shift in storytelling prowess for Hammer, while still maintaining a fun, engaging ride of a movie that further plumbed the depths of Hammer’s immense capabilities as an important creative force in movie making.
