NIGHT CREATURES [1962 / 2022] [Collector’s Edition] [Blu-ray] [USA Release]
Their oath was . . . TERROR! Their Cry . . . BLOOD!
In the 18th century, a Navy captain Captain Collier [Patrick Allen in ‘When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth’] and his sailors investigate the rampaging “Marsh Phantoms” terrorizing a coastal town, but their search is hindered by Reverend Dr. Blyss [Horror legend Peter Cushing] and a horrifying curse. Directed by Peter Graham Scott, this chiller also stars Oliver Reed [‘The Curse Of The Werewolf’], Yvonne Romain [‘Circus Of Horrors’] and Hammer Films regular Michael Ripper [‘Quatermass And The Pit’].
FILM FACT: The film ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ was the title released in the United States, but was originally released in the United Kingdom as ‘Captain Clegg’ and is a 1962 British adventure horror film. Variety was moderately positive, writing that the film had a “good” screenplay and “savvy” direction, “and the range of technical credits are all on the plus side, especially Arthur Grant's photography.” Among later reviews, author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three and a half out of four stars, calling it “good fun with some scary moments.” Donald Guarisco from Allmovie called it “one of the best Hammer Films productions,” praising the film's imaginative script, and colourful characterizations. The budget for the film ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ was £125,000.
Cast: Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen, Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper, Martin Benson, David Lodge, Derek Francis, Daphne Anderson, Milton Reid, Jack MacGowran, Peter Halliday, Terry Scully, Sydney Bromley, Rupert Osborne, Gordon Rollings, Bob Head, Colin Douglas, Bill Brandon (uncredited), Gerry Crampton (uncredited), Harold Gee (uncredited), Kate O'Mara (uncredited), Jack Sharp (uncredited) and Fred Wood (uncredited)
Director: Peter Graham Scott
Producer: John Temple-Smith
Screenplay: Anthony Hinds (screenplay), Barbara S. Harper (additional dialogue) and Russell Thorndike (novel) (uncredited)
Composer: Don Banks
Wardrobe Supervisor: Molly Arbuthnot
Wardrobe Mistress: Rosemary Burrows
Special Effects: Les Bowie
Cinematography: Arthur Grant, B.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Eastman Color by Pathé)
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1
Audio: English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 82 minutes
Region: Region A/1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal-International / A Hammer-Major Production / SHOUT! FACTORY
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: At the start of the film, we are informed: The Romney Marshes – flat and desolate, was the land of a proud and independent people. Their shores faced the shores of France, and many were the shipload of wine and brandy smuggled across the sea in defiance of the King’s revenue men.
Many legends have come from this corner of England – but none so widely believed or widely feared – as the Legend of the Marsh Phantoms – who rode the land on dark misty nights – and struck fear into the hearts of all who crossed their paths . . .
‘NIGHT CREATURES’ [1962] is set in late 18th-century England, the movie pits revenue men against the good (and not so good) townsfolk of a coastal village in Kent where smuggling gin is a primary livelihood. Like Southern moonshine films of the 1970’s, the film very much wants you to be sympathetic, at least somewhat, to the smugglers. The authorities are cold, cruel, and not overly likeable. Holding the town together is the local preacher, Reverend Dr. Blyss [Peter Cushing] and seems to have their welfare at heart. But preaching isn’t the only thing he does! Reverend Dr. Blyss moonlights as the ringleader of the local smuggling outfit.
In 1792 Captain Collier [Patrick Allen] is tasked with investigating reports of smuggling in the small town of Dymchurch on the English coast. He and his small band of sailors have with them a “Mulatto” [Milton Reid] who is a mute, because years before his tongue was cut out by the pirate Captain Clegg for attacking Captain Clegg’s wife. Captain Collier saved the mulatto from certain death when he was abandoned on an uninhabited island. Captain Collier now keeps him as a slave, sort of a human bloodhound.
Captain Collier has the local ale house ransacked looking for contraband alcohol. The ale house is run by Mr. Rash [Martin Benson] and his ward Imogène [Yvonne Romain]. The mulatto finds a hidden cellar. Unbeknownst to Captain Collier the ale house cellar is connected by a secret passageway to the home of Jeremiah Mipps [Michael Ripper], the coffin maker. Wine is hidden in the coffins. The building serves as the smugglers' headquarters. The parson of the village is Reverend Dr. Blyss. He is the leader of the smugglers. When the mulatto sees Reverend Dr. Blyss and he inexplicably attacks him and is subdued by the sailors.
As the story unfolds, it turns out that Reverend Dr. Blyss spoilers alert has a secret. It turns out that Captain Klegg, an infamous pirate who long outwitted the authorities and was presumed dead, isn’t buried in the local graveyard after all. Reverend Dr. Blyss, it is revealed, is in fact Captain Klegg and has been living under an assumed identity for all these years. There’s also a subplot involving a love affair between the squire’s son Harry Cobtree [Oliver Reed] and Reverend Dr. Blyss’s daughter Imogene the serving wench [Yvonne Romaine] and it works well and serves to humanize Reverend Dr. Blyss.
All told, the film is worth your attention. Because Peter Cushing, is primarily doing horror films, but never received the proper acclaim for his acting skills. This film should prove sceptics wrong. Peter Cushing is very good here, with the proper amount of cheekiness and deviousness. Captain Clegg is a memorable antihero. Good escapist fun with the proper amount of underratedness. Look for Irish actor Jack MacGowran in a small role.
* * * * *
Blu-ray Image Quality – SHOUT! FACTORY presents the film ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ and provides decent 1080p detail and is sourced from a 2K scan of the interpositive, and shown in the 2.00:1 aspect ratio and capturing some skin particulars with the varied cast, who range in age. At the start of the film it is very grainy and was worried this would be like for the rest of the film, but the quality does improve. Sets are reasonably textured, exploring the period appearance of the church and local gathering spots. Costuming retains some of its fibres. Locations are passably dimensional, exploring marshland and open fields. Colours are successfully refreshed, with outfits carrying powerful primaries, favouring deep reds and blues. Skin tones are natural, and greenery is distinct. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is heavy but film-like. Source is in decent condition, with some brief wear and tear. This Blu-ray release is likely to represent the best the film will ever look on home video and easily surpasses previous DVD and Blu-ray releases from Universal Pictures.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – SHOUT! FACTORY brings us the film ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ with one standard 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio experience, and offers a straightforward understanding of dialogue exchanges, which come through with clarity and force from the capable cast. Dramatic efforts are understood, from sharp speeches to brute grunting. Scoring cues are satisfactory, presenting decent instrumentation and power without slipping into distortive extremes. Again, this is likely the best the film will ever sound on home video and another improvement over previous Universal Pictures DVD release and this Blu-ray release of the film is superb.
* * * * *
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
2K Scan from the Interpositive
Special Feature: Pulp Friction: The Cinematic Captain Clegg [2022] [1080p] [1.78:1] [22:07] Here we get an exclusive Interview with Author/Film Historian Kim Newman and talks about the legacy of Doctor Syn – and is the character created by the author Russell Thorndike – and the subsequent film adaptations in this new featurette. Here Kim Newman talks about the director Peter Graham Scott’s 1962 film ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ aka ‘Captain Clegg’ and behind Kim Newman is a book case with eight novels by Russell Thorndike who was also a British actor and is best known for the Doctor Syn of Romney Marsh novels. Less well-known than his sister Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike but equally versatile, and Russell Thorndike's first love was writing and, after serving in World War I, he devoted himself to it and that is when Russell Thorndike started work on the legends he had heard in his childhood in Essex on the Romney Marshes about folk tales going about with the illegal smuggling in order to cheat the King’s Revenue men of Brandy and other alcohol beverages that were brought over from France that were heavily taxable and so were brought under cover of darkness and there were various roguish characters. Author Russell Thorndike had this idea of a retired pirate named Captain Clegg who was posing as the Vicar of Dymchurch aka Doctor Syn who had a triple identity, especially as the scarecrow and the leader of a band of smugglers who dressed up as the “Marsh Phantoms.” Doctor Syn had a very complicated life especially regarding the different film versions and first was the British studio Gainsborough Pictures, who were a very classy set up, but not quite lavish on spending money on making films and they made the first ‘Doctor Syn’ 1937 film that was taken from the first “Doctor Syn” novel and starred the actor George Arliss as the elderly clergyman Dr. Syn. George Arliss at the time of that film’s release was allegedly hailed as one of the great actors of all time, and at one point in a court case appearance, George Arliss declared “I am the world’s greatest living actor,” and boy oh boy, talk about being slightly big headed and pompous about yourself, but eventually over time became a living fossil. When Peter Cushing heard that they were making a film about Captain Clegg aka Reverend Dr. Blyss was extremely keen with his wife to get involved with the project and collaborate with the screenplay and was even keen to play the main character Reverend Dr. Blyss and also the evil pirate Captain Clegg, even though you never see Peter Cushing as Captain Clegg and you can see when you view the film hoe brilliant Peter Cushing plays the character Reverend Dr. Blyss in such a professional way. With the film ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ and ‘Captain Clegg’ and the time of the release it was not a big box office success, but the film was very well remembered, especially in the United Kingdom, because of the Doctor Syn novels that was so very popular with the general public who were avid readers of the author Russell Thorndike novels. Kim Newman feels it is time for another go at making another film about Doctor Syn, especially a TV series via BBC One on a Sunday afternoon and especially starring Jonathan Price the Welsh actor, who Kim Newman feels would be totally perfect for playing both characters, but sadly it seems the BBC at this moment in time has put this on hold, but again Kim Newman would relish seeing that character reborn and would also relish seeing a TV series brought back to life as a jolly good romp. So all in all, this Kim Newman special feature is well worth viewing.
Special Feature: The Hammer Must Fall: Peter Cushing's Changing Directions [2022] [1080p] [1.78:1] [28:09] Here we get to meet Johnathan Rigby [Film Historian and Author] and here to talk about the film ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ and informs us that is was a project that Peter Cushing adored because of the novels of Doctor Syn and at the time swashbuckling themed films were all the rage that peter Cushing really liked, which were sort of seen in the Hammer Films Production genre that peter Cushing appeared in a lot of those types of film genres. Peter Cushing as a child admired the Tom Mix films. On top of all that, we are informed that Peter Cushing had an amazing time filming ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATURES,’ and came at an interesting time for Peter Cushing’s acting career, and both Peter Cushing and his wife Helen were worried about Peter Cushing getting typed cast in the roles he has appeared in lots of films in the 1960’s, and especially the Hammer Horror films. When the 1960 film ‘Brides of Dracula’ came out, that starred Peter Cushing and decided for a long period to go into a sabbatical and consciously avoiding appearing in in any Horror films. Eventually, the next film project that Peter Cushing appeared in was ‘Cone of Silence,’ and wore modern clothes that audiences could not relate to as they much prefer to see Peter Cushing in historical costumes. Then Peter Cushing appeared in a costume drama film entitled ‘Sword of Sherwood Forrest’ which was a Hammer Film Production. Then Peter Cushing appeared in the following films like ‘The Flesh and The Fiend,’ Fury At Smugglers Bay,’ which sadly was a damp squid, and then went onto to appear in the film ‘The Hellfire Club’ and was a sort of historical horror film genre. Then Peter Cushing ventured into another modern film genre entitled ‘The Naked Edge’ that starred Gary Cooper and Deborah Kerr. The Peter Cushing went into making another Hammer Film Production entitled ‘Cash On Demand,’ and despite not wanting to be typecast, Peter Cushing, but the public much preferred seeing this actor in super gothic heroes and anti-hero characters, but where Peter Cushing appears in modern clothing, audiences just do not seem to like his modern character. Jonathan Rigby gets back to ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATURES,’ and feels Peter Cushing is 100% perfect in that film with his type of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dual character and director Peter Graham feels Peter Cushing’s standout speech is the sermon that Reverend Dr. Blyss gives to his church congregation and how Reverend Dr. Blyss has turned around the fortunes of the little community and none of that speech was scripted and initially the director Peter Graham Scott was very sceptical about the speech being included, but of course Peter Cushing assured the director it would work and the director was proved wrong about his impromptu speech and just shows you how Peter Cushing was such a professional actor, and was totally dedicated to his acting profession. Another film Peter Cushing appeared in was ‘The Man Who Finally Died’ by British Lion in 1962. The Peter Cushing decided to appear in an Independent Television Production entitled “Peace With Terror” about his character hatching a bomb lot. Then in 1963 Peter Cushing went back to the BBC Television and appeared in the production “Spread of the Eagle” that was a nine-part serial adaptation of three sequential history plays of William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra. Then Peter Cushing went onto making two Doctor Who films entitled ‘Dr. Who and the Daleks’ [1965] and ‘Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.’ [1966] and then went onto to appear in the film ‘At the Earth’s Core’ [1976] and also starred Doug McClure, and a lot of critics were very critical of all three films, but I thoroughly enjoyed them very much and especially Peter Cushing’s characters and in the 1966 film where he was a bit like Doctor Who. The in 1964 Peter Cushing appeared in the Freddie Francis film ‘The Evil of Frankenstein.’ Then Peter Cushing unfortunately made a couple of real turkey films entitled ‘Night Of The Big Heat,’ ‘Corruption’ and ‘The Beast Terror.’ But of course fans of Peter Cushing and I am one of them, really relished his role in the film ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATURES.’ So all in all, this Jonathan Rigby special feature is very well worth viewing.
Special Feature: Making of ‘Captain Clegg’ [2022] [1080p] [1.78:1] [32:02] Here Final Cut Entertainment presents a nice homage to the cult Hammer Film Production and the prolific amount of cult films they produced and especially over the period of the 1960’s, and especially ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ and ‘Captain Clegg’ as a double feature at the cinema and with this special feature we get to unlock the secrets of the “Marsh Phantoms” and especially take a look at the making of the film ‘Captain Clegg,’ and with this special feature it is hosted by Author Wayne Kinsey and looks at the various adaptations of the Doctor Syn novel while visiting some locations from the film. Hosted by Wayne Kinsey and narrated by John Carson who informs us that Arthur Russell Thorndike (6th February, 1885 – 7th November, 1972) who was a modest actor and well known novelist who was born in Rochester, Kent, England and brother to the famous English actress Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson. Arthur Russell Thorndike who is best known for his series of novels about one Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn who lived in Dymchurch is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England who took to the high seas as the pirate Captain Clegg and a hero in his novels and the idea of the story came from tales of smuggling in the 18th-century on Romney Marsh that was at the time a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. Arthur Russell Thorndike first introduced his dashing antihero in the novel “DOCTOR SYN – A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh” [1915] and 20 years later continued the series with Doctor Syn’s more adventures like “Doctor Syn on the High Seas” [1935], “Doctor Syn Returns” [1935], “Further Adventures of Doctor Syn” [1936], “Courageous Exploits of Doctor Syn” [1938], “Amazing Quest of Doctor Syn” [1939] and “Shadow of Doctor Syn” [1944] we also get to find how Doctor Syn became a scarecrow. Apart from the novels, Arthur Russell Thorndike pursued a small acting career, and one of his last performances was in the Sir Lawrence Oliver’s ‘Hamlet’ [1948] and in that film was the up and coming actor Peter Cushing. Arthur Russell Thorndike was not much of a businessman and sold his novel rights to his publishers Hutchinson which operated from 1887 until 1985 who then sold their rights to Gaumont-British Picture Corporation to make the feature film entitled ‘Dr. Syn’ that was a 1937 British black-and-white historical dramatic adventure film, directed by Roy William Neill that starred George Arliss (in his last feature film), Margaret Lockwood, Graham Moffatt and Ronald Shiner. The film was basically an adaption of the Doctor Syn’s first novel by Arthur Russell Thorndike, set in 18th century Kent and the events at the film's climax were both softened considerably in comparison to Arthur Russell Thorndike's original story. By 1961 Hammer Film Production had the reputation of making colour versions of the horror classics and they needed a feature film for their planned horror double bill for Universal International with the remake of ‘The Phantom of the Opera.’ Independent Producer John Temple Smith had seen a copy of the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation 1937 version of ‘Dr. Syn’ and thinking it would be a great idea to do a modern version of ‘Dr. Syn’ and bought the rights to the 1937 film from the Rank Organisation. When John Temple Smith showed the original 1937 film to Film Producer Michael Carreras (21st December, 1927 – 19th April. 1994) at Hammer Film Production who in fact was the son of founder James Carreras, and was totally hooked and so contacted Universal International about making a modern version of the 1937 and they too were also hooked and so coproduced with Hammer-Major Production, and John Temple Smith was the main producer of the ‘Captain Clegg’ film and joining the team was director Peter Graham Scott. As to John Temple Smith who actually played a small role as a page boy in the Alfred Hitchcock film ‘Young and Innocent’ in 1937, and actually got to see the great director first hand at work and was totally hooked into becoming a future film director and also was lucky to work as a third assistant by the age of 17 and was also fortunate to witness the methods of another three distinguished directors and they were Roy Bolting, Sir David Lean and Carol Reed. After the Second World War John Temple Smith took the advice of director Roy Bolting who told him the best way to become a director was to start in the cutting room and among some of the films he edited was the Graham Greene 1948 film ‘Brighton Rock.’ Peter Graham Scott started directing for television ‘The Hide-out’ [1956] and for major productions. On top of all that, to get the project up and running for ‘Captain Clegg’ film you of course need a good screenplay, so with John Temple Smith and Peter Graham Scott did their first screenplay draft entitled ‘Dr. Syn, The Curse of Captain Clegg.’ But Hammer-Major was not at all enthused and so they called in John Elder alias Tony Hinds who was a film producer and writer associated with Hammer Film Productions. His father, William Hinds, founded Hammer Films in 1934, but Tony Hinds was also a prolific screenwriter and so was asked re-write a new screenplay for ‘Captain Clegg’ which Hammer Film Productions gave a 100% approval. But out of the blue, Walt Disney was claiming they had bought the rights to the “Doctor Syn” book franchise and were busy preparing their own film adaption, but it transpired that Disney had contacted Arthur Russell Thorndike’s publishers in February 1961 and that an executive had sold them the motion picture rights, and were unaware that they had sold some of the film rights to Gaumont-British Picture Corporation in 1936. But it seems therefore the film rights that John Temple Smith had acquired from the Rank Organisation, and it seems the film rights that John Temple Smith thought he had acquired from the Rank Organisation, was only the remake of the 1937 ‘Dr. Syn’ British black-and-white historical dramatic adventure film, directed by Roy William Neill that starred George Arliss, and now the Disney organisation actually owned the rights to all of the “Doctor Syn” novel franchise and hence the characters and they now created an embarrassing impasse, but the Disney organisation agreed that Hammer-Major can use the word Dr. Syn, and can go ahead and make their ‘Captain Clegg’ film, so Tony Hinds alias John Elder changed the title character to Reverend Dr. Blyss and on top of all that they were allowed to use all of the characters names in the original 1937 ‘Dr. Syn’ film. The 1963 Disney film project ‘Dr. Syn alias the Scarecrow’ that starred Patrick McGoohan of the famous TV series “The Prisoner” who appeared as Dr. Christopher Syn / the Scarecrow and other stars included George Cole as Mr. Sexton Mipps / Hellspite, Tony Britton as Simon Bates and Michael Hordern as Squire Thomas Banks and the film was with a double bill presentation with the Walt Disney animated film ‘The Sword in the Stone’ for a Christmas release in 1963. But with the Tony Hinds screenplay, was modified drastically compared to the one John Temple Smith and Peter Graham Scott worked on the first disastrous draft, but was in the framework of the first “Doctor Syn” novel. But the Hammer-Major film ‘Captain Clegg’ differed greatly with the original 1937 film, but much more of what is in the first “Doctor Syn” novel. But Tony Hind’s final screenplay was delivered on the 18th September, 1961, and John Temple Smith and Peter Graham Scott then passed that screenplay onto an old friend and that was writer Barbara S. Harper (1912 – 1974) who polished the dialogue. The film ‘Captain Clegg’ went into production on Monday 25th September, 1961 and John Temple Smith and Peter Graham Scott and Hammer-Major were unanimous on the choice of the actor to play the character Reverend Dr. Blyss and that was of course Peter Cushing and of course was totally delighted, especially being a massive fan of the “Doctor Syn” novels and to show his enthusiasm, wrote his own screenplay treatment based on the novels of “Doctor Syn on the High Seas” and “Doctor Syn Returns,” and Peter Cushing even did some amazing colourful water colours of the characters in their wonderful suggest costume designs for the project. But when Hammer-Major saw Peter Cushing’s screenplay treatment they were not very enamoured, as they thought it was too flowery and would have infringed on the Disney film project and would also cause a lot of legal problems, so Peter Cushing’s screenplay was over time forgotten about. But despite this, they thought Peter Cushing performance in the film outstanding. We are informed how the moment Reverend Dr. Blyss aka Captain Clegg was killed in the film by the “Mulatto” [Milton Reid] and what they used was a hollow harpoon which ran on a wire that hit a pad of polystyrene and thick cork on Peter Cushing’s back. The film ‘Captain Clegg’ is another testament how professional actor Peter Cushing prepared for his character and even went to the St Michael's Church in Bray on Thames of Berkshire, to consult the Reverend Christopher Durrant, Assistant Curate on coaching Peter Cushing on the marriage ceremony, and according to John Temple Smith, actor Oliver Reed and Yvonne Romain did the marriage scene in the film, but Oliver Reed actually thought he had actually been married in real life to Yvonne Romain, that is how professional Peter Cushing performance was. In the film there was a fine supporting cast that included Patrick Allen, Martin Benson, David Lodge, Derek Francis and stalwart Hammer actor Michael Ripper, and in the scene where he has to carry the dead Reverend Dr. Blyss aka Captain Clegg off to the empty grave, no way could he carry the real Peter Cushing, so was substituted with a dummy. The film was shot at the Bray Film Studios which of course was a British film and television facility in Water Oakley near Bray, Berkshire and it is best known for its association with the Hammer Film franchise that was next to the River Thames, just outside Windsor since 1951 and Hammer Film Productions learnt later on that it was cheaper to hire a grand house to shoot scenes inside the grand house than to shoot scenes and build scenery at the Bray Film Studios and Hammer Film Productions only did one film at a time and of course everyone was focus on that one film in production and technicians and character actors were used again and again, giving the company its repertoire feel and had its sense of being a family unit and was very well known for its canteen and good family cooking. Whenever we see the glowing marsh phantoms riding their horses, and they were using a very cheap trick, by using STARGLOW Light-Reflective SMART Paint which is used on the road signs so the headlights of the car at night picks up whatever is on the road sign and the horse riders costumed were mad from hessian which again were painted with the white reflective paint to light up the riders and their horses with two big lamps aimed at the riders and their horses. Principal photography ended on Monday the 6th November, 1961 after six weeks filming. The Hammer-Major film ‘Captain Clegg’ was shown as a double bill with ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and had the premiere in Leicester Square in London on the 7th June, 1962 and went on general release on the 25th June, 1962. About three weeks later the film was released in America but as ‘NIGHT CREATURES.’ As to the British critics comments on the two films, they felt ‘Captain Clegg’ was somewhat favourable, whereas ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ came under harsh attack and box office receipts were very poor. Russell Thorndike the novelist passed away on the 7th November, 1972. Peter Cushing in the same year began writing a screenplay entitled “Waiting Revenge” and he had only managed to write 22 hand written pages and never saw the light of day. ‘Captain Clegg’ is a pleasing adventure romp and a very welcome departure from the Hammer Horror cycle of films, and everyone felt Peter Cushing gave a very commanding performance as the reformed pirate and actor Michael Ripper was never better at Hammer Film Studios. Director Peter Graham Scott’s Doctor Syn adventure remains a firm favourite and will continue to thrill, as long as the Marsh Phantoms haunt the Romney Marshes on dark nights. So all in all, the Making of ‘Captain Clegg’ special feature is very well worth viewing.
Special Feature: The Mossman Legacy: George Mossman's Carriage Collection [2014] [1080p] [1.78:1] [6:55] This short special feature highlights the carefully preserved horse-drawn carriages used frequently in the Hammer films and is narrated and presented by Wayne Kinsey and informs us that George Mossman who was born in Caddington in Luton in 1908. Shortly after the First World War, George Mossman left school and started work for a local butcher, Panters, in Park Street, St. Albans as a delivery driver where he delivered meat in the surrounding villages in Georg’s family butchers cart, this was the beginning of George Mossman's lifelong interest in horse-drawn transport and later on started collecting all types of horse-drawn carriages. After the end of the Second World War George Mossman had a varied working life, running several businesses and running a farm, he then moved away from horse drawn transport and moved into petrol driven vehicles and started to burn and selling the wooden horse-drawn carriages very cheaply, but had a change of mind and then started to collecting wooden horse-drawn transport and rebuilding them to working order and employing painters and decorators while at the same time he acquired a leasing company providing a selection of every type of horse-drawn period carriages for special events special events such as weddings, carnivals and public grand occasions. George Mossman even drove his carriages in London’s Lord Mayor's Show for 25 years and provided some carriages and drivers for Queen Elizabeth II Coronation procession in 1953. So it came to no surprise was asked to supply original and replica horse-drawn carriages to the British film industry. George Mossman’s horse-drawn carriages appeared as early as 1945 in the film ‘The Corn Is Green’ that starred Bette Davis and also ‘The Wicked Lady’ that starred Margarete Lockwood and continued to supply the horse-drawn carriages right until 1985. The first George Mossman horse-drawn carriage to be noticed in a Hammer film was ‘Dick Turpin Highwayman’ in 1955 and was shown in HAMMERSCOPE. The Mossman Carriage Collection was donated to a museum housing a collection of horse-drawn vehicles in Stockwood Discovery Centre, London Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, England and was donated after the death of George Mossman in 1993. It has examples of horse-drawn road vehicles and carriages used in Britain dating from Roman times up until the 1930’s. The collection has examples of vehicles used by tradesmen and ordinary people as well as luxury vehicles and state coaches used by the British nobility and on the large British estates. The collection is significant to the people of Luton, Bedfordshire as it documents the life’s work and passions of a local man. It is also of national significance as the largest private collection of horse-drawn vehicles. Unusual vehicles include an 18th-century landau and an early-19th-century barouche, both in very good condition. There is also an 1890’s 'char-a-bang' which dates from the early days of public transportation. The last two years of George Mossman life, her would visit the Mossman Carriage Collection museum to talk to the assembled visitors about the history of the horse-drawn vehicles and what they were used for and especially in certain films and he really loved talking to the guest visitors at the museum. They say that it must be a Hammer film fan dream and especially when George Mossman talked about his collection of his horse drawn carriages and especially the ones used in the Hammer films. But through George Mossman’s kindness, his collection of his horse drawn carriages are still today on display in the Mossman Carriage Collection museum. From here on we get Wayne Kinsey to show us around the museum and explains in detail what each horse drawn carriage appeared in what Hammer film, which we actually get to view in several film clips of the actual horse drawn carriages. So next time you get to see a horse drawn carriage thundering down the road, spare a thought for George Mossman beautiful panelling and his unique contribution to the British film industry and especially Hammer Film Productions. At that point is where the special feature ends and is definitely well worth viewing and is totally fascinating to hear all about the wonderful George Mossman. The George Mossman Collection is courtesy of Lisa Ashby at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, London Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, England.
Special Feature: Brian With Bowie [2022] [1080p] [1.78:1] [7:56] Here we get a very short Interview with Oscar winning special effects artist Brian Johnson and talks about his time working as an assistant to Les Bowie on the film ‘Captain Clegg’ in the brand new interview. Brian Johnson was a good friend to Les Bowie and was asked to help out, as in 1961 had just left the Royal Air Force for national Service and at the time had no work, so again Les Bowie asked Brian Johnson to help out on some film shots of ‘Captain Clegg’ that the actors peter Cushing and Oliver Reed appeared in and Brian Johnson really enjoyed watching their performances, but most of all thought Peter Cushing was a totally superb actor, and also felt Oliver Reed did a good job in the scenes he appeared in, but he noticed that Oliver Reed did seem to like a drink or two. Brian Johnson informs us how he got the job, because his mentor Les Bowie offered Brian Johnson the job, knowing he had just come out of the Royal Air Force and top of all that, Les Bowie was a superb matt artist and Brian Johnson got his first job with les Bowie at the Anglo Scottish Pictures organisation and Les Bowie was doing matt painting and teaching Derek Meddings [eventually British special effects designer], Bob Archer and Ray Cable at the same time and Brian Johnson was given the job sweeping the floor of the camera room, the stage and learning to load the 35mm film into the magazines and that is where Brian Johnson again got his first job with Les Bowie and felt that he was an amazing man and originally was a tank driver in the Second World War and use to have to steer the tank and map reading at the same time and that is how he survived the war, eventually after being released as a prisoner of war and did painting to keep him well occupied. But when Les Bowie was finally released, went to work for Pinewood Studios and that is where he started doing matt paintings and then formed Bowie Films and established his own FX unit in partnership with Vic Margutti and A. Val Elsey. This was later expanded to become Bowie Films Ltd., ultimately Britain's leading FX unit, with a staff of 75 people at work creating miniatures, mechanical devices, trick photography and matte paintings. One film especially they worked on was ‘Captain Clegg’ and eventually Brian Johnson also worked on the film and of course lots of the matt paintings of Les Bowie were used in the ‘Captain Clegg’ film and was also involved on the filming of the horses that glowed in the dark with the luminous white paint. At around Christmas time, Peter Cushing gave everyone a Christmas card and wrote in the card, “Thank you do much for working on this film production and really appreciated it” and was signed Peter, but sadly Brian Johnson cannot find his personal Christmas card and again Brian Johnson tells us what it was like to work with Peter Cushing, who was such a nice kind person. One of the other actors in the film ‘Captain Clegg’ was Michael Ripper who of course was another stalwart actor for Hammer Film Productions and was also a very professional superb actor. Also there was the brilliant Bernie Robinson the Production Designer, and as usual was totally fantastic at designing amazing sets on a very limited budget. Brian Johnson says that working on the film ‘Captain Clegg’ was not an enormous amount of work, but he did help with some of the processes and some of the effects work like the gun fire and explosions, but he also did some of the fire effects. Brian Johnson concludes with other brilliant people he worked with and they were Terry Schubert [special effects], Jack Wallis [special effects] who originally worked for B.O.A.C. as a steward, and then the other people he worked with was Jai Singh who was a Seek, Ray Caple [matte artist] and Kit West [special effects assistant]. At this point the special feature ended and although it was very short, it was still very interesting to hear the comments by Brian Johnson and his homage to his dear friend Les Bowie.
Theatrical Trailer [1962] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:29] This is the Original USA Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘NIGHT CREATURES.’
Special Feature: Image Gallery [1962] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:32] Here we get to view a collection of 48 film stills, BTS snaps, publicity shots, international poster art, lobby cards, and a newspaper adverts relating to the ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ aka ‘Captain Clegg.’
Audio Commentary with Film Historian Bruce G. Hallenbeck: Bruce G. Hallenbeck is a writer and actor, known for ‘London After Midnight’ [2005], ‘The Drowned’ [2006] and ‘Vampyre’ [1990]. As the film starts, Bruce G. Hallenbeck introduces himself, and informs us that he has been involved with the “Little Shoppe of Horrors” movie fanzine for over 40 years and is here to talk in-depth about his favourite swashbuckling film ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ and in England was entitled ‘Captain Clegg’ and with the first scene we get to view the incredible actor Milton Reid as the “Mulatto” who got his tongue cut out by the pirate Captain Clegg and gives a short history about the actor Milton Reid, who was born Milton Rutherford Reid was a British-Indian actor and professional wrestler. He was born in India, the son of a Scottish-born Customs and Excise inspector and an Indian woman. He wrestled in England under the name of The Mighty Chang and although he became a popular and familiar character actor in dozens of films and television shows, the work did not produce immense wealth and in 1965 Milton found himself in court for non-payment of a £52 car repair bill, incurred when he was in Rome shooting spy movie ‘Desperate Mission’ [1965]. Other films he appeared in were ‘The Camp on Blood Island’ [1958], ‘Blood of the Vampire’ [1958], ‘The Terror of the Tongs’ [1961], ‘Dr. No’ [1962], ‘55 Days at Peking’ [1963], ‘Casino Royale’ [1967], ‘The Assassination Bureau’ [1969], ‘The Blood on Satan's Claw’ [1971], ‘Dr. Phibes Rises Again’ [1972] and ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ [1977]. Having retired from wresting and with film parts becoming fewer, Milton Reid decided to try his luck in "Bollywood" and in 1980 returned to India. However, various problems arose and in 1981 he was arrested by Indian police for "trespassing, damaging furniture and disconnecting a telephone." The following year Milton Reid was stated by some reference works to have died from a heart attack, but that was incorrect. The actor's son (same name) was still receiving correspondence sent by his father from Bangalore up to December 1986. Significantly, nothing was heard after that date, and the present assumption is that Milton Reid died in obscurity somewhere in India during the early part of 1987, although no death certificate or confirmation has been received by the family. Bruce G. Hallenbeck feels Milton Reid best performance was in ‘NIGHT CREATURES.’ Bruce G. Hallenbeck goes into great detail how ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ aka ‘Captain Clegg’ came to fruition with lots of hurdles and as you will read above, that ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ aka ‘Captain Clegg’ was instigated with someone seeing a 16mm black-and-white copy of the 1937 film ‘Dr. Syn’ and they decided a modern remake of that film should be filmed. Bruce G. Hallenbeck talks in-depth about the famous Les Bowie who he felt was the a master of special effects, especially his amazing matt paintings and who had worked on some very special horror films. Bruce G. Hallenbeck talks in-depth about all the main character actors who played their roles in the film so well, especially Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed and Michael Ripper who alone has appeared in 35 Hammer Film Productions, and also mentions Patrick Allen in his appearance in this Hammer Film Productions, which the actor thoroughly enjoyed being in the film, but Bruce G. Hallenbeck feels the actor Peter Cushing was totally brilliant throughout the film. Bruce G. Hallenbeck says that John Temple-Smith was interviewed long after the film was released and said that he had very fond memories of the production and that it was a beautiful film to make and was made at a time when Hammer Film Productions was at its zenith and also top of its game and that Bray Studios was a great place to work. Bruce G. Hallenbeck mentions that they did not do a lot of crane work for shooting certain scenes, as it would cost them £25.00 a day’s use and was a lot of money in those days. Also John Temple-Smith said that if they had made films at Elstree Studios it would of cost them twice as much to make a film at that facility. Once again Bruce G. Hallenbeck talks again about the actor Michael Ripper and his appearance in the ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ aka ‘Captain Clegg’ and the actor was quoted as saying, “One of my favourite films was ‘Captain Clegg,’ a great part, a great story and a great cast,” and as usual Michael Ripper steals most of the scenes in the film, and it was a pleasure watching him do what he did. They say that Peter Graham Smith and John Temple-Smith wanted to push the boundaries in ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ aka ‘Captain Clegg’ and they poured everything into the film than anyone thought they could do, with time and money available, and they budget was around £1,2000, which wasn’t very much, but every penny is up there on the screen. Again actor Patrick Allen really enjoyed being in the film and was a great experience, and found Peter Cushing a true gentleman and a great actor. When the film ‘Captain Clegg’ came out on general release in the United Kingdom and was a double bill with another HAMMER film ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and in America the double bill was ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ and both critics in the UK and America gave the same reviews and for ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ they said that ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ got favourable reviews, whereas ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ was harshly criticised. But overall ‘Captain Clegg’ was the outright winner and Variety said about the film “Pure escapism, but most notable HAMMER has come to certify solid values in all production departments and there is no mystery why these films rate audiences’ allegiants, the historic references is very convincing and especially Peter Cushing as the pirate come vicar.” The London Time called the film, “An almost jolly story of smugglers and the King’s men, and it had a great heart.” Bruce G. Hallenbeck compared the Disney version to the HAMMER film version, especially where the Inn keeper stabs one of the revenue men and wipes the knife’s blade on the dead man’s clothing, whereas with the Disney film version you would never witness that type of scene. When the scarecrow [Oliver Reed] gets shot by Patrick Allen and they all march towards the scarecrow to check it out, Bruce G. Hallenbeck says, “And how Oliver Redd got out of his scarecrow costume in such a short time without being seen, is anyone’s guess, but who really cares, the scene is a lot of fun and all logic goes out of the window and this is HAMMER at their rollicking best, firing on all cylinders with their director, actors, cinematographer and musical score. Ian Scoones (1940 – 2010) was an assistant to special effects wizard Les Bowie at Hammer's Bray Studio, recalls of all the films he has worked on involving Peter Cushing in a leading roll and he only heard the actor once raise his voice above the director and always a consummate professional actor. Peter Cushing as usual dominates in the ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ and he was not a method actor and Bruce G. Hallenbeck saw Peter Cushing on stage at the 1975 “Famous Monster Convention.” a fan convention in New York and he heard someone from the audience to ask the actor how he prepares for a role in a film, and said, “I learn the lines and say them,” and Bruce G. Hallenbeck felt the actor was being characteristic modest, but despite that he was as usual a consummate actor and of course had been classically trained and also worked with other actors like Sir Lawrence Oliver and knew exactly what he was doing all of the time. When we see Milton Reid as the “Mulatto” with the long metal spear, creeps silently through the window where Peter Cushing is asleep in the chair and wakes up startled and just misses the metal spear being thrown at him and instead hits the chair and Bruce G. Hallenbeck says that scene could of easily have a stuntman for Peter Cushing, but the actor insisted on doing the stunt himself or as much as possible, because Peter Cushing loved all that swashbuckling stuff, and again that violent scene would not of been included in the Disney film version. Bruce G. Hallenbeck feels the actress Yvonne Romain had a very brief acting career, which he felt was such a shame, as Yvonne Romain had an astonishing beauty, and had considerable acting talent, which Yvonne Romain proved in such films as ‘Circus of Horrors’ and ‘Devil Doll’ among other films in her CV and is still beloved of all of the other HAMMER leading ladies and known as a “Screen Queen” par excellent and a far better actress than Yvonne Romain is given credit for, and feels Yvonne Romain is one of the top five HAMMER actresses in Bruce G. Hallenbeck’s book. Bruce G. Hallenbeck says, “Everything comes to a head now, as we move to the film’s climax,” and also says, “Way back in 1962, I was so thrilled to view the ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ for the first time in the cinema, that the film ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ on a double bill, almost felt like an anti-climax afterwards at the time, whereas ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ had everything, the spooky mysterious atmosphere, the moorland setting that HAMMER always did so well and of course there was Peter Cushing, it had skeletons and lots of skeletons, and ghostly riders, that were new to Bruce G. Hallenbeck, especially where he grew up in New York, because of reading author Washington Irving’s 1819 “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and I was always looking out for the headless horseman behind every tree, whereas the “Marsh Phantoms” at least had heads, but there were no less spooky for it.” Bruce G. Hallenbeck feels the film ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ is far superior to the 1937 ‘Dr. Syn’ film, because HAMMER always does a few steps further in pushing the boundaries, partly because censorship had loosened in the United Kingdom in 1962, but on top of all that, they were technically brilliant because of the actors and craft people, both in front and behind the camera, and ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ is firing on all cylinders that is a joy to behold. When Peter Cushing does his big church pulpit speech to the congregation, especially when the revenue men turn up and in fact the director Peter Graham Scott and allowed Peter Cushing’s own written speech and not the one in the script, and really delivered his speech really beautiful and Peter Cushing did not do any rehearsal before the camera shot that scene, but Peter Cushing just delivered it so professionally, and Bruce G. Hallenbeck thought of Peter Cushing as a crafty old sod, and thought it was the best speech in the film, and then when the fight started and Peter Cushing swings from the metal chandelier, it was very Errol Flynn like performance, and Peter Cushing loved that daring do and he really pulled it off, compared to the old fashioned 1937 film. When Peter Cushing gets killed by the “Mulatto” by throwing the metal speer into Peter Cushing’s back, which was well padded to not actually hurt the actor. It is said that ‘Captain Clegg’ aka ‘NIGHT CREATUTRS’ has something that has something that no other HAMMER HORROR film has possessed and that is “heart,” and it is also said that the scene with Michael Ripper carrying the dead Captain Clegg was a fine performance mourning his dead friend while carrying him to his empty grave, which in fact was a dummy, and the actor Michael Ripper rarely got a chance to be a hero, but he is one here and especially in a moving scene, while carrying the dead Captain Clegg. As the slab is put over the grave with the deceased Captain Clegg inside it, in his rightful grave, and the end titles fill the screen, and so ends HAMMER’s most greatest and very magical swashbuckler film, but with a tragic ending, that has the great impact, following the light hearted action of the film, and Bruce G. Hallenbeck informs us that it was his all-time favourite film and he hopes it will be yours too. And finally, Bruce G. Hallenbeck says, “This is Bruce G. Hallenbeck wishing you nothing but happy endings and have a tankard of rum on me.” All in all, this Bruce G. Hallenbeck is a totally fascinating and intelligent audio commentary and well worth listing to and gets a five star rating from me.
Finally, ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ is an exciting thriller cloaked in spooky gothic tones of a typical Hammer production and filled with an energetic cast who are having a roaring good time. While the “creatures” themselves are barely a blip in the narrative the film is an entertaining jaunt for Hammer fans new and old. ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ is typical Hammer in many ways, forgoing a gradual sense of urgency to deal with thin subplots involving uninteresting characters. And there's the presence of the “marsh phantoms,” a collection of spooky skeleton-looking horse riders hoping to inspire terror in outsiders. Though the movie has numerous elements of horror and some strong frightful imagery of skeletal figures on horseback, ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ is not a typical horror film. Rather, it’s a thoroughly entertaining, adventurous, swashbuckler film that neither takes itself too seriously, nor makes a mockery of the proceedings. Released in the UK as ‘Captain Clegg,’ the film is rich in atmospherics and benefits from very good set design, costumes, and lighting. Above all, ‘NIGHT CREATURES’ contains a strong leading performance by Peter Cushing and a good supporting performance by a somewhat youthful Oliver Reed whose physicality is on full display here. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
