Night Creature

First of all, if you're writing a review and clearly don't know who Nancy Kwan is and her place in film history, you can forget pretending you know what you're talking about. That said, I agree this is not an award winning film, but it's good entertainment, which as I recall, is kind of the idea behind show business. It's a good made for TV movie, even though it was made for the SE Asia film market. At the time, and as far as can see to this day, every film had a love interest angle. This film didn't show the actual love scene, but implied it with a kiss. In the conservative SE Asian media market at the time, this is not surprising. There definitely could have been more hunting scenes, and the movie did seem hurriedly edited with a lot of choppiness from one scene to the next, but this was a budget film and not a Hollywood blockbuster. The version we see may be the one that was distributed after the Thai censors had a go at it. I don't know. All I can say is that for the $3 I paid for it, I thought it was a good movie with Donald Pleasance and Nancy Kwan, two of my favorite actors, in it. The 2 adult character actors are respected and performed well. The kid was annoying, but aren't they all? For those of you who obviously didn't exist in the 1970s, you really need a better understanding of the different culture and history of America's previous decades if you want to make commentary, and hope to make a career of it, on the films and other entertainment mediums of the time. I do recommend this film.

The information I gathered together beforehand, from reading reviews and listening to people's opinions, unmistakably taught me to keep my expectations towards "Night Creature" very minimal. Everybody agrees that this is a non-worthwhile late 70's killer animal movie with incredibly poor production values and a whole lot of preposterously unnecessary padding footage. Still I was stubborn enough to continue tracking down a copy of this movie. The concept of a macho hunter obsessed with the combat-to-the-death against an invincible animal predator, taking place on a remote and inescapable island, is undeniably intriguing and potentially very suspenseful. Particularly because the legendary Donald Pleasance ("Halloween", "The Flesh and the Fiends") plays the obsessive hunter, and because the guy in the director's seat is Lee Madden ("The Night God Screamed", "Unchained Angels"), I literally ignored all the negative warning signs and nevertheless hoped to have stumbled upon a genuine hidden. Well, I was wrong … again! "Night Creature" truly is a failure of a film, and neither Donald Pleasance nor the bloodthirsty looking black leopard could do anything to avoid that. The film is irredeemably boring and repetitive sub plots are endlessly prolonged in order to reach the 80 minutes of playtime. Perhaps the formula could have worked as a short film, or an episode in some type of TV-show, but it's too confined for a long feature film and all of Madden's attempts to broaden the concept (like adding a dumb love story or insinuating a psychological ordeal) look just plain ridiculous. Millionaire Axel MacGregor is a self-made man who already achieved many things in widely versatile areas of expertise. Now he decided for himself that he would be the one slaughtering the ferocious Black Panther that already killed several people in a remote Thai area. When the animal nearly kills him instead of vice versa, MacGregor feels like a loser and offended in his manhood. He orders to capture the animal alive and ship it to his own private island, where he intends to continue the showdown. Unfortunately, however, MaGregor's estranged family just planned a surprise visit to the island at the exact same time. I still firmly believe the above could form a fantastic starting point for an exhilarating and suspenseful Man Vs. Animal thriller, but far too many things went wrong here. For some incomprehensible reason, Lee Madden loves to shoot all the action sequences in slow-motion. This annoying little gimmick does not only interrupt the pacing and tension; it's also very pointless because the wildlife footage is unclear & fuzzy anyway. The fake love story between Pleasance's geeky daughter and a chauvinist tour guide is uninteresting and the film is full of illogical twists. The often repeated simulations where Pleasance stoic face transforms in the muzzle of the leopard are completely retarded. Judging by his uninspired performance, Donald Pleasance wasn't the least bit interested in putting energy into this film, so why should we.

Donald Pleasence plays a big-game hunter who strands himself on his private Thai island with a leopard that once almost killed him during hunting.Unfortunately his family including two adult daughters visits him so the situation becomes more complicated."Night Creature" directed by Lee Madden is a mediocre animal attack flick with low body count and the lack of tension.There are few effective horror bits for example the scene in which the cat attacks and kills one of the daughters,but not much happens during 80% of the movie.Still if you are animal attack movies collector you can give "Night Creature" a look.5 tropical rainfalls out of 10.

Horror icon Donald Pleasence is big game hunter Axel MacGregor in this non-frightening sleep-inducer.

MacGregor is so obsessed with a man-eating black leopard that he has it captured and brought to his private island, so he can hunt it. All goes well until MacGregor's family -including the lovely Nancy Kwan- shows up unexpectedly, unaware of the danger they're in.

Alas, what could have been a tense, terrifying story is instead a bland test of endurance for the viewer.

Absolutely nothing works! Not even Mr. Pleasence or Ms. Kwan can salvage this one...

The adult children of a reclusive and eccentric former game hunter, travel to his island fortress for a surprise visit. What they didn't count on was the 200 lbs jaguar he imported to hunt, now on the loose and turning the tables on the hunter. Set against the backdrop of a tropical southeast Asian island paradise, adorned by ancient temples and ruins, it's a picturesque vista that provides some interesting visual diversions both during the attacks, and in the more frivolous activities undertaken by the characters. But a scenic stage can't compensate for poor cinematic qualities and a laboured momentum that revolves around Pleasance's guilt-ridden redemption and vein attempt to re-connect with his distant daughter and the grandchild for whom he now feels responsible.

Pleasance is so-so as the mysterious tortured soul, withdrawn from mainstream society to a tranquil oasis, unable to properly adjust to life without perilous pursuit and risk. To satisfy this deficit, he imports a formidable quarry, but the script goes awry when his daughters make their unexpected visit and bad timing turns to tragedy. Kwan as the down to earth daughter is realistic if clichéd, harbouring deep resentment toward her father's absence as a child. To her credit, Kwan shows herself to be a consummate professional, and playing well below her weight in this drawn-out pot boiler.

As far as a catch-and-kill storyline goes, "Night Creature" is a basic rendition, with limited add-ons and a rather one-dimensional treatment – accordingly, the picture isn't too demanding, and nor is there much sub-text to reveal. The only skill required is to try and determine who's pursuing who, such is the propensity to film almost every action sequence against a backdrop of darkness or dense shadows, which doesn't assist the viewer when the title creature's posture is it's expression, and it's as black as the ace of spades.