La Nuit de la grande chaleur

This was only one of three films that Planet Film Productions made and I have always thought it was an eerie and effective film. It's definitely low budget but I'm not sure a bigger budget would have helped this film. Story takes place on an island off of England and the temperature has been rising steadily for the last few days. A writer named Jeff Callum (Patrick Allen) and his wife Frankie (Sarah Lawson) own and run the local Inn and pub and one of the tenants renting a room upstairs is a mysterious and unsociable man named Godfrey Hanson (Christopher Lee). Along with Dr. Vernon Stone (Peter Cushing), Jeff and Frankie sit around the pub trying to figure out why its so hot on the island but not on the mainland. Jeff has requested the help of a secretary to help him on his new novel and a woman named Angela Roberts (Jane Merrow) has come for the job. Unknown to Frankie, Angela and Jeff know each other and had an affair some time earlier. Angela keeps prancing about in a two piece bathing suit and putting the moves on Jeff who only replies with kissing when Frankie is not looking. Then one day a local sheep farmer stumbles into the Inn and mumbles something about his sheep being dead. Hanson is very interested and goes to check it out. He finds the sheep dead and takes samples. When he gets back he learns that Frankie has seen something come down out of the sky and land behind the hill. Jeff demands that Hanson tell him who he is and what he is doing. Hanson tells him that he is a scientist sent to check out what things have been coming from the sky and the reason for the heat. He tells Jeff that they are aliens from a hot planet and they generate heat which is why it is so hot. Meanwhile, the temperature keeps rising and all the bottles at the pub start to explode. They all figure that within a few hours the heat will be unbearable, if the aliens don't get them first. The aliens make this loud whirring sound and they consume energy like batteries and generators and can burn humans up completely. This film was directed by Terence Fisher who specialized in science fiction and horror. He became the premier horror film director in England and he knew exactly what to do with a limited budget. Fisher knew how to create great atmosphere and this film has plenty of it. If you notice in certain scenes when the actors are outside you can actually see their breath! Obviously it wasn't hot like the story of the film wanted you to believe. Fisher had his actors smear glycerine on themselves to help create that sweaty effect and then they had to wear damp shirts. I couldn't help but notice that Cushing's character keeps his suit and jacket on even though it suppose to be about 100 degrees! Its okay, Peter! Take off your jacket! And how about Patrick Allen's response when his wife asks him about Angela. "She was a slut and I wanted her"!! I'm sure she felt relieved to know that its not real love. For you trivia buffs out there, Patrick Allen and Sarah Lawson are married in real life. Along with the great atmosphere I liked the deliberate pace that the film set and it was in no hurry to allow viewers to see what the aliens look like. Yeah okay, they look like fried eggs but I always thought they looked liked that rock creature "Ahorta" from that Star Trek episode. Another thing I noticed was that this was one of the few Cushing/Lee films where both of them don't make it through the end. Fisher also directed "Island of Terror" which this is reminiscent of. It would make a good double bill on a rainy night. I think true lovers of older science fiction and horror can appreciate this film more than casual viewers. I've always found it to be an enjoyable film and I hope it comes out on DVD soon!

Something strange is occurring on the island of Faro in the British Isles. Whilst temperatures on the mainland are cold, the temperature on this island is mysteriously increasing to an unbearably hot level.

Pub owner and novelist Patrick Allen (Jeff Callum) holds court to the cast that includes his pub landlady wife Sarah Lawson (Frankie), new secretary Jane Merrow (Angela), doctor Peter Cushing (Vernon Stone), scientist Christopher Lee (Hanson), villagers William Lucas (Ken), Kenneth Cope (Tinker) and Thomas Heathcote (Bob) and a few others.

There is a body count that piles up as people become incinerated after hearing a high pitched sound. The script-writers wisely kill off a comedy tramp figure early on in the film but it's then a lottery as to who is next.

The film's interest comes from the love triangle between Allen, Lawson and Merrow and contains, apart from hilariously frank dialogue (see summary), quite a gripping dramatic moment between Lawson and Merrow. Another moment that sticks out in the film is when Allen confronts Lee about his anti-social behaviour. Once again, we get some 'no-holds-barred' dialogue that progresses the plot and swings the audience to Christopher Lee's favour (previous to this point, he seems like a dick). We now want to see Allen and Lee working together.

It's a shame but the film's finale plays out like a below-par 'B' movie with no suspense and an ending that just happens. It could have been so much better. If you are frightened by pace-less fried-egg jellyfish, then you won't be disappointed. It's a better drama than it is a horror.

The short-lived Planet Productions managed to get the great Terence Fisher and Peter Cushing together again (like 'Island of Terror' a year earlier). Even Christopher Lee was persuaded to take part in this science-fiction flick!

This effort was actually filmed in February/March 1967 and, as such, would not have been a particularly comfortable film to make (the cast were covered in glycerine to create the sweaty effect!).

Fisher manages to create a suitably isolated feel to the whole film - the inhabitants, who literally "live in their little old world" are cut off from the rest of civilisation.

However, as with films of this kind, the low budget decidedly restricts the scope of the film. There is a ton of exhausting dialogue at the inn and the characters are not particularly interesting.

Peter Cushing's character of Dr. Stone gets very little screen time and it is strange not to see Cushing at the climax of the film!

Christopher Lee walks around very sternly, not particularly masking his discomfort well at appearing in such a film.

The creatures responsible for causing the heatwave in the film are cheap and nasty creations, that do nothing to enhance the credibility of the film.

Ultimately, despite the fact that the film is well-intentioned, it is far from Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee's best!

Another Planet Films production which, on the whole, is superior to ISLAND OF TERROR (1966) - in fact emerging, for about two-thirds of its length, as a reasonably compelling and effective bit of sci-fi on QUATERMASS lines (likewise, originating on TV and with the plot's heat-wave angle inspired, perhaps, by THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE [1961]).

However, the appearance of the silly-looking aliens at the climax lets the film down (given the exaggerated horrified reaction, earlier on, of the victims when facing them - as yet unseen by the audience!) but, then, the score, the handling and the performances (with Christopher Lee an unusual and, therefore, interesting 'hero') are, again, above-average for the genre - even if Peter Cushing's 'guest star' role isn't one of his best (despite what Leonard Maltin says in his "Film Guide"!). Still, perhaps the best thing about the entire film is the way it successfully integrates a tension-filled romantic triangle (treated in a remarkable, and unexpectedly, adult manner) - involving Patrick Allen and Sarah Lawson (a married couple in real life!), and the sluttish Jane Merrow - amid the gripping 'invasion' plot.

As with ISLAND OF TERROR, the print utilized for this DVD transfer has undergone no visible restoration - and the film's quality, with respect to its presentation, suffers accordingly! The accompanying Audio Commentary, then - featuring Lee, scriptwriting couple Pip and Jane Baker, and moderator Marcus Hearn - is all over the place, but is certainly animated enough to remain consistently interesting throughout.

I'm fed up with reading about how bad the spfx are supposed to be in this film. Personally, I blame Christopher Lee for saying bad things about them in his biography. Actually, this film is not bad. It is a story about ordinary people in an extra-ordinary situation (an alien invasion). The people are stuck in a claustrophobic setting (a pub on an island) and it's about how they confront what's facing them. This is a fairly faithful adaptation of the book it is based on. It's more character than spfx lead, and I suppose this is the problem for modern audiences who have short attention spans and lack the ability to follow a scene that lasts for more than 3 seconds. Still, if you like sci-fi from an age when people had brain cells (ie, HG Wells, Jules Verne, John Wyndham, etc...) and don't mind spfx that could have come from the early Dr Who serials and the original Star Trek series, then you may well enjoy this film. If you happen to think Star Wars was the greatest film ever made, then don't bother -- it'll be way above your head.