The Night Has Eyes

This is a wholly satisfying romantic mystery tale, with excellent performances all round, well directed by Leslie Arliss, even though it was only his second film. James Mason delivers a powerful, brooding, mysterious performance as a tormented composer living a life of isolation in an ancient house in the moors, playing Schubert in the dark, surrounded by peat bogs, 'cut off from the world', and often flooded in. It is hard to believe that Mason made one of the worst films ever, with one of the worst performances ever ('Secret Mission'), in the very same year. Must be the directors. Mary Clare is amazingly eerie and haunting in her character role, and Joyce Howard is a charming, fresh-faced ingenue with eyes full of hope - frightened eyes, but hopeful. Wifred Lawson is a marvellous character study of a thicko in thrall to Mary Clare. Plenty of mist, lots of full moons, mysterious deaths, secret rooms, it's all there. Oh yes, and let's not forget the maidens in distress who conquer their fears for love, and the good time gal who wants to get back to town where 'all those delicious men in RAF uniforms' are. This really is a good one.

James Mason stars in the story of two women who go off to try and find out what happened to a friend of theirs a year before when she went off across the moors. While out on the moors the girls get caught in a rain storm and are forced to take shelter in an old dark house where James Mason, a slightly off center composer lives. What happens after that is the movie and frankly its a great deal of fun and worth looking for. This is really an Old Dark House movie-the girls come upon the house when its all dark and shadowy, and you can feel the danger lurking in every shadow. I loved how this film took twist after twist and spun off in new directions that kept you guessing as to what may have happened to the friend and what may happen to the two girls. if you like old dark house movies or really good thrillers this one is for you.

Of all the movies I love, none has had a wider ranging impact than this one. I saw it on late night TV when I was 9, Halloween night, at a sleepover where everyone else was sleeping. I had nothing to do and couldn't figure out how to change the channel on the TV, so I was sitting there grumpily watching something random when this... strange movie came on. It was in black and white, but the people in it were beautiful, as were the clothes, the sets, everything. I was transfixed. I told my mother about this movie rapturously, and when it came on again a couple of years later she woke me at 2:00 in the morning so we could watch it together (my mother understands what it is to love a film). For many years Stephen was my tortured masculine ideal, and I married a man who definitely fits the James Mason physical type. Luckily, he has a sunny temperament and a stronger chin, so I feel like I got the best of both worlds! This movie also led me into the genre of Gothic literature, which was a major component of my reading life for a long time, and I still enjoy. Thank you to the people who made this film with love. They'll never know what it's meant to me.

A pretty young school teacher named Marian(played by the very lovely Joyce Howard) sets out to investigate the disappearance of her friend Evelyn who had vanished on the Yorkshire Moors a year before.

Soon however her and her American friend Doris(enlisted to accompany Marian) get caught in an awful rainstorm but luckily happen upon an unlikely house located in the vicinity.

A bizarre young man named Stephen Deremid(played by James Mason), a former composer, offers them shelter for the night but warns the ladies to keep their doors locked at night. We soon learn that Deremid fears he cannot trust himself - fear he might unknowingly do harm to others following his years of fighting in the Spanish war and being held in a prison camp. But Marian soon finds herself in love with Stephen and sets out to help him at any. However others have more ghoulish intentions for the couple.

This film works much better in its Romantic settings than it does in its Horror ones. Character changes come rather abruptly and unexpectedly. The Yorkshire Moors does make a creepy setting however--with the fog, muck, dead trees and nothingness certainly contributing a sense of horror to the film. The best thing to watch this one for is the romance...those expecting out and out horror will find disappointment.

James Mason stars in this semi-horror film along with Wilfrid Lawson, Mary Clare, and Joyce Howard.

Joyce plays Marian who, with her horny friend Doris (Tucker McGuire) head for the Yorkshire moors with a mission. Their good friend Evelyn was lost on these moors a year earlier, and Joyce and Doris want to find out what happened to her.

A good-looking doctor (John Fernald) meets the women on the train and offers them a ride. For reasons known only to themselves, they decide to get out and walk at a certain point. A tremendous storm opens the skies, and one of the women is almost lost in the bogs that are like quicksand.

They are saved by an ex-serviceman Stephen (Mason) who lives with a housekeeper and a handyman on the moors. The women have no choice but to spend the night, and, when there's flooding, they have to stay the next day.

Stephen is very brusque, mysterious, and wants them gone. They soon learn why.

Pretty good, atmospheric film with some nice performances. My big problem was that the Joyce Howard character fell madly in love with Mason after knowing him for five minutes.

You'll figure this out pretty quickly, as the direction to the actors (in my opinion) made it obvious. A little underplaying would have been nice on the part of one of the actors.