Night of the Eagle

Screamplay by Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, based on Fritz Leiber's excellent novel, CONJURE WIFE- what more could one want? While it's a far cry from the likes of THE INNOCENTS or THE HAUNTING (the original version), BURN, WITCH, BURN! is, nonetheless, an entertaining entry in the eerie-goings-on genre. It's the sometimes subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) interplay between the women that makes this movie worth watching. This is one of those rare instances where one finds oneself wishing that the movie would go on just a while longer: it would've been interesting, indeed, to have seen the gradual escalation of hostilities between the, er, forces gathered here.

A college professor in England named Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) and his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) seem to live a charmed life. Then Norman finds out Tansy is using witchcraft to "protect" him. He firmly disbelieves of it and makes her burn all her protective charms. Then his life becomes a living hell...

Scary, well-made British chiller filmed in atmospheric black & white. This is the kind of movie where the chills creep up on you and quietly scare you.

The acting is great all around. Peter Wyngarde is very effective as Taylor--you see his character struggling to rationalize all the bad things happening to him. Surprisingly director Sidney Hayers (in an interview with Fangoria magazine) didn't want Wyngarde for the role. It was well known that Wyngarde was gay and the director felt he would be too effeminate for the role! His doubts were totally misfounded. Blair is even better as his wife Tansy. Her sacrifice at one point in the movie is actually very moving. And I'll never forget Margaret Johnston--that woman was EVIL. Trust me, I'm not giving anything away--you'll know who the evil witch is within the first 10 minutes.

A well-made, frightening horror film. Turn off the lights and cuddle up with this one. Perfect for late night viewing.

I've just watched this obscure little British horror. The only name I recognised in the credits was the writer Richard Matheson. But it turns out that the director was Sidney Hayers, who also directed Circus of Horrors, before he went on to direct a lot of television, including The A Team, The New Avengers and Manimal (does anyone remember that?).

The plot is a little haywire, but this is a great film. It fits into the horror sub-genre "Housewives and school teachers who get into witchcraft", along with Horror Hotel, Hammer's The Witches, Romero's Season of the Witch and many others, probably. It's got some great visuals, partly due to the very dark black and white photography, it has genuine moments of suspense and the special effects are incredible for a film of its age and low budget. It's also known as Burn, Witch, Burn, which gives it a sensationalist twist that it doesn't really need. Night of the Eagle is a much more appropriate title. I highly recommend this if you can catch it on TV or DVD!

A demonstration that a lot can be achieved on a small budget by imaginative filmmakers. The intensity of this movie took me by surprise. I had expected something more plodding, along the lines of Hammer fare from the same period. Instead, here we have inventive camera-work (DOP Reg Wyer, cameraman future DOP Gerry Turpin), a hardworking score by William Alwyn, and a thoughtful leading man in Peter Wyngarde. Director Sidney Hayers had come from TV, where he seems mostly stayed thereafter - a pity, as he clearly rose to the challenge of this material.

Best of all are the two excellent performances by Janet Blair and Margaret Johnston. The former, an American who had to come to England to get a part that demonstrated she could really act. The latter, a distinguished stage actress who pulled all the stops out for this rare leading screen role.

The pace of the film slackens here and there, but recovers in time for a splendid finale. A couple of scenes would have benefited from retakes because of technical glitches, but I suspect there just wasn't enough money left to do them. It's certainly no worse in this respect, though, than NIGHT OF THE DEMON, which is a clear influence. The Jacques Tourneur movie is more satisfying because of the tautness of its screenplay, but in every other way NIGHT OF THE EAGLE (aka BURN, WITCH, BURN) is as good. I wish it were better known. It certainly deserves to be.

This is far and away my very favorite horror movie -- not only is it truly scary, it is extremely well-acted, has a very intelligent script, great direction, super photography. What's most unusual about it is the relationship among the Professor Taylor (the devastatingly yummy Peter Wyngarde)and his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) -- these two have amazing chemistry and along with the horror, you get a very realistic story of a married couple very much in love, who struggle with the wife's admission of being a witch.

Much of the horror here is simply implied, making it that much scarier, but what is shown is truly chilling. If you've never seen a believable performance in a horror movie, check out Wyngarde in this --his final scene should be shown in every drama school -- his fear is that palpable.