Demoni di fuoco

¨Island of the burning dead¨ or ¨Night of the Big Heat¨, or ¨Island of the Burning Doomed¨ is Terence Fisher's Sci-fi movie in which bizarre creatures from outer space threaten an isolated remote community at a Northern island called Fara . It begins with the Opening credits : All characters and events in this film are fictitious and any similarity to persons either living or dead is purely coincidental . Science-fiction thriller with fantastic elements , set at an island off the coast of Great Britain , there happens strange deaths of villagers , while suffering heavy sweat . Meantime , mainland Britain shivers in deepest winter and a freezing season , as the northern island of Fara bakes in the nineties . Authorities have no more idea what is happening than the regulars at the Swan Pub . Only a stand-offish visiting scientific (Christopher Lee) who has rigged up a laboratory in the security of the White Swan hotel has suspicious and dark conjectures . As he believes the heat's caused by energy starved aliens . Meanwhile , the new secretary (Jane Merrow) to the local best-selling author (Patrick Allen) is raising the temperature in her own way . As the island is overrun by strange whirring noises allegedly caused by weird beings . These fantastic creatures assault and attack citizens by heating rays and blasts , subsequently threatening to consume the world . Then , some brave people go into action to investigate and discover the rare origin of an alien invasion and what seems to be the source of the heat . From outer space ..came a devastating death!.Mysterious Invaders From Outer Space Create Their Scorching Heat Rays That Consume the People and an Island! Searing Terror! Burning In Its Intensity!

Moving picture from a science fiction novel by John Lymington , contains good interpretations , chills , thrills , and astonishing attacks by amazing creatures . Here carry the flick the following ones : Christopher Lee who suspects aliens are to blame the rare phenomenon going on , as well as Patrick Allen who married to Sarah Lawson falls for the seducer beauty Jane Merrow , in fact they were husband and wife in real life as well ; all of them , giving first-rate performances . Along with enjoyable secondaries , such as : the always charming and courteous Peter Cushing in a minor role as guest star playing the local doctor who is frazzled to death , Percy Herbert , William Lucas , Kenneth Cope , among others . All actors shot the film in cold conditions as they suffered from wearing very light dresses in a freezing season , that's why they had to be covered with glycerin to create the illusion of high temperature . The premise is the following : How can three people stop the devouring death that live and spread across the countryside and delivering mighty hot . This "Island of the burning doomed" 1967 concerning a brute heat wave accompanied by invading aliens bears certain resemblance to ¨Island of terror" regarding scientist experiments go wrong , also directed by Terence Fisher and equally starred by Peter Cushing and others as Edward Jud , Carole Gray and Eddie Byrne.

It contains a stirring musical score by Malcolm Lockyer , adding electronic soundtrack as the fantastic beings show up . As well as colorful and glimmering cinematography by Reg Wyer . Shot on location in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire , The Swan Inn , Broughton Road , Milton Keynes Village, Milton Keynes , Dorset, England , UK and Pinewood studios , as usual . This British-made outing was competently directed by Hammer maestro Terence Fisher . Hammer mainstay Fisher made 3 films for the cheapjack Planet outfit of which this Night of the Big Heat was the last . This fine director made a lot of films for Hammer productions , usually terror genre . Outstanding his Dracula saga : ¨The horror of Dracula¨, ¨The Brides of Dracula¨, ¨Dracula prince of darkness¨ . About Frankenstein : ¨The curse of Frankenstein¨, ¨The revenge of Frankenstein¨, ¨Frankenstein created woman¨ , ¨Frankenstein must be destroyed¨, ¨Frankenstein monster from hell¨. Furthermore, other terror films as ¨The Gorgon¨, ¨The mummy¨, ¨The devil rides out¨, ¨The two faces of Dr Jekyll¨, ¨The curse of the werewolf¨. And other movies as ¨Sherlock Holmes and the deadly necklace¨, ¨Hound of The Baskervilles¨, ¨Black glove¨, ¨Robin Hood, Sword of Sherwood forest¨, ¨Island of the burning doomed¨ and ¨Island of terror¨ . Rating : 6/10 , acceptable and passable ; though neither notable , nor excellent , but decent entry in Science-Fiction genre . Interesting , thrilling scenes and suspenseful twists make for prickes up the spine.

STILL you have the chance to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing together doing their respective things, and I for one value that above production quality, fx realism and other budgetry constraints. So what if the aliens ultimately look like fried eggs? and besides, they don't! Try mutated snails with an ammonite heritage? Its a Terence Fisher flick - perhaps not his best...its still way better than I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER...and PEARL HARBOR, come to that! I have a copy of this old faithful (known by the more widespread and infinitely better title of NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT)and every now and then out she comes for another beloved squiz!

Continuity not the best for your tastes? Tad low on the production budget you think? Chris Lee just too insular and condescending by your standards? Boring love triangle? Well guys, I got a suggestion. DON'T WATCH THE DAMN THING - go rent 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU! (actually, I quite LIKED that too!)

Yeah NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT isn't "Amicus" or "Hammer" at its peak, but it is STILL a worhwhile piece of british scifi from the 60's! Live with it!

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.

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!

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!