Le fascinant capitaine Clegg

What if Heaven was a place where you've got a stack of old movies starring, or made by, all your favorites - that you've never seen? Like maybe another couple Scott-Boetticher Westerns, a second George Lazenby Bond movie - or a Peter Cushing Hammer picture you somehow missed while here on Earth. Well, that last little slice of Heaven materialized here in Raleigh, North Carolina, over the weekend. I finally got around to checking out Night Creatures (1962, UK title Captain Clegg).

There's an interesting bit of history to this one. Hammer Films planned to remake Dr. Syn (1937), which starred George Arliss as the mysterious smuggler Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn - based on the novels by Russell Thorndike.

But it turned out that Disney also had their eye on Dr. Syn, for their Wonderful World Of Disney TV show, and had acquired the rights to the novels themselves - versus Hammer's remake rights to the old movie. Disney's eventual three-part TV program starred Patrick McGoohan and William Sylvester. (In the mid-70s, it was re-cut and played US theaters as Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow. I thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen.)

Anyway, back to Hammer. To avoid any legal hassle from the Disney people, Hammer changed the character's name to Captain Clegg and made a few other modifications. There's still a scarecrow, there's still plenty of brandy to be smuggled and taxes to be avoided. But we now get the creepy Marsh Phantoms. Stills of the Phantoms that turned up in my monster movie books and magazines had me wanting to see this movie to a ridiculous degree.

Somehow, it took me more than 40 years to catch up with Night Creatures. But it was worth the wait.

Turns out, it's not really a horror movie at all. Instead, it's a dark, moody pirate/adventure story. Hammer was pretty good at pirate movies. Their The Pirates Of Blood River, from the same year as Night Creatures and with some of the same cast, is a hoot - and they'd follow it with The Devil-Ship Pirates in 1964. Both star Christopher Lee.

I'm not gonna spoil things by giving you a synopsis. It's too good a movie for me to screw it up for you.

Night Creatures is Peter Cushing's movie all the way, in spite of some strong work from Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper (who's got a bigger part than usual) and the lovely Yvonne Romain. Cushing gets to do plenty of action stuff, which he's always very good at. It's shame he's known these days primarily for standing around and being mean in Star Wars (1977). Cushing is so versatile, and he really gets to show his range in this one, going back and forth from ruthless pirate to compassionate preacher numerous times over the course of the picture's 82 minutes. Over the last year or so, I've developed a real love of Cushing. He's a joy to watch.

Patrick Allen is appropriately hateful as the government man sent to track down the band of smugglers and clashing with the Marsh Phantoms along the way. The Phantoms' scenes deliver the goods I'd been waiting decades for - though I'd love to have seen what Jack Asher, Hammer's other DP, would've done with those scenes on the moors. His stylized color effects always knock me out.

There isn't a single thing in this movie that isn't cool.

Peter Graham Scott directs Yvonne Romain.

I finally came across Night Creatures in the Hammer Horror 8-Film Collection Blu-Ray set from Universal. It looks great, as do all the other pictures. I saw Hammer's Phantom Of The Opera (1962) on film repeatedly as a kid, and the spot-on transfer looks exactly as I remember it. Night Creatures gets my highest recommendation. It's become a new favorite around my house.

One of Hammer's finest films yet unseen for years. It has not been broadcast on British television since 1981 when it was under its American title, Night Creatures. But it's a wonderful little movie. Peter Cushing is on fine form as is the ever-reliable Patrick Allen and Oliver Reed gives a nice performance as an innocent young man (as if!) The irreplaceable Michael Ripper gets a bigger role here than in most of his films and shines too with a nice line in sarcasm. The story is fun and the location filming is very pleasant (actually Denham in Bucks and not Dymchurch at all!) but the thing that lifts this movie to classic status is the electrifying scenes of the Marsh Phantoms, a brilliant realisation of real fear. Remarkably considering that the viewer is aware from the start that they are villagers dressed up, their appearance is incredibly convincing! The opening sequence of scrolling scene setting and narration with a faint glimpse of a skeletal figure on horseback weaving through the background is only a hint of the awesome scenes that follow. After that the film settles down to good historical adventure, lively and funny and only occasionally marred by slapstick, as in the fight in the church. A neglected gem from a more simplistic age.

Well, here's one Hammer movie that was rather difficult to come across! Especially in comparison to the British studio's classic horror, Sci-Fi and psychological thriller efforts, this mixture between historical drama and swashbuckler adventure (don't let the cover image or US title "Night Creatures" mislead you; it's not a horror film) is obscure and little seen. To my recollection it has never even been aired on the BBC, and that's where I personally watched a lot of Hammer horror movies from the sixties and seventies. I wonder why, because "Captain Clegg" is a solid and engaging film with a good script, fine performances and a handful of truly ingenious highlights. The story takes place around the end of the 18th Century in a small English coastal village named Dymchurch, and I must say it's a downright fantastic little place! Not only does the entire village participate in a giant smuggling network, they also have imaginative ways for transporting bootlegged liquor around town and all the villagers collectively help to mess around with an official delegation of soldiers sent by the British Crown to investigate! They even have an utmost brilliant signaling process with scarecrows in place and call upon sinister skeleton horsemen to scare off potential perpetrators! The charismatic leader of Dymchurch is Reverend Blyss, but serving God obviously isn't his primary mission in life. "Captain Clegg" is a fun watch, neatly written by Anthony Hinds and well-directed by the fairly unknown Peter Graham Scott. The cast is top-notch, with glorious roles for Peter Cushing (reliable as always), Oliver Reed (back when he still appeared on film sets in a sober state), Martin Benson (as the town's weakest link) and Michael Ripper (phenomenal as the local undertaker). There aren't many women in the cast, but the beautiful and curvy Yvonne Romain is astonishing enough to represent a whole army of women. Recommended!

Captain Clegg (AKA: Night Creatures) is a Hammer-Major production in Eastman Color, it's directed by Peter Graham Scott with a screenplay written by John Elder. It stars Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen, Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper and David Lodge. Music is by Don Banks and cinematography by Arthur Grant.

"The Romney Marshes-Flat And Desolate-Was The Land Of A Proud And-Independent People. Their Shores Faced The Shores Of France-And Many Was The Shipload Of Wine And Brandy Smuggled Across The Sea In Defiance Of The King's Revenue Men. Many Legends Have Come From This Corner Of England-But None So Widely Believed Or Widely Feared-As The Legend Of The Marsh Phantoms-Who Rode The Land On Dark Misty Nights And Struck Fear Into The Hearts Of All Who Crossed Their Paths."

Hammer's film is actually a remake of a little known 1937 film called Doctor Syn that starred George Arliss as the title character and featured Margaret Lockwood in support. For their take on the Captain Clegg/Marsh Phantoms story, Hammer craft a colourful Gothic like mystery/thriller that contains horror elements. It's certainly not overtly horror, something that has undoubtedly threw some horror seekers venturing into the film for the first time. This may explain why to a large extent it remains a largely unknown Hammer picture, which doesn't as yet have a DVD release in the country of its birth! The story is a very good one with smugglers, murders, romantic passions, ghostly apparitions and duplicitous characters. All given an excellent period production design by Bernard Robinson for the interiors, while the exteriors are nicely filmed out of the village of Denham in South Buckinghamshire.

Pigeon Pie, Creepy Scarecrow and the Romney Marsh Phantoms.

Of course none of the period flavourings and narrative intrigue would mean much if the acting wasn't up to scratch. Which on reflection is another reason why this is something of a criminally under seen Hammer picture. For not only does it have Cushing turning in one of his best performances (blending dandy fop with a crafty undercurrent), it also has a cast around him that are fully committed and effective in their roles. Which nicely includes Hammer stalwart Michael Ripper (as Mipps the undertaker) getting a more meatier role than usual. Patrick Allen (Dial M for Murder) is imposing as the officious Captain Collier, Martin Benson (The King and I) is suitably shifty as Rash and David Lodge (The Cockleshell Heroes) adds the muscle presence as Bosun. Standing out is Olly Reed as Harry, wonderfully dominating his scenes, he does a neat line in brooding, while Romain (The Curse of the Werewolf) is the classic Hammer wench type, pretty with a heaving bosom, she induces lusty lustations in Harry and Rash.

There's some plot holes that the alert will not miss, and the big reveal is pretty much sign posted to us at the mid-point. But this is a little cracker that Hammer fans, Cushing fans and fans of period mysteries should definitely seek out. 8/10

This is one spooky film, yet there are no horror or supernatural elements per se, even though it feels like there are. Probably my favorite film from my childhood along with Disney's "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh". It was years later before I discovered that they had the same source material and they were released the same year. Disney sued Hammer over rights to the character of Dr. Syn, so Hammer changed the main characters name to Dr. Blyss, and the Scarecrow became a supporting character instead of the lead.

I have to disagree with the reviewer who called this a confusing mess, as the storyline is pretty basic and quite clear cut. The movie is filled with such atmosphere that you can practically get a cough from the constant fog. The highlight of the film is the Marsh Phantoms, a group of smugglers who dress up as skeleton and ride skeleton horses. It is a very eerie sight to see.

Special mention should be made of the incredibly beautiful Yvonne Romaine. She only made a handful of films yet she may possibly be the most beautiful woman who ever appeared on screen.

I have heard that the reason this film is not available is that Universal (I think) has the rights to it and refuses to do anything with it. Sad for all of us.