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La nuit des alligators

Original title: The Penthouse
  • 1967
  • Approved
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
5.6/10
297
YOUR RATING
Tony Beckley in La nuit des alligators (1967)
ComedyDramaHorrorThriller

Three thugs--Tom, Dick, and Harry (a woman)--break into the penthouse apartment of an adulterous couple and proceed to terrorize them, until the unexpected happens.Three thugs--Tom, Dick, and Harry (a woman)--break into the penthouse apartment of an adulterous couple and proceed to terrorize them, until the unexpected happens.Three thugs--Tom, Dick, and Harry (a woman)--break into the penthouse apartment of an adulterous couple and proceed to terrorize them, until the unexpected happens.

  • Director
    • Peter Collinson
  • Writers
    • Scott Forbes
    • Peter Collinson
  • Stars
    • Terence Morgan
    • Suzy Kendall
    • Tony Beckley
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.6/10
    297
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Peter Collinson
    • Writers
      • Scott Forbes
      • Peter Collinson
    • Stars
      • Terence Morgan
      • Suzy Kendall
      • Tony Beckley
    • 13User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos32

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    Top cast5

    Edit
    Terence Morgan
    Terence Morgan
    • Bruce Victor
    Suzy Kendall
    Suzy Kendall
    • Barbara Willason
    Tony Beckley
    Tony Beckley
    • Tom
    Norman Rodway
    Norman Rodway
    • Dick
    Martine Beswick
    Martine Beswick
    • Harry
    • Director
      • Peter Collinson
    • Writers
      • Scott Forbes
      • Peter Collinson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews13

    5.6297
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    Featured reviews

    10RodrigAndrisan

    Very very good!

    One of the best English movies. Static, everything is only happening in an apartment, but what a story, what a valuable interpretation, all the actors are absolutely exceptional. The best part I've seen Martine Beswick. The best role for Suzy Kendall, which was of a rare beauty, what a gorgeous ass, a pity that she did not show her front beauty too... Terence Morgan also saw him in those two films with Surcouf as Lord Blackwood, but I already think this Bruce Victor was his most accomplished character ever. Tony Beckley, an exceptional actor, I saw him in very good films: "Chimes at Midnight" (1965), "The Italian Job"(1969)(directed by the same Peter Collinson), "Get Carter"(1971). Norman Rodway was also an exceptional actor, also featured in "Chimes at Midnight"(1965) and many other movies. A simply great movie!
    9wdixon

    Brilliant Film; Should be on DVD

    This is a superb and prescient little thriller by Peter Collinson that predates such films as FUNNY GAMES and other "extreme cinema" projects, and is much better, and much more restrained, in every way. I'm amazed that the film hasn't gotten better distribution, and that it seems to have slipped between the cracks of cinema history. A great film; see it if you can.
    9searchanddestroy-1

    One of Collinson's best, before Kubrick's CLOCKWORK ORANGE

    We'll find another link of this scheme in Collinson's filmography by watching OPEN SEASON, FRIGHT, STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING which the story is not the same but the atmosphere, distrubing, nasty, making the audiences very uncomfortable. But if you have seen FUNNY GAMES - both versions - you'll also think about PENTHOUSE. Among the best home invasion topics films ever. But prepare not to watch this with the parents in law or the youngest in the family. Delicious, nasty, excellent, repugnant. A pure masterpiece. The ending, the very moral ending made me think a little about SNOW THERAPY, around some kind of couple analysis.... The only difference is that in this movie, it is not question of an avalanche but a couple of punks disturbing the peace. If you can go beyond this film if you accept it, maybe you'll succeed with CLOCKWORK ORANGE.
    3barnabyrudge

    Oddball thriller which tries to be different but comes across as somewhat foolish.

    If Peter Collinson's intention when writing and directing this film was to present the most bizarre characters imaginable, then he has succeeded admirably. If, however, he was trying to make a serious thriller with genuine excitement, realistic situations and a meaningful underlying moral subtext, then he has failed utterly.

    The story has married estate agent Bruce Victor (Terence Morgan) and his secret lover Barbara Willason (Suzy Kendall) shacking up in a penthouse suite in an unfinished tower block. A pair of knife-wielding hoodlums turn up, posing as meter readers, and proceed to hold the adulterous lovers at knifepoint. Bruce is tied up and forced to look on as the lecherous intruders get Barbara well-and-truly drunk and then degrade her for their entertainment.

    The film is based on a stage play, and it comes across - unsurprisingly - as a very stagy, talky affair. This is not necessarily a weakness (films like Sleuth, made five years after this, proved that stagy and talky films can actually be very good). However, The Penthouse is not only stagy and talky - it is very unpleasant too. The characters are awfully hard to like and their predicaments are extremely difficult to care about. Director Collinson frequently demonstrated a fascination with violence and aggression during his career, and this is a perfect vehicle for his favourite two themes. Collinson also had a fondness for stylistic flourishes in his movies, but here his outlandish camera angles and visual/aural tricks seem merely self-indulgent and meaningless. For the first twenty minutes, the film's surreal style is oddly enjoyable, but it pretty soon becomes wearisome. On the whole, The Penthouse is a failure and the fact that it is rarely-seen ought to be viewed as a blessing in disguise!
    1pppatty

    Not the top -- the pits

    This is the only movie I regret not having got up and walked out! Although it is some 30 years since I had the misfortune of seeing this film in the cinema, I have never forgotten what a thoroughly unpleasant experience it was -- with unlikeable characters and stupidly unbelievable circumstances. I can forgive all sorts of things in a film if there is at least one redeeming quality, but you can look in vain for it here. I am amazed that its rating is as high as it is since I would have given it a minus rating were this possible.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes

      Barbara Willason: Wouldn't it be marvellous if this flat were ours?

      Bruce Victor: At 15,000? You must be joking.

      Barbara Willason: How did you get it?

      Bruce Victor: It was easy, my love. When you're the honoured representative extraordinaire of the Brandon Estate Agency, you're in the happy position to take advantage of your clients' generosity in their absence.

      Barbara Willason: And what if they find out?

      Bruce Victor: My dear, love, with the owner sitting in the Bahamas, how can he?

      [raising his mug]

      Bruce Victor: God bless you, Sir... and may the sun rot you.

      Barbara Willason: [the doorbell chimes] Bruce?

      Bruce Victor: See who it is

    • Alternate versions
      The only official home video release of this film appears to be the 1985(?) French subtitled "La Nuit Ed mesa Alligators" VHS from Interpix Video and Warner Filipacchi Vidéo. It was mostly likely the source for the attached commonly circulated online rip that says "Imported by Video Search of Miami / VSOM", who was known for selling VHS bootlegs of rare and foreign films before closing in 2012.
    • Connections
      Featured in Film Review: Film Review (1967)
    • Soundtracks
      The World is Full of Lonely Men
      Music by Johnny Hawksworth

      Lyrics by Hal Shaper

      Sung by Lisa Shane

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 6, 1967 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Penthouse
    • Filming locations
      • Centre Point, Bloomsbury, London, England, UK(Exterior)
    • Production companies
      • Compton Films
      • Tahiti Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 36 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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