Review: Night of the Big Heat

Whilst the majority of Britain is undergoing the chills of winter, the remote Scottish island of Fara is strangely in the midst of a sharp heatwave. It’s causing communications issues, and the small populace are cropping up dead one by one, mysteriously. Strange flashing lights are seen, what’s that all about? Surly visiting scientist Godfrey Hanson (Christopher Lee) has his suspicions as to what is causing the mayhem, whilst other assorted characters converge at a local inn/pub to figure out what to do, and get mightily sloshed in the meantime as temperatures only get hotter. Gruff-voiced, square-jawed Patrick Allen plays the pub owner who is also a writer. He’s married to Sarah Lawson, but his on-and-off mistress Angela (Jane Merrow) turns up at the inn/pub to cause her own kind of mayhem (and bring her own kind of heat). Sydney Bromley appears briefly as an old vagrant, whilst Peter Cushing plays a local doctor.

 

Director Terence Fisher (“The Horror of Dracula”, “The Mummy”, “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, “The Devil Rides Out”) briefly left Hammer Studios to make films elsewhere and in two of those films, he managed to pinch a Hammer star or two. In “Island of Terror” he used Peter Cushing (who was the best thing in it), and for this 1967 sci-fi thriller he managed to bring in not only Cushing for a small part but Christopher Lee, too. Both films involve an alien invasion of a sort in a small geographical area, but one is not a rip-off of the other at all. The alien is much different this time out, and the human characters are interestingly flawed. Apparently filmed in the middle of a freezing winter, it’s a really interesting and well-done film that only falters when it’s time to show the big special effects creation…and it proves to be very un-special. Thankfully, Fisher is smart enough to leave that until about the last 5 minutes (the original script was thrown out at the last minute, perhaps because it would’ve stretched the budget too far FX-wise), so that for the rest of the film it’s actually pretty damn enjoyable. It’s a fascinating sci-fi premise with one remote part of the UK practically on fire whilst the rest is in the middle of winter. In addition to the sci-fi stuff, screenwriter Ronald Liles (more prolific as a producer and production manager) deserves a lot of credit for introducing quite a decent sized cast of characters in quick fashion, so that things don’t get too bogged down too early. I also liked that the characters played by Patrick Allen, Jane Merrow, and Christopher Lee aren’t blandly white knight good guys. Lee’s secretive and humourless as ever, Allen’s a philanderer, and Merrow is fairly unapologetically trying to steal another woman’s fella…right in front of her.

 

Although Lee is first billed, he actually has a (large) supporting role in the film as a scientist. Is there anyone better at playing surly, barely polite, and unable to easily suffer fools than Christopher Lee? It’s one of his best modes as an actor, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Having said that, his character for all its secrecy and rudeness, ends up doing what he can to help. Meanwhile, you know the situation is messed up when it’s the man of science who is claiming ‘Aliens!’. As good as Lee is, I actually think Allen and Merrow are even better. It’s character actor Patrick Allen who is the true lead here, playing a deeply flawed but well-meaning man whose personal life is a mess and now he has to deal with being stuck in a small inn with both his wife (Sarah Lawson, Allen’s real-life wife) and his on-and-off mistress (the stunning Jane Merrow). His character, and Merrow’s for that matter, could’ve gone horribly wrong to the point where they get absolutely no sympathy from the audience. However, partly due to the situation they’re in, they show themselves to be merely flawed (in Lee’s case, an arrogant prick), not evil. I really liked the film’s character-based approach, while it’s hardly “12 Angry Men” or “All About Eve”, there’s a little more thought given to aspects beyond the scientific or science-fiction here. Flawed or not, you actually care a bit about these characters. I also have to commend the actors for not visibly shivering on camera, which must’ve been particularly difficult for young Ms. Merrow) who gets the requisite bikini shots. The film is nicely shot by Reg Wyer (“The Informers”, “Island of Terror”), aided by the lovely scenery. Solid music score by Malcolm Lockyer (“Island of Terror”, “Five Golden Dragons”) too. Given how short and heavily populated the film is, it’s a shame that it’s a bit slow to get going. I fully understand why that is however and I think the film might’ve lost something if it chipped away further at the character dynamics in favour of a quicker pace. In fact, even as is, ‘Guest Star’ Peter Cushing’s character is in and out of the picture for long stretches of time. However, the always classy Cushing plays his big scene expertly. In fact it’s quite a scary and unsettling scene, the best in the entire film. Also, shout out to the late Sydney Bromley, who even in the late 60s was playing characters named ‘Old Man’. He looks exactly the same age here as he would in 1984’s “The NeverEnding Story”.

 

A tad slow, but I nonetheless appreciated the time taken to introduce the multiple characters here in this sci-fi thriller. Thankfully the filmmakers save the alien’s appearance until very late in the piece, as it shows up the film’s obvious budget limitations. Otherwise, a really good cast (Allen and Merrow especially), some interestingly flawed characters, and a terrific B-movie premise deliver the goods here. Worth seeking out, despite quite a number of negative reviews. I must be on a lonely island by myself on this one. Liles was assisted in this adaptation of a John Lymington novel by British TV writers Pip and Jane Baker (who wrote episodes of “Dr. Who”).

 

Rating: B-