The Night Has Eyes Explained

The Night Has Eyes
Director:Leslie Arliss
Based On:The Night Has Eyes by Alan Kennington
Producer:John Argyle
Starring:James Mason
Wilfrid Lawson
Mary Clare
Joyce Howard
Cinematography:Günther Krampf
Editing:Flora Newton
Music:Charles Williams
Distributor:Pathé Pictures International
Runtime:79 minutes
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Budget:£15,000[1]

The Night Has Eyes, released in the United States as Terror House by Producers Releasing Corporation and re-released in the US by Cosmopolitan Pictures in 1949 as Moonlight Madness, is a 1942 British thriller film directed by Leslie Arliss starring James Mason, Joyce Howard, Wilfrid Lawson, Mary Clare.[2] and Tucker McGuire. It is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Alan Kennington.

Plot

Two young female teachers travel to the Yorkshire Moors where their friend had disappeared a year before, and it is not long before they encounter a man they believe to be her murderer.[3] That night, a violent storm breaks out, and they become stranded in the house where they are staying.

Cast

Critical reception

Leonard Maltin called the film an "OK mystery";[4] Allmovie called it a "taut British chiller";[5] and TV Guide wrote "though melodramatic and soundstage-bound, Terror House is still quite effective and eerie. Fog covers almost every exterior; cinematographer Gunther Krampf spent long periods getting the artificial fog at just the right density...The final film was almost too effective, and after initially getting an A rating from the British censor and being booked on the biggest cinema circuit in Britain, the rating was suddenly changed to H (for "Horrific"), making it off-limits for anyone under 16 years of age. The big circuits had a policy of showing only A films, so the independent cinemas became the big winners, getting an excellent thriller starring Mason, Britain's top leading man at the time."[6]

References

  1. Book: Wood, Alan. Mr. Rank a Study of J.Arthur Rank and British Films. 1952. 106.
  2. Web site: The Night Has Eyes (1942). Space_Mafune. 1 June 1942. IMDb.
  3. Web site: The Night Has Eyes. https://web.archive.org/web/20090114001008/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/44158. dead. 2009-01-14. BFI.
  4. Web site: Night Has Eyes, The (1942) - Overview - TCM.com. Turner Classic Movies.
  5. Web site: The Night Has Eyes (1942) - Leslie Arliss - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie. Hal Erickson. AllMovie.
  6. Web site: Terror House. TVGuide.com.