After full knackering days at a covid-stalked school and when all the household chores are done at night and the Missus and me collapse on our settees, the Missus has sought solace on Tv with Bake-Off and Who do You Think You Are and I've surfed You Tube for films for an hour's chill before falling in the pit.
Trouble is I'm struggling to watch entire films at the mo. Being able to fast forward on You Tube means I can cheekily skip huge chunks, which is no real way to watch movies but there you go. I'm doing it.
I've surfed films, where available online, that I've wanted to see for a while including The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, The Godsend, Embryo, The Lost Weekend and Night Must Fall, which Ill talk a bit about.
Night Must Fall is an unusual film. I remember seeing it in the early Seventies, when I was about 11. I must have seen it on one of the three TV channels we enjoyed back then and it must have been on late at night.
Night Must Fall was made in 1964 and is about an axe murderer.
I knew that the axeman was played by Albert Finney but I'd completely forgotten his fake welsh accent, which he hams up a bit too much really, although the overacting adds to the impression that the character is steadily going insane. The movie is a study of growing insanity and Finney's character Danny ultimately goes completely mad.
The film's setting is a large rambling mansion in 'Wales', where axe-happy Danny ingratiates himself with the old lady of the house, whilst secretly bedding her daughter and her maid. He plays funny mischievous games with the old lady, pushing her wheelchair round the dark corridors and hiding behind corners. This fun inevitably turns sour when Danny goes nuts, staring too long at the heads he's collected in his hat box and finding a bill-hook in the shed. The grim noir atmosphere comes literally to 'a head' as Danny takes one final swing.
Night Must Fall isn't a horror film as such but it is a sort of one. Its demented air reminds me of Hitchcock's Psycho and Finney's crazed ranting is really unsettling to watch. IMdb and Wiki have little to say about this flick, which is unjust I would say as it deserves a bit more credit. I don't recall seeing it on TV since the Seventies either.
A few years back I was chuffed to find a paperback film-tie in for the movie and added it to my large 'horror' novel collection, which one day I'll enjoy cataloguing in my dotage.
Have you seen Night Must Fall and do you collect film tie-ins readers?
Not seen any of them. The seventies were chocker with this kind of film and tv. Have to say Im an avid fan of the fast forward button, skip the inevitable schmaltz and romantic interlude and cut to the action. If its any good, ill sit through it at normsl speed, but lately thats unusual.
ReplyDeletea fellow fast forwarder eh! just think how much weve missed!
DeleteAlas my internet speed is too slow to watch films :-(
ReplyDeleteBook tie-ins : the only ones that spring to mind are Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov ,The Black Hole ( cant remember who wrote it, but I think it was better than the film) and most from the Alien franchise (I think it was Alan Dean Foster who wrote the first two and A Crispin wrote Alien:Resurrection). I've read alot more TV tie-ins such as several of the Target Dr.Who books and Timeslip (remember that? I keep hoping it'll get shown on TV again. The DVDs cost toooooo much) ....
Great selection of tie-ins Timmy! At some time or other they've passed through the airlocks of Moonbase too. I remember Timeslip being brilliant , with the kid with big glasses. I agree it should be on TV again. Children of the Stones is a podcast at the mo. Wote says its good.
DeleteThat geeky kid from Timeslip is in that folk horror tv show you got me to watch a while back about the old king. Cant recall the name tho
ReplyDeletePenda’s Fen on Play for Today! Been listening to a modern revamp of Children of the Stones on BBC Sounds, essentially the same as the original, but with current themes. Really good!
ReplyDeleteI watched Night Must Fall yesterday - very good, indeed! Thanks for the recommendation, Woodsy. Many people seem to think the 1937 version is even better. Have you seen it? Can't find it on YouTube, alas.
ReplyDeleteFilm and TV tie-ins? Definitely! For a long time, it seemed like the only books I ever bought were film- and TV-related paperbacks. Even now, they have a strange allure that I can't quite explain...
Great stuff Paul. Glad you enjoyed it. A forgotten classic. Not seen the 1937 version sorry. Which film and TV-tie ins have you got? I picked up Phase IV today in Oxfam. I wuz chuffed. there's some cool creepy flicks on Talking Pictures TV this Halloween including Children Shouldnt Play with Dead Things which I've never seen and The Skull, which I love! Great TV! https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk/schedule/
DeleteI can’t actually get to the bookcase at the moment but I think I’ve got various Star Wars paperbacks (one a gift from you, thanks!), a couple of Thrillers (TV series), some tatty Avengers, a Girl From Uncle, Seven, Robocop, Communion (the horror rather than SF), Young Frankenstein, various Twilight Zones, a couple of Star Treks, Prime Suspect, various Crackers, Night of the Living Dead, various Quatermasses, Alien, a couple of Hammer Horror Film Omnibuses, a couple of fotonovels, a couple of Dr Phibes novelisations, Tales From the Crypt Dr Terrors House of Horrors, The Omen... and then there are the books I bought because I liked the film, such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs...
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous collection! Must be a sight to behold! Amazing that you have Thrillers paperbacks, I'd no idea they were made into books! Dr.Terrors House of Horrors is an old one, wow! Quatermass books, now I'm impressed! Send us a piccy of this ace collection when you can get to the bookcase!
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