Night Tide (1961)
Night Tide (1961)
The 1960's was an interesting time in science fiction and horror as low budget filmmakers were taking chances and making more unique and interesting films, without the huge budget of the major motion picture companies, with directors and producers like Roger Corman showing that anyone with a dream of making a film, and just a basic working idea of how to direct and a dream, a new crop of directors and filmmakers were creating strange and new films. One of these films distributed by Roger Corman's Filmgroup was a bizarre fantasy/horror called Night Tide, starring a young Dennis Hopper in his first lead role (he'd only done supporting roles up to this point), about a sailor who falls in love with a mermaid(?), while on shore leave at Santa Monica California. The film is part horror, part murder mystery, part fantasy, and part romantic drama. The film takes place mostly at the amusement park on the pier in Santa Monica, where he meets and falls for a girl named Mora, who works as a mermaid in the sideshow. But he starts hearing stories that she is an actual mermaid and she lures young men who fall in love with her to her death. Can Johnny discover the truth before he becomes the next victim?
Night Tide was written and directed by Chris Harrington, and is based on his own story called Secrets Of The Sea, and has inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe's poem Annabell Lee
. The film was distributed by Filmgroup and American International Pictures in 1961. The film was made on a very low budget of $75,000, and since they couldn't afford extras, the filmmaker's friends stood in for extras at no cost. The film received generally positive reviews, though some have noted it for being clearly inspired by the 1942 film Cat People. This doesn't seem to be a film that people still talk about anymore, but it definitely has some positive qualities, and hopefully is a film that people rediscover.
Night Tide stars Dennis Hopper as Johnny Drake, Linda Lawson as Mora the mermaid, Gavin Muir as Captain Samuel Murdock (who runs the Mora The Mermaid booth on the sideshow), Luana Anders plays Ellen Sands granddaughter of the Merry-Go-Round Operator (Tom Dillon), Marjorie Eaton plays fortune teller Madame Romanovitch, and Cameron plays the mysterious Water Witch. This film is most notable as Dennis Hopper's first lead role in a film, he plays a shy awkward young sailor in the Navy. His character is kind of charming in his shyness, it feels so authentic. Linda Lawson was great as the leading woman, Mora. She has this aire of mystery about her, she always feels like her mind is out to sea, but Johnny's love pulls her back in. Luana Anders so perfectly plays the very cute and charming Ellen Sands, she has the most adorably charming looks that she gives with her eyes, and it seems like shy Johnny is totally oblivious to the fact that this sweet girl has a big crush on him. For such a low budget film, it really has a great cast, that are well cast for their roles. The film feels real and authentic, it doesn't feel over acted, or phoney. It is interesting seeing Dennis Hopper as the shy and awkward Johnny, and how far he went as an actor, this is a far cry from the tough bad-guys that he would play later in his career.
Night Tide is an effective horror mystery with fantasy elements, and by the end of the film it does a great job explaining everything so that it makes sense, however it purposely leaves one thread untied so that it leaves the viewer to wonder. The way that the film was shot, and how it was acted helps to create an atmospheric horror to it, and it almost feels like it has a nightmarish dream quality to it, feeling real but unreal (if that makes sense). The film was beautifully shot and acted, though sadly it seems to be a lesser known classic film, I feel like it should get more attention than it does. If you have not seen Night Tide, I think it might be public domain, so it shouldn't be too terribly hard to find a copy, and sometimes it is found packaged together in collections of other public domain films. If you come across a copy of it, I highly recommend picking it up. Night Tide isn't necessarily a "must-see", but it is definitely worth watching, I have always found it to be a very enjoyable film.
Night Tide was written and directed by Chris Harrington, and is based on his own story called Secrets Of The Sea, and has inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe's poem Annabell Lee
. The film was distributed by Filmgroup and American International Pictures in 1961. The film was made on a very low budget of $75,000, and since they couldn't afford extras, the filmmaker's friends stood in for extras at no cost. The film received generally positive reviews, though some have noted it for being clearly inspired by the 1942 film Cat People. This doesn't seem to be a film that people still talk about anymore, but it definitely has some positive qualities, and hopefully is a film that people rediscover.
Night Tide is an effective horror mystery with fantasy elements, and by the end of the film it does a great job explaining everything so that it makes sense, however it purposely leaves one thread untied so that it leaves the viewer to wonder. The way that the film was shot, and how it was acted helps to create an atmospheric horror to it, and it almost feels like it has a nightmarish dream quality to it, feeling real but unreal (if that makes sense). The film was beautifully shot and acted, though sadly it seems to be a lesser known classic film, I feel like it should get more attention than it does. If you have not seen Night Tide, I think it might be public domain, so it shouldn't be too terribly hard to find a copy, and sometimes it is found packaged together in collections of other public domain films. If you come across a copy of it, I highly recommend picking it up. Night Tide isn't necessarily a "must-see", but it is definitely worth watching, I have always found it to be a very enjoyable film.
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