16 October 2024
Nothing But the Night (1972)
90 min.
Directed by Peter Sasdy.
With Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Diana Dors, Georgia Brown, Keith Barron, Gwyneth Strong, Fulton Mackay.
An unusual, offbeat British horror worth visiting.

After three trustees of the wealthy Van Traylen fund die under rather questionable circumstances, pathologist Ashley (Cushing) and investigator Bingham (Lee) initiate an investigation.

What connection could the Traylen's Scottish Inver House orphanage have with the mysterious deaths?

Could the nutso mother (the watchable Dors, here in a thankless but showy role) of one of the school's children be a killer?

An uneven plot at times can't seem to find a focus and threatens to drag this Night down.

But regular Hammer director Peter Sasdy injects a dank atmosphere throughout that some might find rewarding (a tone similar to his Doomwatch the same year).

Best scene: the admittedly creepy occult-revealing finale with Dors, Lee, a bonfire...and the children.

Also known as The Devil's Undead.

Worth a watch.

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