This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of "Night Tide" released by Kino Lorber in 2013. This is the remastered edition of this movie.
This is an excellent release for this movie and fans of independent movies and independent science fiction/fantasy in particular will want to own this.
This is an enjoyable movie and I'm rating this a 5 star release.
BLU-RAY: This movie has a beautiful picture that is mastered in HD from 35 mm elements and was restored by the Academy Film Archive. It is shown in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The picture looks very clear. There are some imperfections like scratches and dirt but it doesn't really detract from the picture.
EXTRA'S: There are some nice extra's with this release. They are:
-Commentary track with director Curtis Harrington and Dennis Hopper - The commentary track is a good listen. The two commentators are the two key people from the movie, therefore you get all the information you can want about the making of this movie. They talk about just about everyone in the movie and every scene in this movie.
-Two-part interview with director Curtis Harrington by David Del Valle that is just under an hour long.
-Original theatrical trailer
*****SPOILERS BELOW IN SUMMARY AND COMMENTS*****
PLOT/SUMMARY:Johnny Drake (Dennis Hopper) is on shore leave in California. He meets a girl named Mora in a club who is sitting by herself. The girl is cold and distant and leaves the club after a mysterious woman shows up.Johnny decides to pursue her. She eventually gives in and agrees to a date with Johnny. She lives in an apartment above an indoor amusement area. The people in there find it strange that Johnny is there to see Mora. Mora tells Johnny that she works as a Mermaid in a side show attraction. Johnny and Mora quickly become enamored with each other. Down on the pier, Mora introduces Johnny to her boss Captain Murdock. Johnny becomes curious about the Captain. Captain Murdock is her de facto father. Mora tells Johnny that he found her as an orphan on the island of Mykonos and adopted her. Back at the carousel, the employees tell Johnny about how Mora's two previous boyfriend's mysteriously died.
One afternoon Johnny sees the strange lady and follows her. He ends up at Captain Murdock's place after the lady disappears. While at the Captain's place, he tells Johnny about Mora's past. He asks Johnny to break off his relationship with Mora and tells him that he is in danger and passes out drunk. Mora tells Johnny that the sea is calling her. She says that she is a siren and will kill during the full moon. Johnny, of course, doesn't accept this. He then goes to see psychic who does a reading with tarot cards. The psychic tells him that he is in grave danger. That evening Johnny falls asleep at Mora's apartment. He awakens from a nightmare he is having about Mora and wakes up when he dreams he is being strangled by an octopus. He sees wet footprints and follows it out to the beach and finds Mora in her nightrobe in the water underneath the pier.
The next day Mora tells Johnny she must have been sleepwalking. Earlier, while getting a massage, the Captain tells Johnny that the moon is full and the tides pull strongest during the full moon. That evening Mora invites Johnny to go scuba diving with her. While near the ocean floor, Mora cuts Johnny's line. Johnny wakes up in a boat after being rescued. Soon after Johnny sneaks into the Mermaid attraction without Captain Murdock seeing him, or so he believes. He finds Mora, looking embalmed in the Mermaid tank. The captain walks in and says to Johnny, "the murderer always returns to the scene of his crime". He shoots at Johnny and Johnny knocks the tank into the Captain and knocks him out. Two cops arrive to bring them all in for questioning. Captain Murdock admits to killing Mora's previous boyfriends, therefore he frees Johnny from being complicit in Mora's death. When questioned about the mysterious lady, the Captain says he did not hire her and does not know who she is. The police surmise that he was trying to protect her. Johnny says his goodbyes and the Military police come and pick Johnny up to return him to his ship.
COMMENTS:
-In an odd sort of way, to me, this movie gives off the same sort of vibe I got while watching 'Carnival of Souls'. It has a creepy feel to it...like you know something is wrong but you can't put your finger on it what it is. It's low budget and has that low budget feel. Of course a big difference is that you have a well known actor, Dennis Hopper, in the lead.
-Another movie or more accurately, movies, that this reminded me of were the 1940's RKO horror pictures made by Val Lewton (The Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, The Leopard Man, etc.). In these movies, it is left ambiguous as to whether the creature in the movie title was real or imagined or something else. The same applies in this movie. You are never quite sure if there really is a mermaid. Who was that strange lady? Was she hired or was she something more?
-I'm not quite sure if Mora cuts off Johnny's air to get rid of him or if she was trying to kill him. According to Harrington, Mora was in fact, not trying to kill Johnny. She believed she was saving him by forcing him to leave her. He deliberately led the viewer to believe that she tried to kill him.
-Gavin Muir who played Captain Murdock sounds just like Burgess Meredith, at least he does to my ears.
PRODUCTION: This movie had all kinds of issues before it was released. It was made in 1960 but did not get a wide general release until 1963. The movie was being foreclosed on but Roger Corman stepped in and negotiated a deal with the lender so that the movie could be released through AIP.
-The director, Curtis Harrington wrote the screenplay, his first. He based it on a short story he wrote called 'The Secrets of the Sea'.
-The stated budget for this movie was about $25000 but there was a loan due and owing of $33000 so I'm not exactly sure what that means. I think these numbers often get confused for various reasons. For example, it's stated that Roger Corman spent $12000 on his first movie, 'Monster from the Ocean Floor' but that does not include a loan Corman took out which actually brings the cost to around $29,000. Just for the record, in the director's commentary, Harrington states that it was about $50,000 total with loans.
-The movie was filmed in and around Venice, California. The pier in the movie is the Santa Monica pier. There were also some scenes shot in Malibu.
-Johnny (Dennis Hopper) is supposed to have come in to port in San Diego.
-This was the first feature length movie for director Curtis Harrington. Harrington would prove to be instrumental in saving the classic Universal horror movie, 'The Old Dark House'.
-Linda Larson, who plays Mora, didn't have a big career after this movie. She married a Producer right after making this movie.
RECOMMENDATIONS: I don't really think this a movie that is deserving of 5 stars. Even taking into account the low budget, it is an interesting movie but not a great one. That said, it is still a very good movie, especially taking into account the budget. I'd give the plot 4 stars. I am giving it 5 stars because I am adding a star for the terrific picture and extra's.
Highly recommended if you are a fan of this movie. You get the best possible picture along with commentary track and other extra's.
Recommended for all fans of low budget black and white science fiction/horror movies.
Recommended for fans of Dennis Hopper.
Recommended for fans of mermaid movies.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for producing this excellent release.
Night Tide
On leave in a shore side town, Johnny becomes interested in a young dark haired woman. They meet and he learns that she plays a mermaid in the local carnival. After strange occurrences, Johnny begins to believe that she may actually be a real mermaid that habitually kills during the cycle of the full moon.
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