The Night Has Eyes (1943)

Truly Dreadful Film

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Blistering performances.

In watching The Night Has Eyes it was interesting to see that a film that was described as contemporary had no reference to the current war. It would make it one of the few made in the United Kingdom in 1942 that did that wasn't a period piece. Even more curious in that James Mason's character is a veteran of the late Spanish Civil War.Mason would now be described as suffering from post traumatic stress from his experiences fighting for the Loyalist side and in a prison camp when he was held by the Nationalists. When released he was not quite right and thought to have committed murders on small animals. He finally chooses a self imposed exile on the edge of Yorkshire bogs being cared for by husband and wife Wilfrid Lawson and Mary Clare. A pity because before he decided to fight in Spain Mason was a promising composer of some note.His exile is interrupted by two school teachers on holiday, Joyce Howard and Tucker McGuire. McGuire is husband hunting, but Howard is on the trail of her friend, another school teacher who went missing in that area on holiday last year. People have been known to disappear in that bog quicksand for centuries. In real life James Mason came from the Yorkshire area.In the Citadel Film Series book on James Mason, he talks about the marvelous inventive special effects because this film was shot indoors in studio and the bogs were created on a sound stage. In fact in long shots Mason says that midgets were used as stand ins to give the feeling of distance.Mason's own performance and the rest of the cast was a great ensemble job. Though I think you'll figure out the secret behind all the crime and disappearances well before the end.

Of all the movies I love, none has had a wider ranging impact than this one. I saw it on late night TV when I was 9, Halloween night, at a sleepover where everyone else was sleeping. I had nothing to do and couldn't figure out how to change the channel on the TV, so I was sitting there grumpily watching something random when this... strange movie came on. It was in black and white, but the people in it were beautiful, as were the clothes, the sets, everything. I was transfixed. I told my mother about this movie rapturously, and when it came on again a couple of years later she woke me at 2:00 in the morning so we could watch it together (my mother understands what it is to love a film). For many years Stephen was my tortured masculine ideal, and I married a man who definitely fits the James Mason physical type. Luckily, he has a sunny temperament and a stronger chin, so I feel like I got the best of both worlds! This movie also led me into the genre of Gothic literature, which was a major component of my reading life for a long time, and I still enjoy. Thank you to the people who made this film with love. They'll never know what it's meant to me.

This film scared me rigid when I saw it just after it's 1942 release. The sinister Mary Clare was the character I remember being most frightened of, and whenever I have seen her in films since she has never managed to erase that shivery feeling. Being sucked into the mire of a Yorkshire Moors bog remains the ultimate 'death' experience and one to be avoided at all costs. Of course the one subsequent viewing of this rather silly film was a great disappointment there was really nothing to scare even the most timid film-goer. What a shame! Having said that you would not get me out on a Yorkshire Moor in the dead of night for all the proverbial tea in China!!! There was a musical theme that was quite compelling at the time and if I heard it again it would probably revive the kind of memories that would bring a nostalgic tear to an old man's eyes. My 2004 vote is truthful but had I the opportunity to cast a vote in the mid-1940's it would almost certainly have been 10+. Derek

By chance, one afternoon in the 1950s, I saw this film as a 4 year old on our first TV. I never forgot it. It takes place near some English moors. James Mason plays a man suspected of brutal murders. The two young teachers who stay at his house are caught up in the mystery. When the mystery is solved and the villain must pay, the moors play an important part in the very unnerving climax -- I remembered those death screams for years. When I finally saw it again, almost 50 years later, I was delighted to be frightened again. This of course was a very young James Mason who went on to have a very long varied career. He did his role justice and his co-stars were talented as well. The film is almost never shown on TV any more, but the film can be purchased from specialty suppliers -- it's worth looking for!