"Captain Clegg" was the original name of this film, but I've always only known it as
"Night Creatures," which you have to admit, has a better ring to it!
The most unusual thing about this 1962 Hammer release is despite the way it looks, it's not a horror tale by any means at all! Good damn pirate movie, but not a horror film!
Captain Clegg has the title role, but for me, Milton Reid as The Mulatto is the real star, and this film would be pretty boring without his part! As much as it looks like a "Three Stooges" episode, it's really not very funny, because he's just had his tongue removed for raping the Captain's wife, which was not a very smart move!
Captain Clegg gives his Mulatto friend a free, all expenses paid trip to the Caribbean.
Looks a lot like that Crystal Skull full of vodka staring at me from that shelf over yonder!
People would go to any lengths to get their booze back in the day!! These are the ghostly creatures that haunt Romney Marsh after dark! Kinda sounds like the possible future of Washington AC/DC!
"Night Creatures" is an elegant atmospheric flick that would appeal to anybody who likes a good-lookin' swashbucklin' adventure! The musical score is by Hammer workhorse Don (PANIC, NIGHTMARE, HYSTERIA) Banks in one of his earliest outings!
The former evil Captain Clegg has retired anonymously and come back as the good Reverend Doctor Blyss, the most respected preacher in the land! The role is filled by the all-time great, Peter (Dr. Who, Baron Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes, Van Helsing) Cushing!!
Any movie with Oliver (These Are The Damned, Paranoiac, Girl-Getters) Reed in it is usually worth watching, and "Night Creatures" is no exception! It really looks like the two of them got skewered through the head like some kind of Sub-Genius Shish-Ka-Bobs!
Here's what I wrote about Milton Reid in a previous post, and it's still pertinent today, "Just like all our favourite characters, Milton was also a professional wrassler! He started in 1952 as Jungle Boy, and as his career progressed, he became best known as The Mighty Chang! After his career fell apart, Milton went to India to act, and sometime in the late 80's, he mysteriously disappeared, and they still haven't figured out what happened to him!" Milton was in some great films like "Dr. No," "Blood Of The Vampire," "Panic," "Berserk," and "Terror!"
This shot pretty much portrays the definition of ribald!
Just like peaches and herbs, things really heat up when olde friends are reunited once again! Looks like somebody's going to get hurt!
There is such an abundance of talent in "Night Creatures" that I have purposely left out pictures of Yvonne (Curse Of The Werewolf) Romain as Imogene the serving wench, and Patrick (The Body Stealers) Allen as Captain Collier, and decided to focus more on the ethereal elements contained therein!
Another brilliant workhorse that probably doesn't get near enough credit was Cinematographer Arthur Grant, who worked on Hammer films from "Terror Of The Tongs" in 1961 to "Blood From The Mummy's Tomb" in 1971, with stops for at least 13 other Hammer classics in between!
Having a wrasslin' background makes Milton Reid a difficult opponent to pin, and so he comes back to challenge Captain Clegg for the final fall!
Michael (Girly, Moon Zero Two, X: The Unknown) Ripper as the coffinmaker Jeremiah Mipps has the last say! Freakin' KA-BLAM!! Now that's how they used to deal with stuff in the good olde days!!
When some lazy minded fool with nothing else to do tells you that they don't like old movies, grab a copy of "Night Creatures" and you just might be able to widen their narrow mind! Imagine that, Milton Reid didn't even get poster credits!
The original title is "Blackenstein," I don't know what brain pilot thought "The Black Frankenstein" needed to be added! Talk about redundancy!
This is Ivory Stone as Doctor Winifred Walker in her only film appearance ever!
This is Winifred's boyfriend, Joe De Sue as Eddie, a quadriplegic Vietnam veteran! This would also be Joe's only acting effort! "Blackenstein" is a story about love and devotion..........kind of!
John Hart is Doctor Stein! What a contrast! John Hart had a monstrous career that went all the way back to 1937, and he just passed away in 2009 at the age of 91! Everybody knows that Clayton Moore was the Lone Ranger, but from 1950 to 1953 John Hart had the role of The Lone Ranger for 54 episodes while Clayton Moore sat it out during a contract dispute. John also had his own TV show in 1957 that ran for 39 episodes called "Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans." He had the lead role as Nat 'Hawkeye' Cutler! If the set looks pretty amazing for a cheap movie, it's because they dusted off, and used some of the original lab equipment from "Frankenstein!"
After working on numerous cult titles like "The Cremators," "Baby Needs A New Pair Of Shoes," and "KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park," cinematographer Robert Caramico went totally mainstream TV in the 80's, as the Director of Photography on "Lou Grant," "The Waltons," "Falcon Crest," and "Dallas!"
"Blackenstein" might be the only Frankenstein character on record who wears patent leather boots!
"Blackenstein" is pretty blase' until Eddie really goes on a rampage. All of a sudden he's ripping off limbs, ripping open blouses, and ripping his hapless victim's guts out!
The marvelous Liz (Thrill Killers, Nasty Rabbit, Hot Rods To Hell, Body Fever) Renay was awarded the role of one of the hapless victims!
You could take about three or four minutes of carnage out of "Blackenstein" and it would be rated 'G' instead of 'R'!
While James (Friday Foster) Cousar only ever acted in four films, Don Brodie, on the right, had 310 acting gigs, and also served as Assistant to the Producer on this film! Here's the most amazing fact of all, Don's mug was used by the animators of "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" as the model for the features of The Old Hag!!
For a minute there, I actually had convinced myself that "Blackenstein" was produced by Mr. B.I.G. but it's not!
Time to get on over to The Parisian Room, and the soulful sounds of Cardella De Milo, backed up by The Art Hilary Trio!
Now That's, three cool cats!
The writer and performer of the very soulful "I Can't Find No One To Love Me", is Cardella Di Milo as herself! Cardella Di Milo was also in some movies with Rudy Ray Moore like "Dolemite," The Human Tornado," and "Rude!"
The one major thing I don't get about this whole film is that Eddie is THE new reigning king of The Slowest Moving Monsters Ever Club! The Mummy moves like The Roadrunner compared to Eddie. I'm pretty sure a snail would win a race against him, but he still manages to catch victims with massive head starts! It's truly mind boggling! Not only does he manage to kill a bunch of innocent people, he also kills an amazing amount of on-screen time!!
One line was, "I saw a shadow 15 feet tall!" The guy on the right about to get pummeled is Roosevelt Jackson as Malcom, Doctor Frankenstein's assistant. Roosevelt only resurfaced for one other film, the 1992 blockbuster feature "Zhong Hua Jing Hua!" 
Eddie would have been okay, if Malcolm hadn't juiced his DNA because he was so hot for Winifred! It's not a happy ending for anybody!
Here's another example of more good use of that original lab equipment! 
Who let the Dawgs out? Two other titles cinematographer Robert Caramico was associated with were "The Doberman Gang" in 1972, and "The Daring Dobermans" in 1973, imagine that! For more information, you can catch Eddie and the gang on Netflix!
