TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

ags123 An atmospheric thriller that's a bit short on thrills, "Night Watch" is nonetheless entertaining. Ninety-nine minutes of watching 41-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, still looking good and decked out in Valentino, is reason enough. The successful Broadway play by Lucille Fletcher (ex Mrs. Bernard Herrmann) suffers in its translation to the screen. Like Fletcher's most famous writing credit, "Sorry, Wrong Number," the female protagonist is way too shrill. Poor Laurence Harvey, close to death and generously reunited with his good friend and "Butterfield 8" co-star Taylor, tries hard as the deceitful husband. The ending will satisfy the long, tedious buildup. A fun movie to watch as a distraction when you're home with a cold, but certainly not among Taylor's best.

marcar912 Elizabeth Taylor, fat and frazzled (and sporting a parade of Valentino muu-muus) is "gaslighted" by her seemingly adoring second husband, Laurence Harvey, and her loyal lifelong friend, Billie Whitelaw. (They are, of course, having an affair.) However, this hammily-acted melodrama can't surpass the film that gave the genre it's name, Gaslight, with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer; or Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder with Grace Kelly and Ray Milland. Not even close despite a great last-minute twist.In the last 20 minutes, Taylor turns the tables on her tormentors and turns into a knife-crazed serial killer. She proves that she has been the mastermind behind this entire drive-her-mad plot, and she destroys the couple in lurid detail (still sporting a flowing lilac caftan, probably to match her famous eyes).So put on your favorite music or read a good book, while the first part of Night Watch plays, but make sure to tune in for the last bit because it qualifies for the so-bad-it's-good list of movies.

sunznc Many Elizabeth Taylor films seem to border on melodramatic shlock. Some of them are overly dramatic. She does lend a special vulnerability, a little fragility, just enough to draw you in even though she knows what you are really watching probably isn't worth the trouble.This particular film would be good if you were home with a cold, or home and didn't want to go out in the rain, or maybe woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. Ironically, everything I mentioned she seems to be suffering from in the film. Or is she? She seems to be going mad, seeing things that aren't there. And wouldn't you know it? Her husband is using his wife's instability against her. Or is she really unstable? There is indeed a clever little plot twist at the end of the film but it all seems rather dated and tired. Like one long version of McMillan and Wife or Barnaby Jones. We've seen different versions of this story before with different actors and actress'. It isn't anything new or brilliant but it isn't horrible either. You won't be telling your friends about this at dinner or over drinks though.

jetcityhawk Wow! I too remember watching this film like it was yesterday! I agree that the tension/suspense builds at exactly the right pace, and the final 15 minutes were, for me, on par with "Wait Until Dark." These two movies' endings have always remained vividly in my mind - in the way "The Birds" and "Psycho" did. And God bless Elizabeth Taylor! After Virginia Woolf (discounting how you view "Cleopatra") her performances and projects were pretty up and down. This movie reminded me of what she's capable of producing on the screen. Though her performance was praised, the movie was mostly overlooked. But Dame Elizabeth...her performance was WORTHY!