Odelecol
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Nicole
I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
bkoganbing
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.
John Howard Reid
In the classic vein of the noirish mystery thriller, The Night Has Eyes is "written and directed" by Leslie Arliss, who does such absolute wonders on the small sound stages at Welwyn Garden Studios, we never have the impression that this is anything else but an extremely high budget picture. Arliss is given marvelous assistance by art director Duncan Sutherland and perfectionist lighting cameraman Gunther Krampf. The stand-out cast is led by James Mason as the moody recluse, Mary Clare as his well-wishing housekeeper, Joyce Howard as the heroine, Tucker McGuire as her man-crazy friend, and playwright John Fernald (who collaborated with director Arliss on additional dialogue) in the first of only two appearances in front of the camera, as the helpful doctor. The beginning and end of the climactic sequence rate as two of the most unforgettable moments in world cinema.
robert-temple-1
This is a wholly satisfying romantic mystery tale, with excellent performances all round, well directed by Leslie Arliss, even though it was only his second film. James Mason delivers a powerful, brooding, mysterious performance as a tormented composer living a life of isolation in an ancient house in the moors, playing Schubert in the dark, surrounded by peat bogs, 'cut off from the world', and often flooded in. It is hard to believe that Mason made one of the worst films ever, with one of the worst performances ever ('Secret Mission'), in the very same year. Must be the directors. Mary Clare is amazingly eerie and haunting in her character role, and Joyce Howard is a charming, fresh-faced ingenue with eyes full of hope - frightened eyes, but hopeful. Wifred Lawson is a marvellous character study of a thicko in thrall to Mary Clare. Plenty of mist, lots of full moons, mysterious deaths, secret rooms, it's all there. Oh yes, and let's not forget the maidens in distress who conquer their fears for love, and the good time gal who wants to get back to town where 'all those delicious men in RAF uniforms' are. This really is a good one.
RanchoTuVu
Two young school teachers (Joyce Howard and Tucker McGuire) venture out to the Yorkshire moors to find out what happened to one of their colleagues who went out there and never came back. The joke is that she met someone and fell in love. Arriving in a convincing looking torrential rainstorm, they slog through the mud, lucky to avoid the deadly bogs, and encounter a brooding James Mason, who plays a shell-shocked veteran of the Spanish Civil War, and who reluctantly lets them spend the night in his country house on the conditions that they lock the bedroom door, and leave the following morning. McGuire is the party girl while Howard plays the sincere and serious part, a nice match for the troubled Mason. Forced to stay more time because of the impassable conditions, Howard and Mason begin to fall in love. Mason's caretakers are two ruthless opportunists played by Mary Clare and Wilfrid Lawson, both of whom are outstanding in their evil roles. The idea that they have convinced Mason that he's a dangerous mental case seems a bit flimsy, but their sinister portrayals are anything but, aided by the shadowy lighting that illuminates their facial closeups. When we find out what really happened to the missing teacher, that she met up with these two, and that the lovely Joyce Howard is next, it creates a tenable level of menace. The final scene on the darkened moors with the treacherous bogs is right out of the textbook.
