Night of the Big Heat (1967)

- Island of the Burning Damned
Very British, 23 September 2017

Fara Island, off the coast of Scotland, is experiencing some very unusual weather. While the rest of country is in the midst of a normal cold winter, the island is hot. The temperature has hit 100 F and continues to rise. And it's not just the heat - people are hearing odd buzzing noises and sheep are dying in mysterious ways. What's behind the strange goings on? A scientist working on Fara thinks he has the answer - the heat, noises and deaths can be attributed to an alien invasion.

Night of the Big Heat (or Island of the Burning Damned if you prefer - I've actually seen it under both titles) is a very low-budget, very British sci-fi film with an unbelievably strong cast. I've seen this movie at least four or five times and it never fails to entertain. It's not a thrill-a-minute type movie, but it excels in tension and atmosphere. The plot may seem silly, but its presented in a manner that works for me. I believe square-jawed Patrick Allen, shirt dripping with sweat, when he tells me it's hot. I believe Christopher Lee's ramblings about the heat being generated by creatures from another world. And I believe Peter Cushing when he stumbles on one of the creatures in the middle of the night. This cast could make me believe just about anything. Lee and Cushing may be the big names in British genre films, but Patrick Allen is their equal when it comes to acting. Together, they make Night of the Big Heat a lot of fun.

I wish the filmmakers would have made the decision to not show the aliens. I've read a lot of comments and some people can't seem to get past their appearance - a cross between a fried egg and a roasted marshmallow. I would have preferred that either they not be shown and left it up to the viewer's imagination or take the cop-out route a lot of other low-budget sci-fi films of the era did and make the creatures invisible. Seeing the creatures is not necessary. All the work building tension and atmosphere had already been accomplished. The low-budget effects don't add to what came before - they only serve to detract.

7/10