Nothing But The Night/Review

There’s something sinister going on at an orphanage on the Scottish isle of Bala… and the apparently generous trustees are dropping like flies.

Following a bus accident young Mary (Gwyneth Strong) is hospitalized and has a series of visions/seizures about things she should know nothing about. It concerns her physician Mark Ashley (Peter Cushing) as well as Colonel Bingham (Christopher Lee), a man investigating the “accidental” deaths of several people connected to the orphanage.

Mary’s mother Ana (Diana Dors) is a spitfire, a former prostitute who’s determined to get her daughter back (she served time for murder). She lost custody years ago and she is suspicious about what’s going on in that orphanage perched atop a hill.

Director Peter Sasdy has a project blessed with witty dialogue (script by Brian Hayles) that keeps things moving forward and gives the actors, especially Dors who is over-the-top fantastic, things to say that are both memorable and quotable. And the murders are appropriately gruesome: a fall from a balcony, a bludgeoning, a burning at the stake!

Under traveled but lastingly creepy, Nothing But The Night packs a wallop—especially in the final act, and it’s a delight to see the great Cushing and Lee paired, yet once again. Gore, mystery and weird chanting children proliferate.

Josiah Howard is the author of four books including Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide (now in a fourth printing). His writing credits include articles for the American Library of Congress, The New York Times and Readers Digest. A veteran of more than one hundred radio broadcasts, Howard also lectures on cinema and is a frequent guest on entertainment news television. Visit his Official Website.