I love this movie so much

Simply A Masterpiece

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The movie starts of really well, with the creepy dream like scenes but as the movie went on, it kinda of drags a bit, Yes I did fall a sleep watching this movie last night. The morning, I watch the rest of the movie, the movie started to pick up again and middle part of the movie. This didn't really feel like horror movie, it felt more like Dark Drama movie, with some decent twist and turns.. The acting wasn't to bad from the whole cast, decent, some scenes do see a bit outdated.6 out of 10, loved first few scenes in the movie

"Subterfuge" director Peter Graham Scott's period piece "Night Creatures" (aka "Captain Clegg") qualifies as a rare Hammer film that is neither about supernatural demons nor larger-than-life monsters. Basically, "Night Creatures" concerns British smugglers at war with the Royal Navy. This suspenseful, atmospheric epic came out a year before the Walt Disney picture "Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow" with Patrick McGoohan. Indeed, the uncredited source of John Elder's screenplay with Barbara S. Harper's supplemental dialogue is Russell Thorndike's novel "Dr. Syn." The two films cover roughly the same subject matter, but "Night Passage" director James Neilson's Disney version with McGoohan ranks as the better of the two. Hammer avoided a copyright infringement law suit with Disney by changing the protagonist's name from Dr. Syn to Reverend Blyss. Nevertheless, Hammer serves up an interesting version of its own that ranks as far more realistic. The ending is not as rosy as "Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow" and morality plays an important part in the unhappy conclusion."Night Creatures" unfolds with a prologue set in the year 1776 aboard a sailing ship in the tropics. A stocky mulatto seaman (Milton Reid of "The Spy Who Loved Me") is punished for "willfully and maliciously" attacking the wife of the ship's captain, Captain Clegg, and he is sentenced to have both ears slit and his tongue cut out. Furthermore, the Mulatto is abandoned on the nearest uninhabited shore and left tied to a cross with neither food and water and left to die. Mind you, Scott doesn't provide a reversal shot during the sentencing scene so we never know what Captain Clegg looks like, but the Mulatto remembers him as he pleads for mercy. The scene shifts to a church back in England in the year 1792. A narrator provides the following exposition: "The Romney Marshes,--flat and desolate,--was the land of a proud and independent people. Their shores faced the shores of France--and many was the shipload of wine and brandy smuggled across the sea in defiance of the King's revenue men." The narrator pauses and continues, "Many legends have come from this corner of England--but none so widely believed or widely feared,--as the legend of the Marsh Phantoms--who rode the land on dark, misty nights--and struck fear into the hearts of all who crossed their paths . . ." The Royal Navy dispatches Captain Howard Collier (Patrick Allen of "The Wild Geese") to search for French wine that has been smuggled into England without a tax levied on it. Indeed, somebody is violating the trade embargo against Revolutionary France and Collier and his able-bodied seamen march into a remote British town and turn it upside down. Dr. Blyss (Peter Cushing of "Horror of Dracula") is the village vicar of Dymchurch, a tiny English coastal village, and he welcomes Collier and his men with open arms. Meantime, the people in the village who earn extra income from smuggling set about hiding what is left of what they have. They have created ingenious passageways between various buildings where they have stashed away the untaxed alcohol. The British couldn't have arrived at a worse time because Blyss and company have a rendezvous. Collier, who has been pursuing Clegg on the high seas for years, has brought the Mulatto with him. Collier rescued the mute and plans to use him as a blood hound to sniff out untaxed stores of wine. Blyss and the villagers have their hands full trying to distract Captain Collier. At one point, a frightened villager (Jack MacGowran of "The Exorcist") distracts them while Blyss and company sell their contraband liquor. Eventually, the suspicious Collier threatens to kill the frightened villager if he doesn't take them to the smugglers. Reluctantly, the frightened villagers complies, but Blyss' men have staked out scarecrows as sentinels. Actually, some of the smugglers masquerade as scarecrows to provide an early warning system for their comrades. Meantime, one of the conspirators, an innkeeper Mr. Rash (Martin Benson of "Goldfinger") cracks up and stabs a sailor to death after Blyss has warned him repeatedly not to resort to violence.

1776: The stern Captain Collier (excellently played by Patrick Allen) and his sailors arrive at an English coastal community to investigate reports of "marsh phantoms" who terrorize the countryside at night. Collier suspects that the local reverend Dr. Blyss (a splendidly lively and witty performance by the great Peter Cushing) knows more than he's telling about both the "marsh phantoms" and the liquor smuggling that's been going on in the area. Ably directed by Peter Graham Scott, with a robust, rousing score by Don Banks, a snappy pace, handsome, vibrant color cinematography by Arthur Grant, a flavorsome evocation of the 18th century, a colorful script by Anthony Hinds and John Temple Smith, a few nice creepy touches (those skeletal "marsh phantoms" are genuinely spooky), and a strong central theme about redemption, this radical change-of-pace picture from renowned horror outfit Hammer Films makes for tremendously fun and stirring grand entertainment. The top-notch acting from a first-rate supporting cast qualifies as another substantial plus: Yvonne Romain as ravishing bar maid Imogene Clegg, Oliver Reed as the dashing Harry Cobtree, Michael Ripper as wily, acid-tongued coffin maker Jeremiah Mipps, Martin Benson as craven, hot-headed saloon keeper Mr. Rash, Milton Reid as a hulking, brutish mulatto, and Derek Francis as the hearty Squire Anthony Cobtree. Offbeat and original, this fine feature overall rates as a real corker.

Of course being a Hammer fan I am completely biased. How anyone can not fall in love with Hammer films is beyond me (unless of course they watched the wretched 'Dracula AD 1972.' That however is a different review...). The colorized films are gorgeous to look at and 'Captain Clegg,' or 'Night Creatures' as it as also known is no different. Starkly contrasted visual sets make this film a joy to watch.And then there is Peter Cushing. Cushing is always a joy to watch in any role, but I can't help but feel he must have enjoyed 'Captain Clegg' greatly. No vampires. No Frankensteins. No slime creatures. No creeping flesh. Peter Cushing acts in about as mainstream of a role as there was. Clearly he is enjoying himself and that only helps to make it a better film for the rest of us.I won't get into plot details other than to say the film is about a group of late 18th Century smugglers in a village trying to outwit a patrol of the King's Revenue collectors. The film is far too short and you'll find yourself crying out for more. It runs at an extremely quick pace from open to close.Something else remarkable in this film are the vivid characterizations. Hammer often skimps on those and proceeds directly to the monster. This is not the case here. You get to sink your teeth into several of the characters as this is very much as ensemble piece. Oliver Reed is strong, Cushing is magnificent, Michael Ripper is very good, and even Yvonne Romain is given some material to work with. Speaking of her, she turns in a very good performance. There is a fine balance of sweetness and menace she lives in. There are characters who love and seek to protect her and there are other characters with lustier, earthier goals. One particular scene has her working in the tavern serving drinks surrounded by rowdy, lecherous and leering sailors. Her character wants to be anywhere else -- it is hard to miss. She creates such empathy that its a shame as an actress her career wasn't longer. I think this film demonstrates that she great when given the chance to shine.The most pleasant surprise is the philosophical depth that the film offers. It is in many ways is a meditation on life, on our past and how we may or may not be able to escape from it. The film asks if we are defined not only by what we do, but if the deeds we do can be erased or if we're to wear them forever like chains.This is a special film which, until recently, was virtually impossible to see. Newly released on DVD, it can finally get the attention it deserves. WATCH THIS FILM. Treat yourself. You won't be disappointed.