Brilliant and touching

As Good As It Gets

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Despite having a title that makes it sound like a soft core porno film Night of the Big heat is a major disappointment. Fisher not quite the director genius he is now made out to be shows that sci-fi was definitely not his sort of thing. Christopher Lee gives yet another shouty and stiff performance typical of this particular period. Just before The Devil Rides Out and just after Rasputin the Mad Monk he barely gave a decent performance, from the lamentable Fu Manchu films, through euro tripe such as Theatre of Death and Circus of Blood and finally this, it was probably his worst period in his long 60 going on for 70 year career. Many would say the part of Hanson is underwritten and Lee can do very little with it, but look at similar underwritten and poor roles Peter Cushing and Vincent Price were given during their career and they always gave it their best shot, so its no excuse really. Cushing's scenes are limited but he does the best with his small role, even refusing to remove his jacket so he looked different from Lee and Patrick Allen. The real star of this film comes in the shapely form of the sultry Jane Merrow, she simply sparkles with wanton sexuality in this film, pity she never became a bigger star she had what it took for sure.

A charming small scale British sci fi thriller from 1967, 'Night of the Big Heat' benefits from some good performances, solid direction, excellent set design, good editing and a plot which, whilst talky, does not lapse into boredom. In the depths of winter, while the mainland is freezing in sub zero temperatures, the island of Fara is experiencing a highly localised and inexplicable heat wave. A visiting scientist, Hanson (Christopher Lee) deduces that a bizarre alien species, possibly the vanguard of an oncoming invasion, is responsible for the weather anomaly as part of an effort to alter Earth's climate to suit their own needs. A group of increasingly isolated islanders prepare to face their foe and attempt to warn the mainland of the growing threat. Of course, much has been said of how a reasonably well made film was let down in the closing stages by the hugely inferior and disappointing aliens. Clearly, whatever slice of an already limited budget was apportioned to the special effects department was grossly inadequate. Consequently we are subjected to the spectacle of a couple of very slow moving, sub William Hartnell era Doctor Who, fried – egg looking blobs that somehow radiate intense heat and noise. Personally, I think the strengths of the film are enough to salvage it from complete ruin, but I can certainly understand how let down people must have felt by the lack lustre pay off. One question that does cross my mind, however, is just what should the aliens have looked like? Apparently in the original book they were carnivorous, heat generating, spiders and large maggot like things in the 1960 TV play but I can't help wondering how the special effects people should have approached it in the movie. I quite admire the decision not to make them stereotypically humanoid as is the case in so many sci fi thrillers. Instead we are presented with apparently sentient but completely non human, ie alien, creatures, perhaps all the better to disrupt the equilibrium of our expectations. Had they been just an energy form, that would have been too 'Star Trekky', had they been humanoid that would have been clichéd and, as they are, they're a little too early Doctor Who so the question remains; what should they have looked like? Fried egg looking blobs notwithstanding, the film, as mentioned earlier does have some strengths. Christopher Lee is on good form as the disagreeable scientist Hanson and Peter Cushing approaches the smaller role of Dr. Stone from what, for him, is an interestingly naturalistic perspective. Patrick Allen is as dependable as ever as Callum and is well supported by real life wife Sarah Lawson as Frankie and Jane Merrow as erstwhile on screen paramour Angela. Other cast members including Kenneth Cope and William Lucas all turn in adequate performances that help the film achieve its goals. Terence Fisher's direction is solid and efficient and he handles the film's most awkward moment, the attempted rape scene, with considerable bravery even though an understandable element of reticence, discernible also in a similar moment in Fisher's 'Frankenstein Must be Destroyed' (1969), is apparent, but works well in what I would argue is a surprisingly non misogynistic movie. Angela's increasing marginalisation is quite well handled too. Initially seeming like a predatory vamp, her strength seems to be drained after Callum eventually comes clean to his wife about their affair and she assumes a far less threatening role, her vengeance becoming further distilled through interactions that could never have been predicted when she originally formatted what could have been either a revenge scenario or a straightforward attempt to usurp Frankie. Although underdeveloped in places, the film is technically adequate and I personally think they did a good job of making people look like they were suffering from heat effects in the middle of a cold February. The DVD commentary, however, is really unfocused; the film itself is seldom talked about but it is interesting to hear the random things Christopher Lee comes out with and, consequently, it's never less than entertaining. I also noticed that the DVD cut is slightly longer than the one last shown on TV here in the UK with an extra scene involving the dissemination of the walky talkies which, in the other version, just appear from nowhere. All told, I find the film makes for a pleasant distraction; it's a nice representation of times past, a period I vaguely remember from my childhood, and stands up to subsequent viewings as long as you can forgive the fried eggs!Addendum; I have since managed to track down a copy of the book and am now sure Christopher Lee must have read it, so convincing is his portrayal of Hanson (Harson in the book),it really is as if the character has come to life! Also, the aliens weren't spiders; the real aliens sent these big, nasty spiders to see if they could survive on our planet prior to their own possible arrival.

Enjoyable British sci-fi outing of 1967, which sports not only a venerable Cushing-Lee pairing, but exciting scenes of overheating 1960's British automobiles to boot (the steaming, hood-up MG scene will be particularly horrific for current/former MG owners who've ever dealt with this aspect common to certain vintage British cars). Filming must've required a specialist staffer just to continually drench the actors with fake sweat. Of particular interest for Monty Python fans will be the final scene, which is the only time in the whole movie that the decidedly low-budget monster actually appears: no, I'm not going to spoil it for you!

early in the film the lovely Jane Merrow has been for a swim and is on her way up the slipway when she is spotted by Patrick Allen. The camera zooms toward her and she has dry hair blowing in the wind AND a dry bikini. Next shot we see the pair of them by some rocks chatting and Jane's hair and bikini are now wet! The villagers turn off the lights but in the next shot they are lit. Do not let these little matters spoil you fun though as this is a very likable movie which you may want to watch more and more. Jane Merrow is delectable as always and typifies the British young beauties of the sixties. She can smoulder and pout with the best of them but also she is an ACTRESS of the top calibre. No other than 'Danger Man' himself...Patrick McGoohan had her appear alongside him numerous times in DANGER MAN and also in THE PRISONER. This movie IS 'very British' and there is a strong cast.