The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966)

User Rating:

2.0/10   

Director:

Michael A. Hoey

Writers:

Michael A. Hoey (writer)
Murray Leinster (novel)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Horror

Tagline:

A nightmare comes alive...terrifying acid bleeding monsters multiply by the millions...ready to cremate the human race!!

Plot:

Operation Deep Freeze, a scientific expedition to Antarctica discovers unusual tree specimens. When specimens are shipped out for further study...

Plot Keywords:

Antarctica | Love Triangle | South Sea Island | Man Eating Plant | US Navy

Cast

Mamie Van Doren	...	Nora Hall
Anthony Eisley	...	Lt. Charles Brown
Billy Gray	...	CPO Fred Twining (as Bill Gray)
Bobby Van	...	Ens. Rutherford Chandler
Pamela Mason	...	Marie (a scientist)
Walter Sande	...	Dr. Arthur Beecham
Edward Faulkner	...	Bob Spaulding
Phillip Terry	...	Base Doctor
David Brandon
Kaye Elhardt	...	Diane (WAVE nurse)
Taggart Casey	...	Warr. Off. Holly Hollister
Russ Bender	...	Chief Warr. Off. McBride
Mike Sargent
Del 'Sonny' West		(as Del West)
Biff Elliot	...	Cmdr. Arthur Simpson

Also Known As:

Monsters of the Night
The Night Crawlers

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Standard Club of California Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Director Michael A. Hoey and producer Jack Broder had major disagreements during shooting. Broder changed the title from "Night Crawlers" - the title of the book upon which the script was based - to its current title, which Hoey detested. Broder also had story ideas Hoey disagreed with, and when the "tree stump monsters" arrived, Hoey thought they were ridiculous and refused to shoot them. Broder called in Arthur C. Pierce, who was working on another movie Broder was producing, and had him shoot additional scenes to add the story elements Broder wanted. He also had Jon Hall, who had created the "tree stump monsters", shoot the scenes with them that Hoey refused to do.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The airplane heading to the island is a C-47 Skytrain, the military version of the civilian DC-3. The film of the plane crash-landing on the runway is that of a C-46 Commando.

Quotes:

CPO Fred Twining: [trying to catch one of the small creatures with two dinner plates] What if it jumps?
Bob Spaulding: Jump higher.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: The Navy vs. the Night Monsters" (2006)

truly, an experience in bargain basement cinema

For years on Thanksgiving (appropriately) I and a bunch of friends used to get together and watch lousy movies all day. I then took an informal poll as to which was the worst. This was the hands-down, runaway winner at one such gathering. Whatever talent Mamie Van Doren ever had, she obviously left in her other tight-fitting blouse. (It's interesting to note that as the movie runs on, and gets more insufferable, Mamie's blouses get tighter.) Bobbie Van's utter lack of talent for anything stands naked for all to see, and it's the most horrifying thing in the film. As for the rest of the cast, they obviously know the film's a grade Z disaster and are just walking through it. And, despite the passing resemblance to the ambulatory flora of "Day of the Triffids", the monsters could give "The Horror of Party Beach" or the crawling carpet swatch in "The Creeping Terror" a run for their money as the silliest monsters going. The IMDb should let us vote with negative numbers, or at least give offenders like this a zero!