Reviews & Ratings for
Night Slaves (TV) More at IMDbPro »

9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A Terrific Made For Television Movie From The Early 1970s, 24 July 2004

Author: marianna1776 (marianna1776@hotmail.com) from HUXLEY, IOWA

Night Slaves is one of my favorite made for television movies.I saw this recently, and it was as good as I remember from when I was a young teenager. This is a terrific made for television movie of an earlier era in the early 1970s.I will not give away the plot, but I can say that this is a most unusual thriller.The music in this movie is great! I wish that I had a soundtrack of the music.The writing is very intelligent, and it makes for a good story that will actually keep your interest.James Franciscus does a wonderful job as the husband. Lee Grant is terrific as the wife.Those two actors played in so many wonderful movies.If you want to see a good thriller, that has an unusual storyline, then you should definitely see this little gem.I can highly recommend this to the entire family!!

6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
THE UNIVERSAL CONSTANT..., 30 April 1999

Author: gary renfield (gary_renfield@email.com) from NEW JERSEY, USA

At first glance, this looks like a typical, dreary TV movie. The production could be more extravagant, but the story is good. Given a chance, it turns into a "love against all the odds", interplanetary love story. The search for love is shown to be universal. When the aliens (creatures of mind) must inhabit human bodies to repair their ship, two "souls" (one human, one alien) in search of something more, find each other. They find, in each other, what we all desire and sometimes never achieve. Will they have each other? Will they escape? Will love conquer? I ended up caring...

A LOT !!!

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Description, 17 March 2009

Author: Douglas Gordon from United States

James Franciscus and his wife Lee Grant take a vacation in a faraway, fogbound village. Before we get a chance to ask "Why not go to the beach?" Franciscus awakens suddenly in the middle of the night to see several of the villagers compliantly boarding trucks; among these glassy-eyed passengers is his own wife. The trucks drive off into the mists. The next day, Franciscus is the only person who remembers this strange occurrence. The title of this TV movie should give you a good idea of what's afoot. Night Slaves is a 1970s spin on the old Shock Theatre favorite It Came From Outer Space.

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4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Obscure but Fairly Good TV Movie, 6 November 2006
Author: mrb1980

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

"Night Slaves" is a pretty obvious remake of "It Came from Outer Space" but on its own terms, it's a good film. The movie starts out with James Franciscus cracking up his car and ending up with a metal plate in his head. He and wife Lee Grant decide to recover by vacationing in a small California town. While there, Francsicus discovers that the entire town (except him) is mysteriously disappearing every night and returning before the sun rises.

Franciscus finally finds out that an alien spacecraft has crashed nearby, the population has been hypnotized into repairing the ship, and the chief alien has cleverly disguised himself as the local dimwit. Franciscus is immune from the alien's powers because of his metal plate.

Franciscus then gets the hots for one of the aliens (played by Tisha Sterling), and wants to leave with her. Why he would want to leave faithful wife Lee Grant isn't really explained. The ending of the movie is truly offbeat.

Franciscus and Grant are very good, while a pre-"Airplane!" Leslie Nielsen stars in a serious role as the local sheriff. This mystery/sci-fi film is well worth watching if you can locate it.

3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Entertaining Flick with an Interesting premise, 2 September 2006

Author: gr4132 from United States

Although I only saw the film once and quite a while ago I remember it to be an entertaining film that had a very interesting premise.

From what I remember of it, I thought that it showed some interesting possibilities in the story line. That a marooned alien spacecraft would use local talent, so to speak, to effect repairs was to me a novel idea. And to have the locals be unaware of their being used was even better.

It put me in mind of "Strange Invaders" which as I recall had a similar idea but the people in that one I think were replaced by aliens who assumed their identities. I like this idea much more as the visitors seemed to be trying to have as little impact as possible on the hometown folks and it fell more in line with the non-interference provisions upheld throughout the Star Trek series and movies.

I would like to see it again, though not bad enough to buy it anytime soon.

Pleasant but unremarkable science fiction drama, 12 May 2012

Author: Bloodwank from United Kingdom

So this one middle class businessman seeming type named Clay Howard wants to drop out of the rat race, and after a little celebration, Splat! Ka-pow!, near fatal car crash. He winds up with a metal plate in his head and his wife and he go on a bit of a recuperation vacation. Stopping in a small town, they stay a couple of nights, enjoy pleasant rural company and good food at the local diner, purchase a lovely Art Deco lamp for a song at a local antiques store, then head on their way having experienced a delightful rest in rural Americana. Actually, there's weird sh!t going on. Sorry to disappoint fans of films about cookery and antiquing, this probably isn't for you. Though thinking about it, like cookery and antiquing it does offer some interest and mild thrills, so maybe it is a good recommendation. But yeah, weird sh!t is going on. I have to give Night Slaves some credit, it goes for some thing different to the many devil cult/political conspiracy/murder set up explanations so popular at the time, though not entirely original it does make a nice change. Also interestingly, the mystery of what's going on plays out with intrigue rather than menace, an enticing but inconsequential puzzle that largely avoids the standard escalating paranoid tension. It's a film favouring reason and acceptance, an approach that raises some moral problems that are never resolved but does give it a nicely unconventional yet very much of its time vibe. On the other hand the general lack of tension means that the film is far more likely to bore people, and the actors have to work harder. Happily the cast do well in selling events, James Franciscus may not bring much depth to Clay but his matinée good looks and easy charm make him a pleasant protagonist, and he is neatly balanced out by Lee Grant as his fretful and nervous wife, cagily watching a situation play out that she never even intended getting into in the first place. The two have good chemistry and an effective charge to their more dramatic moments, and the rest of the cast support them well, most notably Leslie Nielsen as the local Sheriff, a sturdy and realistic type who wants no trouble, just to get to the bottom of things, as well as oddball character acting legend Andrew Prine as a local weirdo who ends up playing a bigger role than expected and the lovely Tisha Sterling as a mysterious girl who may hold the key to proceedings. So the cast and the general interest of the film hold it together for a pretty solid 70 minutes or so, but it isn't the most memorable, thought provoking or exciting of films. Probably only recommended to science fiction and made for television buffs, and not at all bad as such, just a little above average.

3 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Intriguing TV movie evokes a sense of nostalgia!, 17 May 2006

Author: James Christopher Wierzbicki (filmbuff-31) from Salida, California, U.S.A.

I saw this movie again very recently for the first time in many years. It is not generally available for purchase. Anyone wishing to see it will have to search far and wide to locate a used copy, most likely recorded from television. The movie is little known and was probably never marketed for purchase.

The movie itself is unremarkable, in terms of its story and presentation. In both story and presentation, "Night Slaves" is similar to other films of the science fiction/paranormal genre that marked this period. Films such as "The People" and "The Stranger Within" are siblings of "Night Slaves," stylistically speaking. All three films have the added distinction of being "made for TV" adaptations. "Night Slaves" is directed in a style that reminds me of sci-fi thrillers of the 1950s. Watching this movie, I am especially reminded of the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." In keeping with the boundaries imposed by television, the direction of "Night Slaves" is characteristically low-key. Consequently, "Night Slaves" story and style never made and never will make an impact on the viewer.

"Night Slaves" impact on the viewer is primarily in terms of nostalgia. It was first seen by many viewers in their childhood or young adulthood and may very well transport them back to a time many of them remember fondly. A time when, in addition to the ordinary pleasures of childhood, talk of UFOs and aliens from outer space generated a sense of expectancy and adventure not only in the children but in the adults in the family as well.

"Night Slaves" might also be worth viewing if you are a fan of one of the actors. Actors such as the underrated James Franciscus, the stalwart Lee Grant, and the lovely Tisha Sterling are here for viewers' entertainment.

"Night Slaves" is not a movie to shout praise about, but it will evoke often pleasant memories--even if they are corny--of an earlier era of life, when UFOs and beings from outer space caused quite a stir.

3 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
OKAY TV MOVIE, COULD'VE BEEN BETTER, GREAT MUSIC!, 3 August 2001
Author: movieboy-12 (webmaster1543@yahoo.com) from Chicago, Illinois

I recently purchased this movie NIGHT SLAVES, but I received a copy, so my guess is that this was never released on video, which is a shame, because it is a fun film. Now, I didn't think the film was great, but it was entertaining and short. I could see some stupid producer making a boring mini-series out of this story, but luckily this film is short and never loses your attention. The plot is not perfect, and the acting is subtle. I would only recommend watching this movie if you are bored and want some entertainment, not if you're looking for a great movie to watch with some great actors and a "sounds-interesting" plot.

SUMMARY: Clay Howard (Jim Franciscus) is in a horrible car crash, which kills another couple involved. Clay is put in the hospital, while his wife Marjorie (Lee Grant) and friend Matt (Scott Marlowe) plan to leave him and become lovers. A metal plate is inserted into Clay's head, he leaves the hospital and takes a road trip with his wife. They stop in a small town for the rest of one day and evening. That night Clay wakes up from his slumber to discover the entire town loading into one truck and vacating the town, his wife included. He meets Naillil/Annie (Tisha Sterling) who tells him she's to make sure he doesn't escape. The next morning Clay wakes up to find his wife in bed, sleeping and everything back to normal. Was it a dream, or is he really going crazy? Clay decides to stay in town a few more days and figure out what really is going on.

This is a great made for TV film. I suggest you check it out if the chance arises. The setting is creepy in the old town. The ending is no big surprise. A recommendation for this film would definitely be: THE STEPFORD WIVES. ** 1/2 STARS and 7/10.

2 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Good potential wasted, 12 November 2001

Author: Charles Modzinski (cmodzins@hotmail.com) from Clinton Twp, MI

Now this movie had potential. However, several things were basically done wrong in the movie.

Most of the people in the movie sleep in their clothes. The aliens who control everyone (save the hero) shouldn't understand about things like robes and slippers, yet the hero's wife dons hers before leaving. The town is about 95 percent male as well. The people move at normal speed from time to time, not looking like sleepwalkers at all.

This could have been one of the great mind control movies. Instead, being made for TV in 1970, did not deliver.

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