Director: Terrence Fischer
Year: 1966
Country: United Kingdom
Alternative Titles: Night of the Silicates, The Creepers, The Night the Creatures Came, The Night the Silicates Came
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
After arriving on a remote island, a scientific team looking to investigate claims of dead bodies left behind realizes the cause of the disappearances is due to a strange creature created in a radioactive accident, and they must try to destroy the creature while keeping the villagers alive.
Review:
For the most part, this one was a decent British creature feature. One of the finest aspects of this one is the fact that there's an incredibly fun sense of build-up to the creatures' existence. With the first half detailing the gradual discovery of the dead bodies found strewn around the island in the condition they're left in, providing an incredibly creepy setup that soon begins to offer up plenty of stellar fun once they start investigating the creature supposedly at the forefront of the disappearances. Using their special equipment and different techniques to try to come to terms with what they're dealing with, the rational thought that gets to the root of what the creatures are about lets us know a lot about them and how to stop them.
These eerie beginnings then setup the rather enjoyable middle half of the film where the creatures begin to run wild on the island, resulting in a nice mixture of both shockingly creepy sequences of them stalking the scientists going around trying to gather up resources to stop them, or them stumbling upon the already dead members of the community. The action encounters here are just as much fun, from the plan to blow them up with homemade explosives in the hillsides of the village or the rampage through the town hall when they gather everyone to let their plan take effect, without anyone in danger, which causes a lot of fun with the hysteria that it causes. Alongside the strong, stylish pacing here, these give this one a lot to like over its few minor problematic areas.
The main issue holding this back is the overall look of the creatures in motion, which is somewhat laughable and utterly over-the-top in terms of their general structure. The design itself is somewhat comical, with the lone tentacle-like tendril emerging from the front while the rest of the body is an incredibly silly-looking blob that appears to be constructed by inflating a trash bag and sticking green lumps over its surface, rendering the entire creature laughable and derisive during the scenes that are supposed to be somewhat suspenseful. The action is still good enough to scare, but its general design and construction really undo a lot of the film. It can feel somewhat repetitive with everybody rushing back to each location where the creatures were spotted and finding themselves stuck in dangerous situations due to that, but overall, there's not a whole lot really wrong elsewhere.
Overview: ***.5/5
A generally solid British creature feature that has a lot to like about it, the fact that the flaws aren't detrimental or crippling holds it back slightly in the end. Fans who appreciate this kind of atmospheric, slow-burning kind of film, enjoy this era of genre filmmaking in general, or fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here, while those who aren't into these factors should take caution.
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