Night of the Big Heat
Night of the Big Heat
| 08 December 1971 (USA)
Night of the Big Heat Trailers

While mainland Britain shivers in deepest winter, the northern island of Fara bakes in the nineties, and the boys at the Met station have no more idea what is going on than the regulars at the Swan. Only a stand-offish visting scientist realizes space aliens are to blame.

Reviews
Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Whitech It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.
Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Lucabrasisleeps It doesn't have the classy look of the British horror movies of the period. But it is still a somewhat entertaining movie from the Golden age of British horror.The movie builds the atmosphere slowly and the monsters are never really shown. In the end though, the actual form may be a little disappointing to people. Remember we are living in the post-Alien age, so this kind of low budget stuff may not be pleasing to the eye. But still the buildup is worth it. It is also nice to see the sweaty sexy ladies and ahem...sexy men as well. They are drenched throughout. This might just end up as a guilty pleasure because of all these aspects. There are constant sexual elements throughout as well. But not much in terms of explicit nudity as expected.Frankly I thought the characters were sexist. The dialogue in the love triangle section was ridiculous and corny and it really hampers what could have been a fairly good sci fi thriller. I did not enjoy the annoying dialogue. This is like a time capsule and I just couldn't relate to it all. The ending is strange as well which reminded me of some recent American movies with abrupt endings.Anyway I enjoyed it.6/10
fedor8 Also known as "Island of the Burning Doomed", "Island of the Burning Damned", and "Will My Ex-Mistress Ruin My Marriage Just Hours Before Aliens Kill Me?" In the first half of NOTBG one wonders whether the love triangle is the sub-plot in an alien-invasion flick or whether the aliens are a sub-plot in a romantic drama. Nevertheless, I actually enjoyed the first half, more so than the second half, with its finale that was a bit too run-of-the-mill B-movie stuff for my taste.NOTBG has a by-the-numbers plot, resembling dozens of similar, low-budget sci-fi invasion movies. However, the cast is excellent, and there is that late 60s feel to the movie that elevates it above a lot of similar crap that was made much later, such as Spielberg's flashy but moronic "War of the Worlds".Predictably, it was going to be something totally banal that kills the aliens in the end, hence prevents an invasion (unless the outer-space blobs are masochists), either water, fire, air or something that basic. This time it was water; rain, to be precise. The last scene has the married couple hugging and jubilating, which I guess also means their marriage is saved – along with all of mankind. Even the hero's mentally-unstable ex-mistress is hinted to have ended up happily, rejoicing with one of the islanders. Perhaps there's a future for the two? She may not cook and clean, but she's a helluva woman in a swimming costume, and very passionate regardless of whether there are aliens about to heat up the temperature.
futes2-1 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.
drystyx Spoiler-Peter Cushing does not drive a stake through Christopher Lee's heart in this movie. This is classic science fiction, make no mistake. It has a status quo established among isolated characters, interrupted by eerie events. In this case the status quo is a love triangle with some other interesting British type characters and interesting British atmosphere, not to mention giants Lee and Cushing playing remarkably believable people, particularly Cushing, whose character is so believable in his errors as well as his attributes. The isolation is an island which is burning in doom. The temperature is rising drastically, and the reason is all too clear for those who watch and know it is a horror film, but of course not to the people on the island. The characters make this movie fascinating. And the ending is very provoking. One scene, in particular, in which the gorgeous tramp and a minor male character are trapped with no hope, and the totally unexpected happens in their actions, but it rings of truth in such circumstances. Very suspenseful, very well done. One of the great science fiction movies, and one of the most underrated.