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Curtis Harrington’s history with films sparked into his passion, leading him to breath screenings. He crafted his first short at the age of 14, titled The Fall of the House of Usher (1942). His passion didn’t stop there, as he started creating a number of avant- garde shorts throughout the 40’s and 50’s. He eventually migrated to Hollywood during the 50’s and started helping out on a number of productions, including a feature with fellow avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger. During this time, he was able to scrape together some funds to work on his first feature, Night Tide. Although much less experimental than his previous works, Harrington felt that with the lack of funding for indie horror films, he would be able to express himself more creatively and with far less restriction. This is what made him appreciate the genre’s more, especially films like those of Val Lewton’s, whom Harrington was particularly fond of and whose work greatly influenced Night Tide.
Unfortunately, from this point onward in his career, Harrington became trapped in the realm of B-movie horror. In the commentary, Tony Rayns mentions how Harrington referred to it as a “slippery slope.” So, while Night Tide and a handful of other films the director made are regarded as cult classics, it does seem like he was not content with the path his career took after progressing in his filmmaking endeavors as a young adult. Personally, I find it wonderful that in addition to feature Night Tide in beautifully remastered Blu-ray quality, Indicator is also releasing a disc chock full of Harrington’s shorts, starting with his teenage masterpiece, Fall of the House of Usher, and closing with his 2000s Usher, which is a parody of Poe’s tale but is done in a far more polished manner. I will touch on these shorts in more detail towards the conclusion of this review, but I intend to concentrate on Night Tide for the most part.
The film stars Dennis Hopper, who at the time was younger than most actors of his generation, but still had years of experience under his belt. He plays a sailor named Johnny, who goes to a local bar during his time off, where he meets a stunning woman named Mora, played by Linda Lawson. Johnny develops a serious infatuation with Mora but she does not seem to be all in at the start. After a few days, she begins to like him; however, the rest of the town begs him to reconsider because his previous two boyfriends are dead. When Johnny begins digging deeper into the mystery with his father figure and employer Capt. Murdock played by Gavin Muir, he learns that there is a hard tale about Mora being a mermaid waiting for him. At first, Johnny struggles with believing it until the stories combined with the strange events occurring around him and later, Mora herself corroborating the claim makes him fear for his life. Still, his love for Mora remains.
The excerpt above makes Night Tide sound like a cheap B-movie, but aside from the poorly executed octopus attack scene, the film is very restrained and relies more on mood than cheap thrills. Because of this, some modern audiences might find the film slow, but if given a chance, Harrington’s control of atmosphere will get under your skin and captivate you.
The movie is shot on a ridiculously low budget, but looks great nonetheless. Harrington uses deep shadows, dramatic depth, and some nice camera movement to set the appropriate mood. The locations are also breathtaking. He was also fortunate enough to persuade the legendary David Raksin (Laura) to score the movie, and his jazz-influenced music is so refreshing that it indeed adds great value to the ambient nature of the film.
The performances are above average and only one or two of them is a little underwhelming. There is a vague restrained way of acting, still, it is commendable. Hopper is particularly good. In his and Harrington’s commentary, the director admits because he had never worked with pros there was a lot he said relied on Hopper’s experience which was faked to get through the shoot. He was one of the Actors Studio performers who used ‘the method’ and here he is very impressive with his naturalism. This is surprisingly delicate and rather naive performance considering how more known Hopper got through the years for playing out of control and evil characters.
As a whole, it is an effortless captivating horror movie, indeed, it drags and feels unbalanced at times, but strays and s otherwise succeeds in developing an absorbing mysteriousness. Given the budget, it is surprisingly well done with some beautiful camera work and wonderful acting. Parts of it are outdated and of lower quality, and not everyone would enjoy it, but if you want to be enchanted there’s no reason not to.
Powerhouse Films released Night Tide on Blu-ray on January 27 as part of their UK’s Indicator label. The picture quality for the film is great, with a clear and sharp picture. The audio is also reasonable.
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