The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966)

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:

Shot in ten days.

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)

35 Years Wasted - Thanks to the Censor

My following views only make sense, in the 'sense' that I'm a UK resident: Back in 1966, I took my little brother to a fleapit cinema to see a NEW movie with the come-on title THE NIGHT CRAWLERS. I was 14, he was 11 - and I was sneaking him in on a regular basis to catch up on horror movies.(That title was the UK title for NAVY VS NIGHT MONSTERS).

Every time something was about to happen, the film 'jumped' to the next scene. We came away deeply dissatisfied, believing that despite the obvious deficiencies of the movie, the stuff that had obviously been 'cut' must have been really, REALLY horrible. I should add that I was already a fan of the source novel: Murray Leinster's THE MONSTER FROM EARTH'S END. Call me 'picky' - but the point of the novel is that you don't know WHAT the hell is attacking the naval crew (Big shades of HP Lovecraft's AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS).The movie poster tells you straight away- - so why bother with the mystery in the movie.

35 Years later, I purchased a copy of the uncut video.

So THAT'S what they cut: A crewman having an obviously false arm pulled off by a man-eating plant, and Bobby Van being pulled into a pantomine tree. (Hmmm - in retrospect, we might have really gone for that in 1966). P.S.) To a former reviewer, the pilot goes mad 'cause the plant squirts acid in his face.

Geisterzug