Night Tide (1961)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Absolutely Brilliant!

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

As another reviewer stated, one of the great things here is the locations, the apartments, merry-go-round, club, pier; the film would not be the same if filmed elsewhere. The fortune teller, merry-go- round operator and mermaid girl and her ex-seafaring surrogate father are out-of-the-mainstream people who make the off- beatness of the film. Hopper himself seems an unusual character for a young U.S. Navy guy--'cause he's poking around in this rather strange environnment and is open to meeting these unusual people. He wanders into a basement jazz club at the beginning (by himself, not with a navy buddy) sees the intriuging mermaid girl and after a persisitent effort befriends her and she agrees to meet him next day--at her apartment over the merry-go-round place where she makes him breakfast! (fresh mackrel). Hopper is fantastic. Soft-spoken, bright, very natural, kind of innocent yet mature. He is someone who is open to new experiences. He speaks his mind in a very human way, and his responses to whatever is happening are all intelligent. He comes off as very mellow, friendly and likable. His girlfriend is good-looking, with nice eyes, originally from an island in Greece, she's interesting and very natural in her speech as well. Hearing the dialog between them is very sweet.I love her dancing in the nighttime beach party scene. In parts there is an ominous air of mystery which is important to the overall mood (Having to do with the "Sea People" legend and the possible murders of the mermaid girl's previous two boyfriends). The girl is almost like a supernatural being. I'd say that it's a nice love story,rather than it being about loneliness as other reviewers say. Yes, Night Tide is a gem that I was glad to have found.

Naive young sailor Johnny (Hopper) lobs into a seaside town on shore leave and discovers the beguiling Mora (Lawson), dark, sensuous beauty who dons a fish tail to play a sideshow mermaid for a living. But her mysterious past and strange affinity with the sea and its inhabitants causes concern among the townsfolk who implore Johnny to walk away before he ends up dead. Moody, black and white bleached beatnik treatment with some funky jazz arrangements cloaks a clever thriller that might be regarded as laboured to some, but there's a satisfying climax for those who can hang in till the end. Hopper is simple and understated, never intellectualising his small-town character who's just in uniform to see the world, without appreciating what's beneath the surface (there's a critical scene where Hopper thinks he's going to set Lawson straight on her mermaid fantasy, but Lawson's wisdom as she calmly emasculates his blind, patriotic ignorance is a poignant observation). Lawson is sultry and seductive, burdened by the sinister secret of the sea, her adopted guardian played by Gavin Muir as the lonely sea captain is another tortured soul, for whom there must be some sympathy. Luana Anders has a minor supporting role for those familiar with her pert, Cheshire grin and hometown girl appeal. She has little to contribute but her coffee, nevertheless, she's a scene stealer all the same.Well photographed and scripted, the dialogue is tightly focused and delivered with precision - Harrington has crafted a compelling pocket-sized thriller that culminates in a climax that's sudden, shocking and sure to please. There might be a snag or two with the convenience of the conclusion and a seemingly unresolved sub-plot, but they're not deal breakers.

Aside from seeing an early starring role for Dennis Hopper, there isn't a whole lot to recommend this low budget film. The basic story idea of a dangerous woman who destroys men isn't bad, but the execution of the story is the problem. Again and again, the story is badly paced. In some cases, irrelevant scenes go on too long and deaden the pace. A good example is the dancing scene...you see it all. As a result, my attention wavered. Additionally, the cinematography is dark and fuzzy and the film just looks bad. And, while we know Hopper could act, here he just seemed lost--editing his performance to tighten things would have helped a lot.Only for the die-hard Hop-heads and the curious. otherwise, there are better low-budget public domain films out there.

A sailor on leave named Johnny Drake (a young Dennis Hopper) meets and falls in love with beautiful Mora (Linda Lawson). She also plays a mermaid in a side show...and thinks she's descended from a race of "fish people" and can never be with a human being. Johnny tries to prove that she's wrong...but is she? There's a lot wrong with this movie--Hopper (an excellent actor) is terrible in his role and there's some incredibly inappropriate music during it. But it's shot in moody black and white with excellent direction by Curtis Harrington and Lawson is great in a very difficult role. The movie has a dream-like quality to it. You're not sure if this is all happening or is just a fantasy of Johnnys. The dialogue and the images all have a dream-like quality to it. When I originally viewed this back in the 1990s it was a poor quality print on tape. That actually worked in its favor! It made the dream feeling more realistic (so to speak). TCM showed a beautiful letter-boxed print which (somewhat) detracts from that feeling...but it's still there. Also the last part of the film was far too dark to make out on tape but is crystal clear now. So this is a moody and definitely odd fantasy--not really a horror film like many believe. Far from perfect but worth a look. I give it a 7.