Night of the Eagle (1962)

I love this movie so much

Thanks for the memories!

People are voting emotionally.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Film work must have been thin on the ground in 1962 in Britain as quite a lot of decent actors struggle valiantly in this hoary old chestnut.There's a good orchestral score (if hackneyed) and some nice cinematography too, although the producers couldn't be bothered colourising the film.A young couple just moved on from a post in Jamaica are in a rivalry for a position in a provincial medical college with the catty middle class staff of the college. Quite apropos of nothing at all, the wife dabbles in a bit of voodoo to help her husband. There's some lovely knitwear. The print is surprisingly good as this is the type of nonsense that would have been run on television in the 1960s and 1970s about a million times.

A dashing young professor with his star on the rise is disturbed to find his wife using witchcraft to protect him from the envy of his peers. But his logic flies out the window when malign forces come to beat down his door.Decent thriller with a blend of the psychological and supernatural. The story is solid, although it mostly feels like a padded out episode of The Twilight Zone until the trippy ending elevates the terror. There is a mis-step in the plot, as the rape allegation trails off without giving an insight on the antagonist and it's only when you think back that it makes sense. And the car accident is annoying, with no favours done for the credibility of the hero.It's well shot, especially the seaside locations in Cornwall and the close ups on the veeery interesting face of the actress playing Flora. I do think the lead actress was miscast as she's not sufficiently fey or sweet.The music is dramatic, though not overdone.

Originally titled "Night Of The Eagle", this is a very effective chiller with fine acting throughout. Linda..err..Janet Blair plays a housewife with a hobby that proves too strange for her professor husband (Peter Wyngarde) to turn a blind eye to. When hubby makes his wife give up her spooky pastime, things start to hit the fan in short order. There are some nice touches here that foreshadow later horror masterpieces, "Rosemary's Baby" in particular. Faculty life at the quaint northern England college is rife with not-so-petty jealousies and a back-stabbing or two. The main um...(pot)stirrer on the staff, wonderfully played by Margaret Johnston, makes it known early on that she's a witch with a capital "B".A very attractive and more-than-capable cast, a good atmospheric production that does itself proud in black & white; and just when the suspense begins to sag a bit, a very good surprise twist. It's all here, and well worth your time.

Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) *** 1/2 (out of 4) A college professor (Peter Wyngarde) who doesn't believe in witchcraft is outraged when he discovers that his wife (Janet Blair) is practicing it. The professor takes all of her belongings and destroys them and this here leads to trouble. BURN, WITCH, BURN, also known as NIGHT OF THE EAGLE, is without question one of the best films of its type and it would make a great double feature with another British classic from this era, THE CITY OF THE DEAD. Director Sidney Hayers deserves a lot of credit for the feverish pacing that he brings the film and I really loved the paranoia he makes the viewer feel. The first thirty-minutes basically builds up the evils that could come from throwing away witchcraft items and the director really makes you anticipate what's going to happen once the husband does get rid of the items. The second portion of the film we basically see the downfall and I thought these scenes managed to be quite creepy and highly effective. The sequence at the end with the eagle contained some very good suspense and I'd say that the director perfectly selected how much of the creature we should see (had it been more it probably would have been less effective). Both Wyngarde and Blair are perfect in their roles and you can believe them as a couple and this helps us believe everything that is going on with them. Blair's decent into madness was perfectly handled by the actress and I really liked how Wyngarde went from the non-believer to the tortured. The B&W cinematography is highly effective and I also thought the music score fit the film just fine. The only real problem with the film is that it's a bit too predictable but this doesn't take away from the fun.