Night Tide

While Dennis Hopper had been on screen for a few years prior to Night Tide this one one of his earliest starring roles on the big screen. Even in this early work of his it's easy to see why he became such a highly respected talent. He does so much with this role that his performance alone is worth taking the time to watch the film.

But I'm getting ahead of myself again. Let's talk about what Night Tide is. It's taken from a short story by Curtis Harrington who also directed the movie. His inspiration was “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Johnny is a sailor looking for some companionship. An encounter with the lovely Mora gets his attention leads him to pursue her discovering that she plays the part of a mermaid at a carnival attraction. As he spends more time with him people begin warning him of a tendency for the corpses of Mora's boyfriends to be found washed ashore. Even her adoptive father claims she's dangerous telling Johnny that she is a descendent of the ancient mythological sirens. It sounds preposterous, of course, nothing more than the ravings of an old drunk, but Johnny can't deny that something dangerous is lurking just beyond his perception.

This is most definitely not the typical 60's suspense film. It's far more moody and daring than most of what I can think of from this time period outside of a Romero flick. In that way it feels ahead of its time being more in keeping with what started coming out in the 70's. Events don't unfold like I would have expected them and definitely feels more Poe-influenced than a lot of other 60's cinema.

The plot starts out slowly - mostly a lot of walking around with jazz music playing. Fortunately the music isn't half bad, and the plot will pick up with plenty of mystery and suspense as Johnny gets more involved with Mora.

While the movie gets a lot of things right it is far from perfect. Some of the conversations feel forced. The ending feels a bit rushed and doesn't tie up all the ends that I expected it to. It's rather tragic ultimately though it's still quite interesting.

MORALITY:

While there is perhaps more air of sexuality than is typical for movies of this era, it is still far from overt. There is no sex, nudity, or strong language.

Violence is minimal though there are grisly events and a dark mood.

SPIRITUALITY:

The notion of the sirens pulls from ancient mythology. Is Mora ACTUALLY descended from the ancient creatures? I'm not sure that I want to divulge that to you. I will say that the explanations aren't as steeped in the supernatural as they could be, but that doesn't mean that the old woman isn't really a witch. And if that's the case then perhaps there is other magic at work here as well.

I've read about some behind the scenes connections with the occult, but if any of that influence has actually made it to the screen it's so vague that it's going to go over the heads of most viewers.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Night Tide's low budget may still give it somewhat of a campy feel, but I think most fans of horror could enjoy seeing this as long as you don't need it to be a corpse per minute kind of violent slasher flick. This is absolutely required viewing for any Dennis Hopper fan.

#NightTide