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44-538: Captain Clegg (U.S. title: Night Creatures ) is a 1962 British adventure horror film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Peter Cushing , Yvonne Romain , Patrick Allen , and Oliver Reed . It produced by John Temple-Smith for Hammer Film Productions . It is loosely based on the Doctor Syn character created by Russell Thorndike . In 1776, a mulatto sailor is marooned on an island after assaulting

88-602: A Region B Blu-ray disc. On 28 June 2021 Nightmare was released in Europe as part of Powerhouse Films' Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows limited edition Blu-ray box set. The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Hammer Mark II, i.e the quasi- Diaboliques exercise as opposed to the Transylvanian blood-bath, has become as rigidly formalised as Perry Mason . While this makes things easier than ever for horror addicts, it has evidently proved an increasing burden of late for

132-478: A "landmark of effects-led adventure cinema." Outside technical effects, adventure films of Douglas Fairbanks such as Robin Hood (1922) with its scenes of battles and recreations of castles cost a record-setting $ 1.5 million to produce also provided a variant of adventure spectacle to audiences. Tasker stated that The Lost World (1925) arguably initiated a jungle adventure film cycle that would be expanded on in

176-468: A continuing trend for Hollywood adventure films. The other major Hollywood style was the historical adventure typified by early films in the style of The Black Pirate (1926) and The Mark of Zorro (1920) which feature less intense violence. Historical adventure was a popular Hollywood staple until the mid-1950s. While the historical adventure film would be parodied or presented as highly camp , special effects -driven adventure films began to dominate

220-541: A general release in the United Kingdom on 31 May 1964 by Rank Film Distributors in support of The Evil of Frankenstein . In the United States, the film received a DVD release through Universal Pictures in an eight-film set titled The Hammer Horror Series on 6 September 2005. This set was re-released on Blu-ray on 13 September 2016. The film was released on 28 November 2016 in the United Kingdom on

264-652: A half out of four stars, calling it "good fun with some scary moments." Donald Guarisco from Allmovie called it "one of the best Hammer Films productions", praising the film's imaginative script, and colorful characterizations. DVD Talk called the film "a winner that affords opportunities for several Hammer stalwarts to play refreshingly well-defined characters." Adventure film Adventure films boast their setting and visuals as key elements. This ranged from early technical showcases such as The Lost World (1925) and King Kong (1933). These films set up exotic locations as both beautiful and dangerous. This would be

308-434: A lot of one of Sangster's neater scripts. There is a sensible avoidance of awkward details ... as well as economy, more surprise than one expects, and several imaginative touches. ... Apart from David Knight, an even less impressive Hammer recruit than Oliver Reed, the players are very sound, Moira Redmond in particular having a field-day with the initially charming, ultimately crazed Grace Maddox." AllMovie called

352-587: A low critical status, with a few exceptions. Historically, the genre has not been seen as authored cinema. The genre's cinematic traditions were effectively absent from debates on genre cinema since the 1960s. Chapman echoed this statement. He argued that with only a handful of exceptions, adventure films have not won much favour with film critics: "In traditional film criticism there are few 'good' adventure films; those that have won critical acclaim have usually done so on grounds other than their status as genre films." When action and adventure cinema secure awards, it

396-512: A quest narrative, where characters seek mythical objects or fabulous treasure as seen in films like King Solomon's Mines (1950) or Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Tasker opted for a broader sense of genre, and commented on Taves limits, stating it was an understandable impulse to place generic limits on potentially diverse bodies of texts, while included films like Raiders of the Lost Ark which she described as feeling "like an adventure in

440-590: A setting that was both remote in time and space to its audience. While Cameron refuted the idea of a clearly defined adventure genre, he said films described the "positive feeling for adventure" evoked from the scenes of action in the film and the identification with the main character. Taves echoed this, exemplifying the character of Robin Hood who deals with a valiant fight for just government in an exotic past. Taves wrote in The Romance of Adventure: The Genre of Historical Adventure Movies (1993) that defining

484-556: A spear before being shot dead by Mipps. In the film's closing scene, the villagers look on and Collier and the sailors salute as Mipps sorrowfully places Clegg's body in the open grave. Filming took place at Bray Studios in Berkshire. The film was released as part of a B movie double-feature with Phantom of the Opera (1962). In North America, the film was released on 6 September 2005 along with seven other Hammer horror films on

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528-420: Is Clegg's daughter, he attempts to take advantage of her compromised situation to rape her, but she escapes and flees to Blyss’s home. There, Blyss and Harry both tell her they were already aware of her relationship to Clegg. After consoling Imogène, Harry confronts Rash but is arrested by Collier when the captain notices the young man's bandaged arm. Harry is led away to Collier's ship as a hostage but escapes when

572-489: Is often in categories such as visual effects and sound editing. Tasker found this reflected Richards comments on the creative labor as being the primary appeal on work in the genre. Nightmare (1964 film) Nightmare (also known as Here's the Knife, Dear: Now Use It ) is a 1964 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Jennie Linden . It was written by Jimmy Sangster , who also produced

616-488: The silent films of the 1910s and 1920s. These films required elaborate visual effects that were important to displaying menacing or fantastic worlds. These films often took narratives from novels, such as films like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916) and The Lost World (1925). Beyond being adaptations of famous books, Tasker said that the appeal of these films was also in their effects laden scene, finding The Lost World

660-576: The 4-DVD set The Hammer Horror Series (ASIN: B0009X770O), which is part of MCA-Universal's "Franchise Collection". This set was re-released on Blu-ray September 13, 2016. A Blu-ray was released in the UK on 23 June 2014 by Final Cut Entertainment. In 2021, Powerhouse Films re-released the film on Blu-Ray, along with The Shadow of the Cat , The Phantom of the Opera , and Nightmare , as part of Hammer Volume Six: Night Shadows boxset . Variety wrote that

704-473: The Light Brigade (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). The historical adventure film continued to be a popular Hollywood genre into the mid-1950s featuring various male stars such as Tyrone Power , Douglas Fairbanks Jr. , Burt Lancaster , and Stewart Granger . Imperialism -themed adventure films continued in the 1950s with a greater emphasis on location shooting . Examples include

748-576: The Lost Ark (1981), The Mummy (1999), and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). Few other films embarked on more serious tones, such as Ridley Scott 's Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven (2005). Since the late 1970s, both action and adventure films have become synonymous with the high-budgeted and profitable Hollywood films and franchises. While both genres took on challenging material, towards

792-466: The Marsh Phantoms appear, distracting the sailors. The Phantoms, who are actually villagers in disguise, take Harry and Imogène to the church, where they are hurriedly married by Blyss before leaving to start their life together. Collier arrives at the church and announces that Clegg's grave is empty. He then tears off Blyss's collar to reveal the rope burns from an unsuccessful hanging, exposing

836-537: The Movies (1973) stated that adventure "is not confined to a particular genre [...] it is a quality which turns up in almost every sort of story film; indeed the most obvious adventures movies, the sword-and-bosom epics, are usually among the least interesting." American historian Brian Taves wrote in 1993 that having such wide-ranging application of the genre would render it meaningless. Despite their different definitions, both Taves and Cameron stated that genre required

880-501: The adventure film was defined from a fictional narrative and excluded films based on historical events and people such as Zulu (1964) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962), finding they belonged to other types of narratives such as the historical film and the war film . Chapman summarized the complicated nature of the genre, stating that the "Adventure film is a less clearly defined than most: indeed, this might be one reason why film historians have left it pretty much alone." He described

924-445: The arm by the pursuing Collier. Back at the ale house, Rash kills one of the sailors to prevent the smuggling operation from being exposed. This frees the mulatto, who leaves for the churchyard to break open Clegg's grave. Collier, who spent years chasing Clegg, becomes suspicious of Blyss when the mulatto later makes a second attempt on the parson's life. At Blyss's house, Rash finds Clegg's last will and testament. Learning that Imogène

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968-415: The art director, costume designer, fencing master, stunt arranger, cinematographer and actor just much as the writer and director. For the swashbuckler is truly the sum of all their work." Both action and adventure are often used together as film genres, and are even used interchangeably. For Taves, he compared the styles saying that adventure films were "something beyond action" and were elevated "beyond

1012-623: The both of them and reveals that Janet is recovering well. Grace finally snaps before being brought to justice. Jennie Linden was an 11th hour casting choice replacing Julie Christie who dropped out to do the film Billy Liar . The film was shot with the working title Here's the Knife Dear: Now Use It . Nightmare had its public premiere at the New Victoria Theatre in London on 19 April 1964. It received

1056-593: The box office hit King Solomon's Mines (1950) which was shot in Africa. 1960s fantasy films such as Jason and the Argonauts (1963) combined the set-pieces and fantastic locations of historical adventures with renewed emphasis on special effects. By the 1970s, The Three Musketeers (1973) marked a point where the historical adventure has been firmly associated with what Tasker described as "comic - even camp - tone" that would inform later films such as Raiders of

1100-445: The broadest sense of the term." Tasker noted this specifically, that even when disregarding its historical setting, the film concerned a quest, with travel and developing moral sense of the hero's place in the world. Tasker wrote that these films films have no consistent iconography, their set design and special effects, ranging from stop-motion, to digital imagery and 3D are given a privileged place in these genres. Chapman also noted

1144-585: The chauffeur; Mrs. Gibbs, the housekeeper; and Grace Maddox, an attractive nurse-companion hired by Henry. Miss Lewis leaves Janet in Grace's care. The nightmares continue: a white-shrouded woman roams the corridors, inviting Janet to burst into her parents' room, where she finds the same woman on the bed with a knife in her chest. When Henry returns, he finds Janet under sedation; her doctors recommend psychiatric care but he refuses and Janet tries to commit suicide. Henry's wife comes to tea and, because she seems to be

1188-473: The decade. Erb found that the jungle imagery of these films of the 1930s frequently showcased the jungle world as frequently alternating between "demonic and edenic " images, while Tasker said the jungle films and other adventure films of the period would establish a travelogue allure of these settings as romantic spaces. Within the Classical Hollywood cinema , one of the major other styles

1232-461: The film for Hammer Films . The film focuses on a young girl in a finishing school who is plagued by nightmares concerning her institutionalized mother. Janet, a girl at finishing school who six years earlier saw her mother stab her father to death, is plagued by nightmares. (Her mother, following the tragedy, was committed to an asylum.) Miss Lewis, a teacher, takes Janet home and in the absence of Henry Baxter, Janet's guardian, they are met by John,

1276-411: The film had a "good" screenplay and "savvy" direction, "and the range of technical credits are all on the plus side, especially Arthur Grant's photography." The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "The script is feeble, the acting, apart from Patrick Allen's forceful hero, uninspired, and the obsession with injury, degradation and death more dispiriting than ever." Leonard Maltin awarded the film two and

1320-431: The genre in context with the historical adventure, and said explicitly excluding films with fantasy settings such as Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as they involved the supernatural over human agency. Taves wrote that "unlike adventure, fantasy presents a netherworld where events violate physical reality and the bounds of human possibility." Comparatively, in his overview of British adventure cinema, James Chapman said

1364-776: The genre that would continue into the 21st century with film series like The Lord of the Rings , Harry Potter , and Pirates of the Caribbean . In their analysis of the genre in 2018, Johan Höglund and Agnieszka Soltysik Monnet found that the contemporary adventure form often appears in trans-genre work where the adventure component is perceived as secondary. They exemplified that in films such ranging from Top Gun (1986), Godzilla (2014), to Lone Survivor (2013), which range from fantasy film to science fiction film to war film genres, all adhere to traditional adventure narratives. Adventure films are generally perceived with

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1408-406: The home of coffin-maker Jeremiah Mipps, which serves as the smugglers' headquarters. The smugglers are led by the village parson Dr Blyss, whom the mulatto inexplicably attacks before being subdued by the sailors. That night, the smugglers succeed in transporting a consignment to a nearby windmill for onward shipment, although squire's son Harry, Imogène's secret fiancé, is wounded when he is shot in

1452-521: The late 1970s of an adventure style geared towards more family-oriented audiences with films like Star Wars (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Star Wars exemplifies a resurgent adventure strand of the 1970s cinema with characters like the Jedi Knights who swing from ropes and wield light sabers recall sword-fighting and swashbuckling films. Tasker commented that this led to a commercially lucrative and culturally conservative version of

1496-401: The locals are involved in the smuggling of alcohol, from France. They are accompanied by the mulatto, mute after his tongue was cut out sixteen years earlier, whom Collier saved from death and now keeps as a slave. As Collier's men ransack an ale house run by Rash and his ward Imogène, the mulatto uncovers a hidden cellar. Ostensibly a varnish store, this is connected by a secret passageway to

1540-536: The market towards the late 1970s, with films such as Star Wars (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). This trend continued into the 21st century. Adventure is a broad film genre. Early writing on the genre had wide categorizations. Critic André Bazin went as far to say in the 1950s that "there is not difference between Hopalong Cassidy and Tarzan except for their costumes and the arena in which they demonstrate their prowess." Ian Cameron in Adventure in

1584-402: The parson as Clegg. Clegg declares that his executioner spared his life and that he wished only to help the inhabitants of Dymchurch live comfortably. A struggle breaks out between the villagers and the sailors, enabling Clegg to flee with Mipps via the secret passageway. However, on emerging at the coffin-maker's house they run into the mulatto, who has murdered Rash and fatally impales Clegg with

1628-1126: The physical challenge" and by "its moral and intellectual flavour." Forms of filmmaking that would become film genres were mostly defined in other media before Thomas Edison devised the Kinetograph in the late 1890s. Genres, such as adventure fiction were developed as written fiction. In the early Hollywood cinema, early adventure cinema were both original stories as well as adaptations of popular media such as adventure stories, magazines, and folk tales. Films were adapted from adventure stories such as King Solomon's Mines (1885), She (1887), and Treasure Island (1883). Tasker described both action and adventure cinema are resistant to any historical evolutionary chronology. Both genres are self-reflexive and draw from conventions of other genres ranging from horror to historical imperial adventure. Taves found that that films that were swashbucklers or pirate-themed adventures were often humorous, and that they retained viability even when parodied. Many silent films with action and adventure scenarios flourished in

1672-432: The similarly effects driven sound film King Kong (1933). In her study of King Kong , Cynthia Erb noted a conventions of both travel documentary and jungle adventure traditions. Tasker wrote that the best known displays of these films were those that focused on the character of Tarzan which found more significantly commercial success with the success of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films featuring Johnny Weissmuller during

1716-505: The style as being commonly applied to narratives where action and visual spectacle were foregrounded. He included styles like the swashbuckler , the British empire film, the sensationalized spy thriller, and mythological fantasy films as part of adventure cinema genre. Writing about the adventure genre in the 1970s, Jeffrey Richards said that "since the way a swashbuckler moves and looks is just as important as what it says, we must look at

1760-401: The style as not being a discrete genre in its own, but a flexible, overarching category that encompasses a range of different related narrative forms. British author and academic Yvonne Tasker wrote in her 2015 book The Hollywood Action and Adventure Film (2015) that adventure films imply a story that is located within a fantasy of exoticized setting. She found that these films often apply

1804-716: The wife of pirate captain Nathaniel Clegg. By 1792, Clegg has supposedly been captured by the Royal Navy and hanged. His resting place is the coastal village of Dymchurch on the Romney Marsh . The surrounding countryside is home to the "Marsh Phantoms": figures on horseback who ride by night and bring terror to the village. Captain Collier and his band of sailors arrive in Dymchurch to investigate reports that

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1848-598: The woman in Janet's nightmares, Janet stabs the woman to death and is promptly committed to an institution. The woman in white is revealed to be Grace, disguised with a wig and mask and conspiring with Henry. They marry, but Grace begins believing that Henry is trying to drive her mad. Under the impression that Janet has escaped from the asylum, Grace stabs Henry to death, expecting Janet to be blamed. However, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Gibb and John reveal that they were on to Grace and Henry's plan to drive Janet crazy and decided to get revenge on

1892-437: The writer, Jimmy Sangster, in his efforts to find even the slightest variations. Nightmare's equipage could hardly be more predictable: distraught heroine in ill-lit country house; phantoms gliding upstairs and down corridors; chauffeur, housekeeper, preoccupied and often-absent guardian, enigmatic mistress; knives, turning door-handles, masks, a perambulatory "corpse". Given the outlandish plot, director Freddie Francis makes quite

1936-662: Was the historical adventure film. These films were typically set in the past and drew from the Fairbanks films such as The Black Pirate (1926) and The Mark of Zorro (1920). They feature violence in a less intense manner than other contemporary genres such as the Western or war film . While not specifically associated with one Hollywood studio, Warner Bros. released a series of popular historical adventures featuring Errol Flynn such as Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of

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