by
Kristin Battestella
Upscale
housewife with history Elizabeth Taylor thinks she witnesses a murder
in the creepy abandoned house next door in the 1973 British thriller
Night Watch. Unfortunately,
her broker husband John Wheeler (Laurence Harvey) nor her carefree
best friend Sarah (Billie Whitelaw) believe her. The police are tired
of the the increasing phone calls and neighborhood hysteria, but the
terror escalates thanks to stormy nights, pills, alcohol, and slit
throats.
Director
Brian G. Hutton (Where Eagles Dare) and
writers Evan Jones (The Damned)
and Tony Williamson (The Avengers)
adapt the Lucille Fletcher (Sorry, Wrong Number)
play with flowers, quaint English gardens, and smiling
rapport. The swanky drinks before dinner and lingering sixties style,
however, contrast the looming gothic manor next door. The grounds are
said to be poison where nothing will grow, but someone is digging in
the backyard on stormy nights and vivid dreams of speeding cars,
accidents, and morgue terror distract from the snobbish talk of
avoiding lesser neighbors. Late night waxing on the fatal past
invokes a wee small hours limbo – traumatic memories and two
characters who've lost touch make for fine drama before raging storms
and screams reveal something horrible across the way. Dead men and
cut throats disturb the classical music, but inspectors find nothing
in the congested, maze-like condemned as Night Watch relies
on performances and mood rather than sensationalism for its taut,
through the shutters peering. Pills or brandy are suggested to keep
calm, but flashlights, clutter, and foreground objects layer the
visual frame. Viewers are looking for something – questioning what
we see or didn't see. Could it all be an honest mistake? The
police think it's nothing but “money and menopause” on top of
brief nudity, shower saucy, and hotel room trysts. Newly planted
trees aren't enough evidence, but nuggets of information trickle out
from the ensemble. Suspicious neighbors find it exciting that there's
hear tell of a dead body nearby yet refuse to have their bushes dug
up as part of the official search. Red herrings add to the creepy
commentary about disliking neighbors who were there before you just
as much as the friends you choose living even closer. Who's watching
whom and from which house questions layer the voyeurism alongside
debates on hallucinations, eidetic images, and convincing oneself
that what you see is real. Old mementos thought lost suddenly
reappear, leading to arguments about gaslighting and being
deliberately terrorized as more police calls, chases, and curiosity
create a 'burbs mind your own
business across the hedge. Despite lights next door, the case
is closed – inspectors and doctors both strongly suggest everything
go back to normal amid awkward dinners, screams, and more off screen
witnessing. Revelations about what
had really happened in previous accidents and shock over identifying
bodies found in flagrante delicto provoke
more tension in the increasingly crowded quarter. Eventually the
police laugh and roll their eyes, proposing our housewife contact the
building owners herself or hire a private detective. All the
paperwork is ready for a trip to “rest” in Switzerland, too –
accounts, legalese, and power of attorney but that's all just
routine. Confrontations, secrets, and lies will out thanks to hide
and seek twists inside the derelict. Night Watch gets
its horror on in a spooky multi layered finale of blood, violence,
crazed attacks, and frenetic turnabouts. Who exactly was really
planning what and when? Seemingly early and obvious giveaways make
room for more surprises, and Night Watch ensures
the shocking schemes are ultimately completed with skill and
gravitas.
Flowing
gowns, glam necklaces, rock rings, and coiffed hair assure Elizabeth
Taylor (Cleopatra) looks
classy as well to do housewife Ellen Wheeler. She dresses for
dinner, drinks, and does jigsaw puzzles, for she needs patience to
give her something to do when she's so often alone. Her ritzy life
should be nothing but grand, however, the insomniac Mrs. is up all
night fascinated by storms and thinking about her father's bad
poetry. She's been spoiled yet feels restrained and bored. The watch
during the night is for all the things you can't make sense of during
the day, says Ellen, and she's increasingly returning to memories of
her late first husband Carl. Dreaming of his accident keeps her awake
– she vividly recalls the fatal scenes and blood the viewer never
sees but doesn't remember previously dealing with the police and
feels nervous about talking to them. However, Ellen also doesn't want
to be coddled or hear this witness is all in her mind, and she's
angry when no one believes her, even more hysterical over the
disbelief than upset by the crime she apparently saw. Without
support, Ellen is increasingly frazzled, pathetic, and paranoid. Will
she voluntarily go to the doctor so he can tell her the dead body is
all in her mind? What happens when she thinks she sees another one?
Mrs. Wheeler's wheels turn as she suspects her pills, beverages, and
if someone is deliberately making her recall Carl's demise. Despite
her full house with husband, friend, and maid, Ellen fears someone
else is watching her. She repeatedly calls the police and eventually
agrees to see the psychiatrist, and though desperate, she is not
stupid. Ellen is quite intelligent and recognizes when she's being
lied to or signing the wrong papers. She's damn shrewd in seeing
what's what, and Night Watch's madness
begins to make sense as only Dame Elizabeth could make the
clicking of the retractable pen so sassy and defiant before refusing
to take the last tranquilizer in the bottle. Long drags on the
cigarettes and strategic pauses emphasis the deliciously dark camp,
and I'm surprised Night Watch feels
so obscure when Taylor's performance is so chill.
Laurence
Harvey's (The Manchurian Candidate) stocks
and bonds big wig John Wheeler wants to know why his wife
can't sleep. He works long hours, but wonders what he's done to upset
her even if she says it's not him. John takes care of Ellen, babying
her with warm milk the way a daughter goes from a father to husband
to protect her. However, John does not believe she's seen anything.
He won't call the police over a false alarm and insists the inspector
not upset his already not well wife. John won't stick up for her
claims, yet he warns the police to not dismiss Ellen. Although he's
worried over the dangerous mix of alcohol and sleeping pills, John's
more concerned about possibly being sued by an angry neighbor. He
dislikes when the police want him to control his wife and encourages
her to see their doctor friend once he's tired of her bringing up her
late husband. John agrees she is right when Ellen suggests they take
a holiday – but she says we and
he only wants her to
take a vacation. He has all that “spa” paperwork ready! Swanky
best friend Billie Whitelaw (The Omen) on the other
hand, is the house guest who won't leave. She keeps saying she's
moving on to Scotland and debates running away with her latest on and
off conquest Barry but may have other tête-à-têtes,
too. Sarah stays to look after Ellen, providing tranquilizers and hot
chocolate while waxing on all the adventures she could be having and
the excuses she can make up to get away with them. Although she tries
to avoid topics that will upset Ellen – like Carl – they always
creep back into the conversation. Sarah insists Ellen can't go on
like this, but as the third wheel in the marital house, her
companionship is automatically suspect. She lies to spare Ellen, but
also apologizes for her tall tales. Doctor Tony Britton (The People That Time Forgot) must also tread lightly with Mrs.
Wheeler. He doesn't want her to be committed, but needs her to
voluntarily trust his help. Above all, he insists that she must get
out of this house before it's too late.
Spooky
black branches, dark blue skies, boarded windows, banging shutters,
and overgrown vines contrast the mirrors, red leather couch, white
staircase, and swanky record players next door in Night Watch.
Creepy statues and artwork, blue
lighting, ticking clocks, and swirling cigarette smoke add ominous to
the hip turtlenecks, lux lamps, decanters, and manicured gardens.
Knives in the kitchen, rain splatter on the windows, and vintage blue
sirens create pulsing tension while gates, flashlights, and condemned
interiors set off the congested mood. Horseshoe phones, switchboard
operators, and retro trench coats should be cozy nostalgia, but the
colorful outdoors disappear as the peering through the blinds and
drawn shades invoke agoraphobia. Distorted dreams and intense
flashes of past car accidents lead to dead bodies and hospital
disturbia thanks to low camera angles and spotlights. Night Watch
has subtle, choice
visuals with reflections of the scary house on the fine townhouse
window overlaying all action inside and out. Well done cinematography
provides dark scares as well as focus on Taylor's face as zooms hone
in on critical images and objects. Thunder punctuates arguments as
the rhythms escalate, and through the gate chases move the action to
our spooky neighbors amid barren beams, peeling plaster, creaking
stairs, and exposed woodwork. Violent struggles in the dark and
shocking silhouettes allow for what we don't see suspicion and final
revelations. Wise viewers may pick up on the mystery here for there
are too many similar stories to Night Watch before
and since. Audiences looking for full on horror a la Hammer of
the day will be disappointed, too. Fortunately, the psychological
chills, spooky twists, and superbly unraveled cast do get their scary
on in an entertaining end. Night Watch is
a fun late night tease worth seeing more than once to catch all the
whodunit winks.
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