Night of the Big Heat is a 1967 British horror film released by Planet Film Productions, based on a 1959 novel of the same name by John Lymington.
| Night of the Big Heat | |
|---|---|
| File:Night of the big heat dvd.jpg | |
| Directed by | Terence Fisher |
| Written by | Jane Baker Pip Baker |
| Produced by | Tom Blakely |
| Starring | Christopher Lee Peter Cushing Patrick Allen Sarah Lawson |
| Distributed by | Planet Film Distributors |
Release date | 1966 |
Running time | 94 m |
| Language | English |
Story
Template:Spoiler Jeff and Frankie Callum run the Swan, a popular inn and tavern on the remote Scottish island of Fara. Jeff, a novelist in his spare time, hires a secretary named Angela Roberts. Unknown to Frankie, Jeff and Angela are former lovers, and Angela is seemingly doing her damnedest to seduce the weak-willed Jeff into sleeping with her. Not helping matters much is the fact that despite the fact it's the middle of November, Fara Island is experiencing a stifling and inexplicable midwinter heatwave, with temperatures in the 90s and rising daily.
Into this decidedly bad situation steps Dr. Godfrey Hanson, a mysterious scientist from the mainland who rents a room at the Swan. Hanson spends his time exploring the island, setting up motion-sensitive cameras and taking soil samples. The locals, including the Callums, find this suspicious, especially when livestock begin to die, burned to death by sudden, isolated bursts of heat. Then people begin dying in similar circumstances, including a homeless man and Swan regular Bob Hayward, who crashes his car after being blinded by a flash of bright light which generates enough heat to ignite the gas tank of his car.
Jeff finally corners Hanson and demands answers from him. According to Hanson, Fara Island is the site of a (relatively small-scale) invasion by aliens from outer space, who are beaming in on television and radio signals, and who generate enough bodily heat to burn alive any living creature that gets too close to them. Together with local physician Dr. Vernon Stone, Jeff and Hanson must stop the aliens before everyone on Fara is killed from the heat.
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role |
| Christopher Lee | Dr. Godfrey Hanson |
| Peter Cushing | Dr. Vernon Stone |
| Patrick Allen | Jeff Callum |
| Sarah Lawson | Frankie Callum |
| Jane Merrow | Angela Roberts |
| William Lucas | Ken Stanley |
| Kenneth Cope | Tinker Mason |
| Percy Herbert | Gerald Foster |
| Thomas Heathcote | Bob Hayward |
| Jack Bligh | Ben Siddle |
Trivia
This film's alternate title is Island of the Burning Doomed. It companion piece is generally considered to be 1966's Island of Terror.
Novel vs. the Film
| Book | Film |
| Richard Callum | Jeff Callum |
| Harsen (no first name is given) - Is killed shortly after Vernon Stone in the gravel pit | Godfrey Hanson - Is killed at lighthouse, close to the end |
| Patricia Wells - Hides in an abandoned army bunker with Pearce, the air force radio man | Angela Roberts - Hides in an abandoned army bunker with Ken Stanley, the man in charge of the radar station |
| Vernon Stone - A science fiction author | Dr. Vernon Stone - The town doctor |
| Bob Hayward - Survives; is married to Bet Hayward | Bob Hayward - Killed in the gravel pit; is married to Stella Hayward |
| Tinker Mason - Attempts to rape a woman named Beth; escapes his encounter with an alien in his house unharmed | Tinker Mason - Attempts to rape Angela Roberts; is killed by an alien in his auto repair shop |
| The island has no given name | Fara Island |
| Mr. and Mrs. Callum's pub is called the White Lion | Mr. and Mrs. Callum's pub is called the Swan |
| The unnamed aliens resemble spiders | The unnamed aliens resemble glowing globs of protoplasm |