The credits for The Hand of Night got me really excited. Over a plain black background you get some awesome colored-smoke, crazy lights, skeleton props, and cheesy/awesome fake bats that fly at the camera. It's sweet! And it seems to promise a fun time... I was expecting wackiness, vampires, cheesy effects, hammy acting - all with a groovy late 60s British sheen. It seemed like a perfect late-night watch for me. So I was a little disappointed that it's played a little more straight - you've technically got a vampire and a cult, but it never gets as crazy as the credits would lead you to believe. And it's a little more dramatic too - our lead character is overcoming a pretty serious tragedy. But all that aside, it does have a certain charm that made it a decent watch. (Also, re: the credits - it's the first time I've ever seen a producer get top-billing over the director... curious.)
Our story focuses on Paul Carver (William Sylvester), a man traveling to Morocco - I think he's going there to see a doctor/hypnotist to help him forget the tragic accident that killed his wife and two children. But on the plane, he starts having crazy nightmares, yelling and thrashing about in his seat - the man sitting next to him slaps him around until he wakes up. "Bad dreams are very disturbing. I hope I did not hurt you when I was slapping your face." That's nice... anyways, the slapper is an archeologist named Otto Gunther (Edward Underdown) - he's in Morocco on a dig and close to opening up a long undiscovered tomb. He invites Paul to visit him when he gets the chance.
When Paul gets to town, he finds his hypnotist (or whatever he was doing - I'm not totally sure) has died. So he gets wasted at a bar and heads out to Otto's party. He drinks more when he gets there, and eventually runs across Marissa (Aliza Gur), a beautiful princess-type who invites him to her palace and talks to him about eternal life and all that jazz. The next day, Paul mysteriously wakes up in the middle of the desert. Besides being abandoned, he's got another problem - Marissa isn't real! Her corporeal body is actually in the tomb that Otto and his archeologist buddies are about to crack open. Oh, and she's also a vampire that has sworn vengeance on all mankind after her heart was broken. Also, the lively palace that Paul *swears* he was at is clearly old and abandoned, and has been so for hundreds and hundreds of years. Is Paul going crazy? Or is their some weird mystical shit going on? Tune in to find out!
There's actually a couple of other things going on too: Paul feeling guilty about the crash that killed his family, some weird cult thing, Otto's sort-of-daughter Chantal (Diane Clare) that Paul may get involved with romantically, a crazy cult guy who may or may not be stalking Paul... but it's a lot to fit in a synopsis. Rest assured that there is enough going on that it's never really boring. But the downside is there isn't really enough time to devote to the main story, so it ends up feeling a little undercooked.
The most notable thing The Hand of Night? William Sylvester is a lot of fun as Paul. He's got a very Shatner-esque vibe here. His delivery and general posture reminded me of Captain Kirk on several occasions. He also gets to deliver a lot of monologues about how much he hates being alive - it doesn't sound like fun, but for some reason it is (it's all very overwrought and melodramatic). He feels very guilty about his wife and children, and just doesn't see any reason to go on. Plus, Chantal seems to like goading him about the tragedy - "did you love your wife?" Real nice, Chantal!
The horror elements of the film are a little confusing - the way it's set up, you aren't really sure if everything is happening in Paul's head or if things are real. And it's never really adequately explained. Marissa is labeled as a vampire in the film, but doesn't do anything vampiric (i.e. no fangs or blood-sucking). She's more like an undead cult leader than anything. But it's hard to figure out her angle - we know she wants "revenge on all of mankind," but somehow in the film, this equates to making Paul (and only Paul) love her.
Also, The Hand of Night has the most unsubtle musical cues that I've ever heard. Lots of loud gongs, timpanies, and crazy horns... it's actually pretty damned funny. The music isn't bad in any way, it's just inappropriate for the film. Something a little quieter would have worked a lot better. But the whole movie is kind of charming in on off-kilter way, and the music plays a big part of that.
Overall, it's an okay film. Nothing that must be sought out immediately, but a fun enough diversion if you're looking for a little 60s throwback.
I would I think recommend this film.
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