The Night Has Eyes

The Night Has Eyes
The Night Has Eyes
	1949 US re-release film poster
Directed by	Leslie Arliss
Written by	Leslie Arliss ; John Argyle
Based on	The Night Has Eyes by Alan Kennington
Produced by	John Argyle
Starring	James Mason; Wilfrid Lawson ; Mary Clare ; Joyce Howard
Cinematography	Günther Krampf
Edited by	Flora Newton
Music by	Charles Williams
Distributed by	Pathé Pictures International
Release date	1 June 1942;
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£15,000

The Night Has Eyes, released in the United States as Terror House by Producers Releasing Corporation and re-released in the US by Cosmopolitan Pictures in 1949 as Moonlight Madness, is a 1942 British thriller film directed by Leslie Arliss starring James Mason, Joyce Howard, Wilfrid Lawson, Mary Clare.^[2] and Tucker McGuire. It is based on the 1939 novel of the same title by Alan Kennington.

Plot

Two young female teachers travel to the Yorkshire Moors where their friend had disappeared a year before, and it is not long before they encounter a man they believe to be her murderer.^[3] That night, a violent storm breaks out, and they become stranded in the house where they are staying.

Cast

James Mason as Stephen Deremid
Wilfrid Lawson as Jim Sturrock
Joyce Howard as Marian Ives
Mary Clare as Mrs. Ranger
Tucker McGuire as Doris
John Fernald as Doctor Barry Randall
Dorothy Black as Miss Fenwick
Amy Dalby as Miss Miggs

Critical reception

Leonard Maltin called the film an "OK mystery";^[4] Allmovie called it a "taut British chiller";^[5] and TV Guide wrote "though melodramatic and soundstage-bound, Terror House is still quite effective and eerie. Fog covers almost every exterior; cinematographer Gunther Krampf spent long periods getting the artificial fog at just the right density...The final film was almost too effective, and after initially getting an A rating from the British censor and being booked on the biggest cinema circuit in Britain, the rating was suddenly changed to H (for "Horrific"), making it off-limits for anyone under 16 years of age. The big circuits had a policy of showing only A films, so the independent cinemas became the big winners, getting an excellent thriller starring Mason, Britain's top leading man at the time."^[6]