The Navy vs. the Night Monsters

1966 "All-Devouring Carnivorous Trees That Move On Their Own Roots!"
The Navy vs. the Night Monsters
3.6| 1h27m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 01 November 1966 Released
Producted By: Standard Club of California Productions Inc.
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

US Navy battles monsters unearthed from the frozen arctic.

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Standard Club of California Productions Inc.

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oscar-35 *Spoiler/plot- The Navy vs the Night Monsters, 1966. US military starts "Operation Deep Freeze" in the South Pole. It's a scientific expedition to discover unusual tree specimens. (Trees in the South Pole?) When some odd tree specimens are shipped out for further study, the trees are accidentally taken to a tropical South Sea Navy base. These tree specimens soon reveal themselves to be killers with acid-secreting walking monsters that live by night foraging for meat, even humans. *Special Stars- Anthony Eisley, Mamie Van Doren, Billy Gray, Walter Sande, Bobby Van. *Theme- Polar region organisms should not be moved to study them.*Trivia/location/goofs- B & W. Michael A. Hoey optioned the original novel and wrote the screenplay in 1959, hoping to emulate the success of The Thing from Another World (1951). He was paid $10,000 for the script. Mamie Van Doren was cast because she owed uncredited producer Roger Corman another film on her contract. Van Doren was highly dismissive of her work on the film and indeed the film itself. Shot in ten days; The entire cast and crew were on the point of walking out during production when they learned halfway through filming what the film's plot was to be.*Emotion- Again another unintentional comical romp in a film that was made badly, cheap, fast, and the participants hated spending their time and talents in this project. It shows on film to the viewer. Preposterous situations and badly acted, don't waste your film viewing time. See the 'Day of the Triffids' for same plot and done better.*Based on- Outer space fears, post Atomic Age.
bkoganbing If you thought those walking trees in The Day Of The Triffids were highly cheesy and camp wait till you see The Navy Vs. The Night Monsters. Next to these the Triffids could have been created by the Bard himself.On a South Pacific island the scientists who inhabit it are expecting an arrival of colleagues from Antarctica with plant and animal specimens. The plane arrives with a crazed pilot at the wheel and its human cargo apparently jumped from the plane because the cargo door is wide open.What they've brought from the bottom of the world are some omnivorous plants who now in a more tropical climate are thriving eating all kinds of life in their path. They secrete some nasty acid that makes its food melt down and more digestible.This whole cast looked like they took this assignment for the tropical vacation. The dialog is spoken with all the force of a noodle in the wind. No one could work up any enthusiasm. Such enthusiasm a you might be stimulated to have will come from Mamie Van Doren whose weapons of mass destruction just bounce all over the screen. I reckon she was the reason people paid money to see The Navy Vs. The Night Monsters.In that the ticket buyers were not disappointed.
Woodyanders The officers at a south seas Navy base are terrorized by a lethal army of carnivorous prehistoric ambulatory trees with acid blood. Boy, does this entertainingly atrocious honey possess all the right wrong stuff to qualify as a prime piece of hopelessly campy'n'crummy nickel'n'dime dreck: the fumbling (mis)direction by Michael A. Hoey (who also wrote the extremely talky and drawn-out script), unconvincing cardboard stage-bound sets, a plodding pace, an overwrought bellowing full-bore orchestral score by Gordon Zahler, rusty tin-eared dialogue (choice lousy line: "That's the heartbeat of a man in mortal terror"), zero tension or momentum, pathetic (far from) special effects, poorly staged attack scenes, the corny narration, a ham-fisted fiery conclusion, competent, yet static cinematography by Stanley Cortez, several clumsy moments of ill-judged comic relief, and the pitifully unscary and unpersuasive plant monsters (they look like giant shambling rutabagas!) all give this sublimely wretched swill a certain singularly inept and hence utterly irresistible rinky-dink charm. The cast of familiar B-flick faces struggle gamely with the inane material, with admirable contributions from busty blonde bombshell Mamie Van Doren as sexy'n'sassy nurse Noral Hall, Anthony Eisley as the stern Lt. Charles Brown, Bobby Van as amiable goofball Ensign Rutherford Chandler, Bill Gray as stalwart CPO Fred Twining, Edward Faulkner as cranky meteorologist Bob Spaulding, and William Sande as the friendly Dr. Arthur Beecham. A total cruddy hoot.
Brian Washington When I was a little kid this film gave me the creeps, but now its just a cure for insomnia. The only thing that makes this film watchable is Mamie Van Doren in a blouse that looks like its about two or three sizes too small and shows the thing (or should I say things) that made her one of the icons of B-movies. This film will always hold a special place in the hearts of fans of Ms. Van Doren.