preppy-3 A very young James Mason plays a mysterious man who may know something about a young girls disappearance. Her friends try to find out what he knows.I caught this on a cable TV station in the early 1980s. Back then there were a number of small cable stations starting up and they put on anything that they could get cheaply. The print I saw on this station was dreadful--VERY faded with some scenes so dark you could barely make out anything. The sound wasn't much better. Still I did like it and the final revelation of the killer (and the look on their face) chilled me. Also Mason was very good in an early role and it was a delight seeing him so young and full of energy.This is a pretty obscure little film but worth seeing if you get the chance.

JohnHowardReid An old-fashioned thriller that is given first class treatment here. True, the ingénue is a bit inadequate, but the rest of the players are fine, and it all gravitates to a really stunning climax. Director Arliss punches the action spots across with considerable verve, partly by using very effective camera angles and partly by drawing superb performances from most of the players, especially James Mason, Wilfred Lawson and Mary Clare. The screenplay is a model of tautness and compression without seeming so. And as noted above, all the details come together with an amazing impact at the knock-out climax. The music score by Charles Williams is also a standout, as is the superlative photography by none other than the daring Gunther Krampf and the atmospheric art direction of Duncan Sutherland.

John Howard Reid In the classic vein of the noirish mystery thriller, The Night Has Eyes is "written and directed" by Leslie Arliss, who does such absolute wonders on the small sound stages at Welwyn Garden Studios, we never have the impression that this is anything else but an extremely high budget picture. Arliss is given marvelous assistance by art director Duncan Sutherland and perfectionist lighting cameraman Gunther Krampf. The stand-out cast is led by James Mason as the moody recluse, Mary Clare as his well-wishing housekeeper, Joyce Howard as the heroine, Tucker McGuire as her man-crazy friend, and playwright John Fernald (who collaborated with director Arliss on additional dialogue) in the first of only two appearances in front of the camera, as the helpful doctor. The beginning and end of the climactic sequence rate as two of the most unforgettable moments in world cinema.

RanchoTuVu Two young school teachers (Joyce Howard and Tucker McGuire) venture out to the Yorkshire moors to find out what happened to one of their colleagues who went out there and never came back. The joke is that she met someone and fell in love. Arriving in a convincing looking torrential rainstorm, they slog through the mud, lucky to avoid the deadly bogs, and encounter a brooding James Mason, who plays a shell-shocked veteran of the Spanish Civil War, and who reluctantly lets them spend the night in his country house on the conditions that they lock the bedroom door, and leave the following morning. McGuire is the party girl while Howard plays the sincere and serious part, a nice match for the troubled Mason. Forced to stay more time because of the impassable conditions, Howard and Mason begin to fall in love. Mason's caretakers are two ruthless opportunists played by Mary Clare and Wilfrid Lawson, both of whom are outstanding in their evil roles. The idea that they have convinced Mason that he's a dangerous mental case seems a bit flimsy, but their sinister portrayals are anything but, aided by the shadowy lighting that illuminates their facial closeups. When we find out what really happened to the missing teacher, that she met up with these two, and that the lovely Joyce Howard is next, it creates a tenable level of menace. The final scene on the darkened moors with the treacherous bogs is right out of the textbook.