Night Tide

 

A-Mora-Therapy

Night Tide
Directed by Curtis Harrington
USA 1961
AIP/Indicator Blu Ray Zone B

“Americans have such a simple view of the world.”
Mora, Night Tide

I’ve been wanting to see Night Tide for a little while now. Shot in glorious black and white, the film stars a young Dennis Hopper as sailor Johnny, who visits a coastal town on his weekend leave days. While in a jazz club, he meets the mysterious Mora, played by Linda Lawson, who works in an amusement side show playing a mermaid for a living. It isn’t long before the two start seeing more of each other, as Johnny starts hanging out with her and the beachside community in town, where she lives in an apartment above the Merry-Go-Round. However, the occasional fleeting presence of a mysterious Greek woman who frightens Mora... and the discovery that both of Mora’s previous boyfriends drowned at the full moon, leads him to fear for both his life and Mora’s, as he tries to understand the mysterious woman with whom he’s fallen in love. 

Okay, so with the inclusion of the mysterious, intimidating woman played by Marjorie Cameron, we basically have a vibe from this movie which gives it the feel of a watery remake of Val Lewton’s Cat People from 19 years earlier. Which is pretty much what it is with a possible difference, depending on how you personally decode the story beats. 

The film is almost a psychological drama with Mora pictured as actually being a real mermaid, with the Greek woman representing her fellow, siren-like fish people who are calling her to return to the sea during the full moon. There’s quite a lot of silence and pausing in terms of the dialogue of the movie and it’s really obvious to see, even from this early point into his career, that Hopper is actually a really great actor. Giving the part lots of expression and attitude (especially of naivete or innocence), he fleshes out the character with a lot of depth, as you can see him carefully considering everything in his head before he speaks... I’ve never had an awful lot of time for Hopper as an actor, to be honest but, this film really hits home just how good he was. 

Equally great is the confused and troubled Mora, with Lawson really going to town on the mysterious woman and her unusual attraction to the sea (especially when the moon is full). She perfectly compliments Hopper’s strangely sympathetic performance by giving him a cypher to play off of... as her character shifts between mental states to frighten Johnny as much as she mesmerises him, in her seduction of the character.

There is a slight difference between the basic idea holding both Cat People and Night Tide together in terms of story... in that there is a full on explanation here for what is troubling the main female protagonist. But where Cat People veers right into a very specific conclusion at the film’s end, Night Tide maintains the ambiguity and it’s not until things have gone horribly wrong, by the end of the picture, that the film allows a feint hint that the writer is both trying to have his cake and eat it, where this specific movie is concerned. It’s only at the end, where the dry ‘scientific explanation meets Scooby Doo’ is undercut by the fact that nobody can explain the Greek woman who has been appearing to Mora and Johnny throughout the film, that doubt is once more cast as to the true legacy of Mora’s character.

The film is moodily shot with a lot of slightly off-kilter, fun house style camera angles (from a Dutch fun house, obviously) which give it an almost Caligari-like feel in some places but, it also gives off an aura not unlike a certain film which came out a year after this one was made (although released later in some territories) which I also believe it shares some common DNA with... that being Herk Hervey’s Carnival Of Souls. Although the incessantly eerie pipe organ music of that later work is instead filled in with a more traditional score by famous Hollywood composer David Raksin, which sometimes hits the mark and, other times, undercuts it in a negative manner, it seems to me. However, the enigmatic mood is kept throughout and the score doesn’t relly harm it in most places. 

The film reaches a kind of unsatisfactory conclusion by the end of the picture, it has to be said but, it’s honestly a fun journey getting there. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Night Tide as an ambiguous thriller which strays into horror territory and, I think the film should perhaps be a little better known than it currently is. The Blu Ray from Indicator has the usual ‘let’s push the boat out’ flurry of extras which, I’m sure are very good but which I haven’t had the opportunity to sample myself, as yet. But I’m really glad they put this one out and I’m happy to have seen it.