Various disparate elements come together in a satisfying manner in this Hammer production.

Unleashes Hammer's trademark Gothic style on a dynamic genre mix: part pirate film, part smuggler thriller, part shadowy small-town crime conspiracy.

Captain Nathaniel Clegg, Pirate, Hanged at Rye, 1776. Captain Clegg (AKA: Night Creatures) is a Hammer-Major production in Eastman Color, it's directed by Peter Graham Scott with a screenplay written by John Elder. It stars Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen, Oliver Reed, Michael Ripper and David Lodge. Music is by Don Banks and cinematography by Arthur Grant. "The Romney Marshes-Flat And Desolate-Was The Land Of A Proud And-Independent People. Their Shores Faced The Shores Of France-And Many Was The Shipload Of Wine And Brandy Smuggled Across The Sea In Defiance Of The King's Revenue Men. Many Legends Have Come From This Corner Of England-But None So Widely Believed Or Widely Feared-As The Legend Of The Marsh Phantoms-Who Rode The Land On Dark Misty Nights And Struck Fear Into The Hearts Of All Who Crossed Their Paths." Hammer's film is actually a remake of a little known 1937 film called Doctor Syn that starred George Arliss as the title character and featured Margaret Lockwood in support. For their take on the Captain Clegg/Marsh Phantoms story, Hammer craft a colourful Gothic like mystery/thriller that contains horror elements. It's certainly not overtly horror, something that has undoubtedly threw some horror seekers venturing into the film for the first time. This may explain why to a large extent it remains a largely unknown Hammer picture, which doesn't as…

**_Mysterious adventure at a marsh village on the coast of England in the late 1700s_** A group of naval militants are sent by the Royal Crown to investigate rumors of smuggling at a coastal town in 1792, where whisperings of spooky “marsh phantoms” abound. Patrick Allen plays the humorless commanding officer of the King’s men while Peter Cushing stars as the genial pastor of the village. “Night Creatures” (1962) is an obscure Hammer production originally called “Captain Clegg” based on the first book in Russell Thorndike's Doctor Syn series – “A Tale of Romney Marsh," which was published in 1915. The title “Night Creatures” is a misnomer while “Captain Clegg” doesn’t work for reason I can’t explain. The working title “The Curse of Captain Clegg” would’ve been more fitting. In any case, this is an 18th century costume melodrama with skullduggery and quite a bit of action, plus some spooky bits. The presence of Oliver Reed and Yvonne Romain naturally bring to mind “The Curse of the Werewolf” (1961) and this is cut from the same cloth, just minus the lycanthrope trappings. “Witchfinder General” (1968), aka “The Conqueror Worm,” is very comparable. “Black Death” (2010) was no doubt inspired by it, especially the mysterious marsh sequences. Reed was in his prime and the stunning Yvonne Romain has a more significant role than “Curse of the Werewolf.” Meanwhile Cushing was at t…