Navy vs. the Night Monsters, The (1966)

Navy vs. the Night Monsters, The (1966)

“Let’s not forget the penguins!”

Synopsis:
Residents on a South Seas Naval base are terrorized by acid-secreting monster trees transplanted from Antarctica.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

  • Killer Plants
  • Mamie Van Doren Films
  • Military
  • Science Fiction

Review:
Rated just 2.4 stars by users on IMDb, this notoriously awful sci-fi horror flick offers stunningly few redeeming qualities, even for diehard bad-movie aficionados. Clearly inspired by both The Thing From Another World (1951) and The Day of the Triffids (1962), it attempts to bank upon the (questionable) cinematic trope of killer plants — yet the “monsters” that appear on-screen are simply laughably non-menacing walking tree costumes.

Other than its intriguing alliterative title, this film is probably best known for co-starring Mamie Van Doren as a naval nurse with a penchant for wearing tightly revealing au couture uniforms; but even she herself was highly dismissive of her work here.

This clunker is most definitely skippable.

Note: You WILL have to watch the film for yourself if you want to understand the significance of the quote selected above; seriously, I can’t help you on that one.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

  • Stanley Cortez’s cinematography

Must See?
No; definitely feel free to skip this one. Listed as a Camp Classic in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

3 thoughts on “Navy vs. the Night Monsters, The (1966)

  1. One of the worst – most inept – and not even funny because of it – horror movies ever made.

    This one is mind-numbingly bad. And I mean that just about literally. I could actually feel my brain refusing entry of each scene as it progressed. For me, this film is pretty much a beast of burden.

    I’m pretty sure I felt that way the first time I saw it years ago. Unfortunately – very unfortunately – I had to watch it again in order to write about it.

    It certainly pulls together a motley crew of a cast: along with Van Doren, the film ‘boasts’ a combination of Anthony Eisley, Billy Gray, Bobby Van, Pamela Mason, and Phillip Terry. To no avail. (Although I’m surprised that Mamie is “dismissive” of her work here…well, I mean, no, she’s not good, but she’s somewhat normal for a change.)

    This is the kind of horror film that apparently believes it’s necessary to ‘build suspense’ before pulling out the aces. During the unending ‘building’, there is a lot of screaming. A lot of stupidity. A lot of nonsensical love interest stuff. And a whole lot of boredom. A whole lot. A few chuckles, I suppose, but this is one very long haul on all counts, kids.

    Best performance: the dog. Spoiler: the dog dies.

    Best bit: Van kisses a nurse. It’s a deep kiss with surprisingly romantic music to accompany. Post-kiss, the nurse says, “Wow! I think we better have a cigarette!”

    This movie really does suck, so you’ve been warned. But the ‘acid for blood’ thing, interestingly, did work its way into the ‘Alien’ series.

  2. I’m not sure that I can. My brain actually *hurt* watching this one again. It was almost all I could do to sit still without falling over. (I did kind of fall over midway, actually, and had to go to bed.) I got almost giddy near the end (as if going through some kind of withdrawal) when the ‘explanation’ came about what went on in Antarctica and how/why the trees turned into monsters. They ate the penguins, didn’t they? ..Uh-oh…my brain is starting to hurt again. 😉

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