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There’s an explosive opening to Night of the Big Heat (1967), aka Island of the Burning Damned, or, if you saw it on television back in the day, Island of the Burning Doomed. A young man is fidgeting with his console when it goes haywire. The screen goes boom and the title of the film flies out as he cowers. The scene is repurposed later in the film, without any titles.
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It’s a fun start, but I’d say the rest of the movie is more curious than entertaining. There’s nothing wrong with having to piece together the situation rather than having it spoon fed to you at the beginning. As the movie unfolds, it takes some time to understand that writer Jeff Callum (Patrick Allen) and his wife, Frankie (Sarah Lawson) own and operate an inn on an isolated British island.
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The drama is set in motion when lovely Angela Roberts (Jane Merrow) arrives and speeds to the inn in her convertible. The mystery is set in motion when nerdy Godfrey Hanson (Christopher Lee) wanders in the woods arranging cameras and tripwires. Scenes of them going about their business are intercut, indicating their lives are about to become entwined.
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It’s really Jeff that’s the planet around which the other characters orbit, though. Angela has come to be the secretary he never hired, and Godfrey has come to investigate… something. When they start hearing whining, whirring noises and sheep start dying, Jeff is relentless in demanding answers from Godfrey until he changes from tough, condescending Christopher Lee to kind, compassionate Christopher Lee.
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After all, when it comes down to it, who doesn’t really want to save the world? With villagers dropping like flies, it becomes the responsibility of our main characters to do just that. Oh, and Peter Cushing is inexplicably present as a guest at the inn. He plays Dr. Vernon Stone, but I’m not sure of what he’s a doctor. It’s not related to whatever is going on in the countryside; that would be too much of a coincidence.
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We never see the threat until the end of the film, although we’re present for several of the killings. If you’re going to drag out the suspense for so long, there’s got to be a payoff in its appearance. However, if it’s going to look cheap and non-menacing, anyway, you might as well show it throughout the movie to avoid the disappointment.
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Nevertheless, we have Cushing and Lee. They don’t interact too much, but the scene in which the characters contemplate a plan demonstrates their electric screen chemistry. It reminds me of The Body Snatcher (1945) where Karloff and Lugosi are in only one scene together, but that one scene is the best part of the movie.
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