Harrington/Hopper

NIGHT TIDE-1961-A lonely sailor named Johnny (Dennis Hopper) roams a seaside carnival. He goes to a Jazz club (where Jim Horn plays the flute in a combo) and meets Mora (Laura Lawson) who plays a mermaid in a local act run by Capt. Murdock (Gavin Muir). Mora also seems disturb by an old woman who follows her around. Johnny learns from the merry go round proprietor's daughter (Luana Anders) that Mora's last two boyfriends were found dead. After the two meet several times, Murdock warns Johnny that in fact Mora is part of a race of mermaids and some day they will come to reclaim her. 

Later he visits an old fortune teller (the always ancient looking Marjorie Eaton from MONSTROSITY/THE ATOMIC BRAIN) and has a dream where he's kissing Mora and is suddenly wrestling with an octopus. This haunting,dream-like fantasy is done very well but some might be disappointed by the conclusion. 

This was cult director Curtis Harrington's first full length feature (he also wrote the screenplay). His next (not counting VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET) QUEEN OF BLOOD also featured Hopper.

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Part-3-Zombies Underwater...

Hey! It's been brought to my attention by my friend Tony that I over looked a movie that may have had a significant influence on George Romero. That would be THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, the first version of Richard Matheson's novel "I Am Legend" which was recently remade. I'll get around to that a little later. Right now here's part 3 of Ed Cahn!

Ok so Edward L. Cahn was only getting started! From 1955-59 he'd helm some of the best remembered low budget horror/sci-fi movies of the decade outside of Roger Corman like THE SHE-CREATURE, IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (ripped off by "Alien" 20 years later...but that's another story...), INVASION OF THE SAUCER MEN, VOODOO WOMAN(which featured the costume of The She Creature with a new head!) and CURSE OF THE FACELESS MAN. He even found time to make other films on topics involving crime (two with Mamie Van Doren) juvenile delinquency and World War 2!!!



In 1957 Cahn unleashed THE ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU usually considered a very minor effort even by schlok movie fans, yet any movie that features a villain named George Harrison who's wife is played by B movie icon Allison Hayes can't be all bad...and it isn't!!

Somehere in Africa (?) an old woman (Marjorie Eaton, later in "Monstrosity") lives in a mansion near an underwater wreck where a crew of zombies (including her husband) guard a cache of diamonds. Treasure hunting Harrison (Joel Ashley) and his trashy wife (the ever buxom Miss Hayes) want the stash. They are accompanied by their ship's captain (nominal hero Gregg Palmer who also fought a killer tree in "From Hell It Came" the same year) and a doctor (ever present character vet Morris Ankrum). Thrown into the mix is the old lady's granddaughter (played by pretty Autumn Summer, who either never made another movie or changed her name!) wherein providing the usual love triangle of terror.

A scene in a masoleum like chamber and the underwater zombie attack scenes are rather effective despite the minuscle budget. I suppose this really didn't have much influence on Romero but it does have zombies and I just wanted to tell people about it!

As a side note: 1957 was a busy year for Allison Hayes too. She was in The Undead, The Disembodied and The Unearthly and in 1958 she would portray the lead in "The Attack of The Fifty Foot Women" and be propelled to B-movie cult-dom!!

But Edward Cahn wasn't done yet either! Although he would soon be winding down his "horror movie cycle" by 1959 he would make two doozys including the incredible:

INVISIBLE INVADERS

Thanks for reading!