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Night Tide
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786304042915
Format: Black & White, EP, NTSC
ISBN: 6304042914
Label: Rhino / Wea
Languages: English (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Rhino / Wea
Release Date: May 14, 1996
Running Time: 87 minutes
Studio: Rhino / Wea
Theatrical Release Date: 1961
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Editorial Review:
No ordinary cult film, Night Tide covers a variety of different waterfronts. It's a film from the American underground, it's a horror movie, and it's an early example of independent cinema (before there was such a term). Shot in 1960, it's also a strangely haunting artifact of its time. Night Tide was written and directed by Curtis Harrington, a member of the experimental avant-garde of the '50s who went on to make the atmospheric shocker Games and many an episode of Dynasty. Mounted on the cheap, and shot on authentic locations in Santa Monica and crumbling Venice, California, Night Tide has a loose, lyrical quality not found outside Cassavetes and Godard films of the same era.
Dennis Hopper, whose youthful looks and Method style were still intact at this point, plays an innocent sailor at liberty in a coastal town; he falls for a girl who plays a mermaid at the sideshow. Or is she really a mermaid? Inspired by Val Lewton's horror classic Cat People, Harrington cooks up a supernatural stew with the suggestion that the willowy lass is one of the "Sea People," called back to her ocean home by a weird sea witch (played by a real-life occult celebrity called Cameron). Yet Night Tide only occasionally feels like a horror movie; with its naturalistic exteriors, bongos, and coffeehouse atmosphere, it's more a slice of poetic bohemia. Luana Anders, who should have had a major movie career but later became a B-movie leading lady, is wonderfully fresh as the good girl, and the music score by Hollywood pro David Raksin (Laura) is inventive and offbeat. Shown at the Venice Film Festival in 1961, the film did not secure a U.S. release until 1963, when its New-Wave-ish style probably looked less innovative. Seen today, Night Tide is both a lovely mood piece and a look back at a peculiar moment in American moviemaking, and either way a bit of low-cost enchantment. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - CLASSIC MERMAID MOVIE!!!
This is an odd movie, but a good one none-the-less!!
I recommend this movie to conisieurs of the obscure!
It is one of the best mermaid movies ever made!!
Directed By Curtis Harrington!
Odd and unique! Great Movie!!
Rating:  - Dennis Hopper falls for a sexy mermaid!
This underated cult classic is very entertaining, especially considering the fact it was made on a shoe-string budget. That just goes to show that you can make a great movie with little money! If you're considering buying this on dvd, then the Image Entertainment edition is the one you should get.
A very young Dennis Hopper stars as a sailor on leave in California who meets a beautiful young woman who works as a mermaid in the seafront carnival. He knows nothing about her but quickly ... Read More
Rating: - Something's happening here....
A haunting, mysterious and magical movie. Marjorie Cameron adds an element of real life magic. Kenneth Anger also had done this when he used her in `The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954)'. Marjorie Easton also adds to the spell, and Dennis Hopper is wonderful. The carnival is the perfect background for a a plot about fantasy and reality. Filmed at the Santa Monica Pier, Venice and Ocean Park, California, where Anton LaVey played organ at strip joints in the late 1940's. The name Mora is found ... Read More
Rating:  - Beware the Siren's Song.
NIGHT TIDE stars a very young and quite handsome Dennis Hopper as Johnny Drake, a sailor on leave visiting a California beach somewhere not too far from Hollywood. The movie begins when a horny Johnny Drake enters the Blue Grotto looking for someone to share his mojo with. Unfortunately, most of the women in the jazz night club already have partners or don't even acknowledge Johnny's existence. Then, across the crowded room, Johnny catches the eye of a beautiful brunette sitting across the way. He ... Read More
Rating: - Essential viewing for cult movie fans
I adore this little film . It was obviously made on a shoe string but it offers more entertainment value than many big budget blockbusters. All the players do a grand job and they've all got interesting characters to work with . The two standouts for me , however , are the woman who plays the fortune teller (haven't got her name on me right now) and Gavin Muir as Captain Samuel Murdock. The fact that much of the action takes place at the Santa Monica pier amusement park adds to the film's surrealistic ... Read More
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