View source for Nothing but the Night (1972 film)

''Nothing but the Night'' (1972), AKA ''The Resurrection Syndicate'', ''Devil Night'', ''The Devil's Undead'', ''Fatal Enigma'', ''Castle of the Living Dead''

==Summary==
<!-- 
(Short, Spoiler-Free Summary; tag-line or elevator pitch.)
-->

"Where science and the occult clash!  This nightmare has already killed five people, and for every death, there was a child. Now it's your nightmare to live!"  Police detectives investigating a series of strange deaths of beneficiaries of a strange trust fund begin to suspect something strange about the children who stand to gain from the deaths.


==Details==
[[File:Nothingbutthenight 1972film.png|thumb|200px|right|Promotional images for ''Nothing but the Night (1972 film)'' AKA ''The Resurrection Syndicate''...]]
<!--
This list of details is partly intended for those films produced by
film-makers, performers, producers/studios, etc. that tend to make
"Lovecraftian" films, for ease of finding related or similar films.
This list is also partly intended to make it easier to identify a
specific film out of many with the same name, to make them easier to
tell apart - some stories have been adapted numerous times by different
amateur short film makers!  Some films have a "TVTropes" page, which
will often detail obscure "Lovecraftian" elements of a film that this
wiki misses, and, if a TVTropes page exists, it can be a useful
resource.  Feel free to remove any sections that are irrelevant, 
unknown, or unnecessary.
-->
* Release Date:  1972
* Country/Language:  UK, English
* Genres/Technical:  Horror, Mystery, Crime
* Setting:  [[1970s]] [[UK]]
* Runtime:  1 hr 30 min  
* Starring:  [[Christopher Lee]], [[Peter Cushing]]
* Director:  Peter Sasdy
* Writer:  Brian Hayles (screenplay), John Blackburn (novel) 
* Producer/Production Co:  Charlemagne Productions
* View Trailer: ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgbN5OvzaOg link])
* Wikipedia: ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_but_the_Night link])
* IMDB Page:  ([http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069024/ link])
<!--* Film Website:  ([URL link])
* TVTropes: ([URL link])
* View Film:  ([URL link])-->


==Ratings==
===[http://www.mpaa.org/film-ratings/ MPAA Ratings]===
<!--
I've been including this information for those of us who like to watch
Lovecraft movies with family, including younger children, and want to
avoid any awkwardness.
E.G., "Rated: R (Violence, Nudity, Language....)" 
-->
* Rated:  MPAARATING (notes)

===Tentacle Ratings===
<!--
(Use one of the following lines, and edit it as appropriate.  Follow it with an
explanation/description of how it qualifies as "Lovecraftian", such as any
name-dropping of Lovecraft's creations, whether it's based on a Lovecraft story
and if so which one, whether it's simply "feels" kind of Lovecraftian, etc.)
Some examples:  one tentacle only if the mood and atmosphere are right but it's 
not based on a Lovecraft story and contains no specific Lovecraftian elements even
in spirit; one tentacle only if it mentions specifically Lovecraftian elements but
isn't based on Lovecraft story and doesn't have the right mood; one tentacle only 
if it has some tentacle monsters but the mood isn't very Lovecraftian and specific
Lovecraft creations aren't mentioned by name; if the film is based on a recognizable
Lovecraft story it automatically gets two tentacles, and may get a third or more
depending on if Lovecraftian monsters are present, the mood and atmosphere are
suitably Lovecraftian in tone, and if the work is particularly accurate and true to
the spirit of the original story.
* _____ (Zero Tentacles: Unrated for Lovecraftian Content)
* S____ (One Tentacle:  Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
* SS___ (Two Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; vaguely similar in tone, could be a very loose adaptation)
* SSS__ (Three Tentacles: Lovecraftian, was probably written by Lovecraft himself.)
* SSSS_ (Four Tentacles: Unusually Lovecraftian; written by Lovecraft, a remarkably faithful adaptation)
* SSSSS (Five Tentacles: definitively Lovecraftian; everything you'd expect from a Lovecraft adaptation and more)
-->
A rough [[Tentacle Ratings|measure]] of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
* SS___ (Two Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; vaguely similar in tone, could be a very loose adaptation)

The strange cult of people transferring their minds into the bodies of children through pseudo-scientific means is somewhat similar in concept to that of "[[The Thing on the Doorstep (fiction)]]".

''Note:  This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of 
how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.''

===Reviews===
<!--
(A list of reviews for the work, along with the review's rating (for example, "4/5 Stars") 
* Author_andor_Location, ([URL link]) - RATING 
-->
Review Links:
* Fred Anderson at Ninja Dixon ([http://ninjadixon.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/nothing-but-night-1973.html link])
* Graeme Clark at The Spinning Image ([http://www.thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=7005 link]) (5/10 Stars)
* Burl Cummings at Ha ha, it's Burl! ([http://hiitsburl.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/burl-reviews-nothing-but-night-1973.html link])
* Michael Den Boer at 10,000 Bullets ([http://10kbullets.com/reviews/n/nothing-but-the-night-katrinas-nightmare-theater/ link])
* Brett Gallmann at Oh The Horror! ([http://www.oh-the-horror.com/page.php?id=990 link])
* Mark Hodgson at Black Hole Reviews ([http://blackholereviews.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/nothing-but-night-1973-cushing-and-lee.html link])
* Richard Scheib at The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review ([http://moria.co.nz/horror/nothing-but-the-night-1972.htm link]) (2/5 Stars)
* Nathaniel Thomson at Mondo Digital ([http://www.mondo-digital.com/nothingnight.html link])


==Synopsis (SPOILERS)==
<!-- 
(Should be an objective, unbiased, detailed synopsis of film's plot and themes.
The following optional spoiler code apparently works badly on smart phones.) 
-->
{{spoiler|
Police detectives investigating a series of strange deaths of beneficiaries of a strange trust fund begin to suspect something strange about the children who stand to gain from the deaths:  the aging adults are actually a cult using weird science to steal the children's youthful bodies through a thought transfer process that abandons the children's minds into the elderly bodies, which are then sacrificed in many gruesome ways.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
}}


==Notes==

===Comments, Trivia, Dedication===
<!-- 
(Optional; describe anything known or reported by experts about the 
origin of the story or inspiration for elements of it; list dedication, 
trivia, images, anything else of note 
-->

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

===Associated Mythos Elements===
<!--
(A list of notable Lovecraftian creatures, tomes, Great Old Ones, characters, 
etc. that appear in the film/show/etc.  It helps to specify if it just takes
the form of general "name-dropping" (someone mentions "Yog-Sothoth!", but 
Yog-Sothoth doesn't actually appear; a random creepy tome in the background
is labeled ''Necronomicon'' but never actually appears, a character is wearing
a Miskatonic University sweatshirt but the school never makes an appearance...)
Remove any sections that do not apply.  Note that some unnamed monsters may be
considered "stand-ins" that are effectively the same as specific Lovecraftian
monsters, though the film never makes that explicitly clear - for example, a
standard-issue Gill-Man from "Creature from the Black Lagoon" might be labeled
a "Deep One" for the purposes of this Wiki, even though any resemblance is
probably unintentional.  Vaguely/generically "Lovecraftian" elements might 
include [[Human Cultist]]s, [[Tentacle Monster]]s, ''[[Necronomicon Ex-Mortis]]'',
and the mysterious outer/astral dimension we might call the [[Other Side]]....)
-->
* concept: thought-transfer
* race: [[Human Cultist]]s
* race: [[Yithian]]s


===Keeper Notes===
<!-- 
(Optional.  Notes to Keepers on using this for film for scenario ideas.  
Heresies and Controversies:  this is also a good place to include non-canon 
and controversial aspects of the film's mythos.  Suggested Alternative Theories 
include:  Derleth's elemental scheme; pseudo-science interpretation; "fanon" 
interpretations; unofficial humorous or eccentric versions; identification with 
"Real Life" mythological, religious, folklore, natural, and historical phenomena; 
rumor and speculation contribute some flexibility and ambiguity to the mythos. 
* Alternative_theory.  ([[source]])  
This section is more commonly used on YSDC Wiki pages for suggesting ways to
adapt the film to use as a Call of Cthulhu scenario; the Keeper Notes section 
might include multiple such suggested adaptations.
* (One/two sentence story inspired by the film, starring investigators.)
TIP:  Film plots are often difficult to adapt into RPG scenarios; try having
the investigators arrive after the events from the movie have started happening
or have already happened to NPCs, and leave the investigators to piece together
the clues to find out what happened.  Adaptations of film plots to RPG scenarios 
almost always benefit from changing cosmetic details around until the exact story
is no longer easily recognizable, by changing the setting, descriptions of monsters,
character names, and that sort of thing.
-->
* The investigators follow a trail of gruesome murders that lead to a suspiciously cultish group of creepy children wise beyond their years....


<!--
(Add any of the following categories that apply to the end of the page; 
the first (DEFAULTSORT) is used to sort the film by something other than 
a leading The/A/An so that it alphabetizes correctly.  A "Short" is 
less than an hour long (perhaps an episode of a TV anthology program, music
video, or short-subject amateur film); "Film" is a longer feature-length movie
(longer than an hour), "Series_or_Serial" may include TV programs, serials, 
and mini-series; "Franchise" is a series of Films, perhaps including feature-
length Films, Short films, TV Series/Serials/Programs, and other media.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unsorted, The}}
-->
[[Category:Film:General]]
[[Category:Film:Film]]
[[Category:Film:MadnessAndMentalHospitals]]
[[Category:Film:CultsCultists]]
[[Category:Film:MindTransferDoppelgangers]]
[[Category:Film:DownerEnding]]
[[Category:Film:ScienceFiction]]
[[Category:Film:Two-Tentacle Media]]

__NOTOC__