Despite having a title that makes it sound like a soft core porno film Night of the Big heat is a major disappointment. Fisher not quite the director genius he is now made out to be shows that sci-fi was definitely not his sort of thing. Christopher Lee gives yet another shouty and stiff performance typical of this particular period. Just before The Devil Rides Out and just after Rasputin the Mad Monk he barely gave a decent performance, from the lamentable Fu Manchu films, through euro tripe such as Theatre of Death and Circus of Blood and finally this, it was probably his worst period in his long 60 going on for 70 year career. Many would say the part of Hanson is underwritten and Lee can do very little with it, but look at similar underwritten and poor roles Peter Cushing and Vincent Price were given during their career and they always gave it their best shot, so its no excuse really. Cushing's scenes are limited but he does the best with his small role, even refusing to remove his jacket so he looked different from Lee and Patrick Allen. The real star of this film comes in the shapely form of the sultry Jane Merrow, she simply sparkles with wanton sexuality in this film, pity she never became a bigger star she had what it took for sure.
Review of Night of the Big Heat
