THE HAND OF NIGHT/BEAST OF MOROCCO

UK, 1968, 90 minutes, Colour.

William Sylvester, Diane Claire, Alizia Gur, Edward Underdown, Terence De Marney.

Directed by Frederic Goode.

The Hand of Night is a small budget blend of horror and adventure in Morocco. It was filmed on location in Morocco, directed by Frederic Goode who also made The Syndicate in Kenya the same year – and using the same star, William Sylvester (who, also in that year, starred in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey).

The film opens with sinister nightmarish behaviour – which turns out to be a nightmare for the central character on a flight. The fellow traveller in the next seat, played by Edward Underdown, also appeared in the dream, carrying a cough and in a sinister cave.

The central character was driving when his wife and daughter were killed in an accident and this haunts him, escaping to Morocco, becoming involved with archaeologists, a sinister presence called Omar, and the tomb of the vampire Princess. He becomes involved with the vampire and finds it hard to tell whether this is reality or fantasy.

On the one hand, this is 1968 in Morocco, a modern city, a lot of sequences are driving around the city and through the countryside. On the other hand, with the excavations, the story of the vampire Princess, her threats, and the involvement of the niece of the archaeologist, the film builds up touches of romance, the abduction of the niece, her final rescue – and the decision to finally impale the vampire.

Of historical interest for those who wonder about small budget filmmaking in England in the late 1960s.