Night After Night After Night (1969) User Reviews

Who's to blame?

[ethylester · 5/10 · 27 May 2003]

This movie had some interesting ideas and twists. I thought everyone in the film was messed up and I wouldn't have minded if any of the suspects were "the one." Each suspect had his own perverted/sexist ideas about women so I honestly didn't know which creep did the murders.

A sidenote: There is a striptease scene in the movie that I have seen in another horror movie. This exact striptease footage is from another movie, but I don't remember which one.

All in all, it is an interesting film and I think it pushes some boundaries moreso than most other sex-maniac focused horror movies. There are parts of this movie (basically all the parts that took place in that little room with all the pictures) that were actually disturbing to me as a woman. Nearly all other sex maniac horror movies do not step over this line of discomfort.

I say a movie that can cause discomfort like this is a successful movie in some ways. I give it a 5/10.

Scumtastic

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 23 February 2020]

A Jack the Ripper-type serial killer is loose and it looks like the most obvious suspect is a transvestite judge. Yes, it's 1969 in London and there's all manner of kinky goings-on, as this proto-slasher and Argento-predating giallo gleefully shows.

It's directed by Lindsay Shotneff, who also brought you Devil Doll, Curse of the Voodoo and several James Bond-esque films like Licensed to Kill, No. 1 of the Secret Service, Licensed to Love and Kill and Number One Gun.

I'm fairly obsessed by late 60's and 70's London, with all its tawdry excesses and scandals. This movie fits right in, a scummy, darkly shot film that earns its U.S. video release title, Night Slasher.

Linda Marlowe, who would later appear in Shotneff's films The Big Zapper and The Swordsman as Harriet Zapper, is in this. So is Jack May, who would be the voice of Igor on TV's Count Duckula. And Jack May, who was in a series called Adam Adamant Lives!, which aired on the BBC in 1966 that I have to track down. It's all about adventurer Adam Adamant, who was frozen alive in a block of ice by his arch-nemesis the Face. In 1966, he's revived into the swinging world of 1960's London, much like a reverse Austin Powers, getting right back to a life of adventure. Ridley Scott made his directing debut on this show.

So yeah. London. Sex. Murder. Tough cops. Hippies. Tough talk. Thick accents. It moves faster than most British crime films at the time and you won't feel like you wasted your time, governor.

It's Judgement Night

[Coventry · 6/10 · 14 February 2010]

"Night after Night after Night" is a sleazy and gritty British thriller from the 70's that shamelessly covers all the until then known taboos. In fact, the movie exclusively deals with perverted and sleazy topics. There's nudity aplenty, as well as misogynist violence and more perverted sicko-characters than you can wave a stick at. There's a sadist killer at large in London, targeting attractive blond women between the ages 20 and 30. When Jenny, the wife of detective in charge Bill Rowan, becomes one of the victims, the grieving husband becomes obsessed with finding the culprit. He has a suspect but no evidence, and the more murders are being committed, the more it seems like Detective Rowan has a personal grudge against his suspect. Then there's also the even more fascinating sub plot of an extremely puritan judge – sort of like a modern day version of Witchfinder General, as described by one of the characters – who condemns every prostitute to a maximum penalty and considers himself to be on a one-man crusade to rid society of the cancer called sex. Ironically enough, he has an assistant who's a sex- addict and reads pornographic magazines in court. "Night after Night after Night" is a very sober and downbeat film. It's sometimes even harshly unpleasant to look at, but it remains fascinating and creepy throughout. The film relies on great performances from a largely unfamiliar cast and a very courageous script that is quite ahead of its time.

Long Lost Swinging Sixties Slasher Film

[gavcrimson · 29 March 2000]

Somewhere in-between his career as a horror director (Devil Doll, Curse of Simba) and his decline into a series of lackluster James Bond Spoofs that he continues to make to this day, Lindsay Shonteff found the time to direct this long lost Swinging Sixties slasher film. Some last minute re-editing by the distributors was responsible for Shonteff adopting the pseudonym "Lewis J Force", making it the only film he's disowned and ironically one of his few worthwhile films. Perhaps its down and dirty cocktail of sex and violence, which ranks it as quite unlike anything else in Shonteff's back catalogue might be another reason why its director disowned it. Gilbert Wynne stars as a no-nonsense East End copper, who's out to solve some brutal Jack the Ripper style murders of prostitutes and assorted dolly birds in sleazy Soho. Wynne is just about the most wrong headed copper you could imagine. For one he can't even save his wife from a Psycho alike death by the slasher's blade, and spends most of the movie carrying out a vendetta against a "little swine" who he thinks is the real murderer. The real killer revealed early on, is a stern middle class Judge (Jack May) who disapproves of swinging Sixties permissiveness and "the filth and horror of the age", and for that reason feels compelled to dress up in leather, a Beatles wig and cut up prostitutes, au pairs and anything else in a mini skirt. Its worth seeing for Jack "The Archers" May's un-bee-le-vable turn as a demented pervert alone. In the movies most berserk moment the judge has a break down in his secret room full of health and efficiency style photos. He cries and blubbers as he tears off false bras from the photos then drools onto the photos and stabs them. If that wasn't enough, wait until you see the climax where he escapes the police by dressing up as a woman and is nearly gay bashed. Apart from May's involvement what's equally surprising is the amount of nudity and blood on display, some was cut by the censors of the day and its nothing too shocking now. Yet compared to say Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed or Taste the Blood of Dracula two other British horror movies released the same year, it must have been pretty explicit and sexy stuff for the late Sixties. Perhaps sensing it was more "strong meat" than the average horror film the distributors originally released to fleapit cinemas as a skinflick item. Boasting to be "Savage, sexy, sensational" it played the Tatler and Cinecenta cinema clubs alongside Cave of the Living Dead (63) another horror movie sold in the UK on its sexploitation elements, in that film's case scantily clad vampire women. Shot under the title Evil is... (a reference to one of the judges rants) and also known as He kills Night after Night and The Night Slasher, under any title the movie is way out of Shonteff's usual league. Most of the movies success must lie at the pen of screenwriter Dail Ambler who had previously penned Beat Girl (aka Wild for Kicks) another controversial movie evolving around murder, strippers and juveniles and using London's red light district as a backdrop. Whatever can be said about the man behind the camera he never wastes the chance to delve into the naughtiest places of the capital as we accompany a misogynistic court secretary (one of the films many red herrings) in his secret life, leering his way through Soho and giving the filmmakers an excuse to hang in some (now long gone) adult book shops and strip clubs. Few movies have ever caught the seedy underbelly of London in its swinging Sixties heyday so.... well sordidly. A few poor performances aside chalk it up as another triumph from Butchers film distributors, makers of all sorts of low budget British B-movies of the Fifties and Sixties. Some favourites include The Cover Girl Killer (Harry H Corbett as a maniac photographer) and Rag Doll, a juvenile delinquent movie with Jess Conrad and the late, great Patrick Magee. One of Butcher's last productions and their most explicit, Night would make a good double bill with the equally eccentric Corruption (67) both "shot entirety on location in London, England" movies are due some form of recognition as British cinema at its most demented and sleaziest best, and certainly don't deserve their current obscurity.

Kill and kill again

[rose-294 · 3/10 · 10 July 2009]

British Night after night after night (1969), written by Dail Ambler and directed by Lewis J. Force (Lindsay Shonteff), is sometimes erroneously called as Jack Ripper film. This is not the case: Night after night after night is set in 1960's London and features misogynist serial killer whose main (albeit not only) targets just happen to be prostitutes. In 1960's and 1970's it was fashionable to preach against the evils of older generations, while the sleaze and slime of younger one was either celebrated or denied: thus, it may not be just coincidence, who is the killer in Night after night after night. The film has three sleazy suspects: young man whore, porn-obsessed misogynist and quite pitiful middle-aged judge. Guess who is the killer? So trashily made it is actually quite fun to mock, although Jack May's judge, albeit hardly likable, evoked sort of pity in me.

Judge Death.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 11 January 2024]

Night After Night After Night is a grubby low-budget British psycho killer flick, heavy on the sleaze, just how I like 'em.

A maniac with a switchblade is stabbing young women in Swinging '60s London; Detective Inspector Bill Rowan (Gilbert Wynne) is on the case, his prime suspect being womaniser Pete Laver (Donald Sumpter), who he constantly harasses after the brutal murder of his own wife. Viewers will instantly recognise Pete as a red herring, and the same applies to court clerk Carter (Terry Scully), who spends his spare time in Soho strip clubs and sex shops.

The glaringly obvious culprit is High Court Judge Charles Lomax (Jack May), who appears to have been driven mad by all of the moral corruption witnessed on a daily basis (so disgusted by sin that he won't even sleep with his cracker of a wife anymore). Lomax hands out severe sentences during the day, but takes to the streets in his leather coat and trousers after hours to permanently remove the 'cancer' from society using his knife.

Revelling in seediness of late-'60s London, Night After Night After Night is a no-nonsense thriller, with plenty of violence and nudity, but is surprisingly well made, with enjoyable performances, particularly from May as the serial killer judge: he is wonderfully crackpot, going full-on crazy towards the end, when he dresses in drag to escape from the police, is consequently assaulted by loutish homophobes, and then staggers like a loony along the Thames before being picked off by a police marksman.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

I Like This Movie

[bluesyxx · 9/10 · 6 November 2009]

The First time my friends and In watched He Kills Night After Night we had no idea what was going on. There is a bit of a mystery involved as to the true identity he who kills night after night. Every time we watched it after we knew exactly what was going on, and the movie just got better and better.

I have to admit that i love this movie. It has some of the best dialog, and one liners. When we watch it now, we just giggle at it. The best part about the whole thing is when the plot elements finally come together it goes so far over the top that your jaw just drops.

It tries to be a morality tale against the loose sexual climate of swinging seventies London. So give it credit for at least trying to have an ultimate point. That might just be an excuse to have a slasher movie, like any reaction will do to justify a good horror/mystery movie. The bad guys always feels justified in his motives, no matter how far out they may be.

So that being said, I would recommend this movie to anyone. not everyone might understand it at first, but if you watch it a few times, it gets better and better.

Which sex pervert is the killer?!

[horrorbargainbin · 15 July 2002]

It's quite a bit of fun to see the several suspects each give into their urges. Sure there are plenty of sex scenes, but the real good moments involve a lot of forbidden red light district type stuff. Characters get off on leather pants, porno magazines, and underwear. There is some adventurous camera work that aids the creepy scenes. Not as artsy as Italian crime/horror, but fans of that genre will dig this movie.

Great flick

[arsenalbabegirl · 9/10 · 12 May 2015]

I was really surprised when I watched this flick, I thought I would get bored to death, but this flick made me more and more involved in its sleazy plot. Lots of nudity and an entire set of perverted characters makes you wonder who the real killer is till the very end. I don't even remember how I got my hands on this flick, but I gotta say, I'm glad I did. Good soundtrack and nice performances too, though I have to admit I wasn't familiar with any of those actors. And (not really a spoiler by the way,I'm not saying who the killer is, it's just a comment about one of the scenes). SPOILER: I really loved the killer insanely sucking on breasts on the posters plastered all over his room. Delightfully fascinating and creepy.

Delightfully shagnasty British shocker

[EyeAskance · 10 April 2004]

A rash of brutal slayings leads Scotland Yard investigators to a pompous mod hipster, but the true culprit may be a lot closer to home than anyone realizes.

This glowering little slasher genre prototype is a leering and perverse cocktail of sexual depravity, and may be of more than just passing interest to fans of both gialli and lurid trash cinema. Briskly paced compared to many contemporaneous British thrillers, this one surprises with steady direction, credible performances, and occasional off-kilter camera-work which enhances the delirium of the grisly goings-on. One standout flaw is the film's weak conclusion...though not unsatisfactory, it's a tad anti-climatic and hurried.

Pardonable inconsistencies aside, a very worthwhile watch. 6.5/10

Here come da judge!

[lazarillo · 2 August 2006]

This movie is not nearly as good as Jorge Grau's very similar "Pena del Muerte", but it is in English (or in British anyway). It is surprisingly sleazy for a British film of that time period with a generous amount of depravity on display. A modern-day Jack the Ripper is stalking the mini-skirted young lasses of Swinging London. A hedonistic youth who is (quite unaccountably) a metaphoric ladykiller is suspected of being the real one by the lead detective on the case. Not surprisingly though, the real killer is someone much more entrenched in the establishment, which the detective hero only discovers after his pretty young wife has become a potential victim.

This movie is similar to the seemingly reactionary but actually very subversive and anti-authoritarian movies Pete Walker would be making five years later ("House of the Whipcord", "The Confessional"). But unfortunately it is pretty ham-handedly executed and just not very good. It does offer a view of Swinging London at the time that it was all actually happening, but it is a rather myopic view and is seen more from the perspective of the moralistic detective and dirty old rotter magistrate than from the hip youth of the the era (the only real nude scene for instance is a skanky stripper doffing it all for some gaping oldsters in a seedy nightclub). It is very sleazy, if you consider that a plus. And even though the identity of the killer is pretty apparent, the ending is memorable. It's not as hypocritical at least as many British films of the era that railed against jaded youth while missing no opportunity to look up their mini-skirts or inside their blouses. Worth a look anyway.