ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Coventry
In case you're somewhat familiar with my user-comments' account, you might know that I have a strange fondness for made-for-TV horror/thriller movies from the early 1970s. Quite often they are genuinely well-scripted, tense, atmospheric and in desperate need for rediscovery. But I even tend to be generous and mild towards the ones that are obviously less qualitative, like this "Night Slaves", for example. The plot is implausible, the surprise twists are absurd and the characters are antipathetic, but nevertheless I enjoyed how director Ted Post ("Magnum Force", "Beneath the Planet of the Apes") and his talented cast (including James Franciscus, Andrew Prine and Leslie Nielsen) desperately attempt to uphold the mystery. Recovering from a terrible car accident that put a metal plate in his head, Clay Howard takes his estranged wife Marjorie on a road trip through rural California. They stop for a hotel in a sleepy little town, and you may the "sleepy" very literally, since practically every local is taking a nap in the middle of the day. When night falls, however, all residents - and Marjorie - are suddenly mass-hypnotized and led into trucks. What happens from there is quite reminiscent to the very first zombie movies ever made, as well as to certain alien-invasion Sci-Fi movies from the fifties! In all zombie movies made prior to "Night of the Living Dead" in 1969, like "White Zombie" and "Plague of the Zombies", the dead are solely brought back to life to work as slaves in mines or in plantations, and also in a few B-movie classics in the Sci-Fi genre (such as "It came from Outer Space", "Invaders from Mars") human beings are enslaved by superior extra-terrestrials. The denouement in "Night Slaves" is much simpler and sillier, but at least the premise felt like a nostalgic throwback. The film honestly doesn't deserve a rating higher than 5 out of 10, but I also happen to be a sucker for bleak and depressing endings, and the best and most shocking part about "Night Slaves" is definitely the climax.
Uriah43
After a fatal car accident that leaves two people dead, the driver of the other car named "Clay Howard" (James Franciscus) manages to survive due to surgery which results in a metal plate being inserted into his head. Needing recuperation afterward he and his wife "Marjorie" (Lee Grant) drive off and eventually decide to stay for the night in a small town along the way. That night Clay wakes up and finds everybody in the town walking in a trance and being driven out of town in a couple of trucks—including Marjorie. Sitting in his bedroom is an attractive woman named "Naillil" (Tisha Sterling) who seems amused by his puzzlement. Anyway, rather than detailing any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a rather fun made-for-television film. I thought James Franciscus put on a decent performance while both Lee Grant and Tisha Sterling certainly added some scenery as well. All in all I rate it as slightly above average.
James Christopher Wierzbicki (filmbuff-31)
I saw this movie again very recently for the first time in many years. It is not generally available for purchase. Anyone wishing to see it will have to search far and wide to locate a used copy, most likely recorded from television. The movie is little known and was probably never marketed for purchase.The movie itself is unremarkable, in terms of its story and presentation. In both story and presentation, "Night Slaves" is similar to other films of the science fiction/paranormal genre that marked this period. Films such as "The People" and "The Stranger Within" are siblings of "Night Slaves," stylistically speaking. All three films have the added distinction of being "made for TV" adaptations. "Night Slaves" is directed in a style that reminds me of sci-fi thrillers of the 1950s. Watching this movie, I am especially reminded of the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." In keeping with the boundaries imposed by television, the direction of "Night Slaves" is characteristically low-key. Consequently, "Night Slaves" story and style never made and never will make an impact on the viewer."Night Slaves" impact on the viewer is primarily in terms of nostalgia. It was first seen by many viewers in their childhood or young adulthood and may very well transport them back to a time many of them remember fondly. A time when, in addition to the ordinary pleasures of childhood, talk of UFOs and aliens from outer space generated a sense of expectancy and adventure not only in the children but in the adults in the family as well. "Night Slaves" might also be worth viewing if you are a fan of one of the actors. Actors such as the underrated James Franciscus, the stalwart Lee Grant, and the lovely Tisha Sterling are here for viewers' entertainment."Night Slaves" is not a movie to shout praise about, but it will evoke often pleasant memories--even if they are corny--of an earlier era of life, when UFOs and beings from outer space caused quite a stir.
renfield54
At first glance, this looks like a typical, dreary TV movie. The production could be more extravagant, but the story is good. Given a chance, it turns into a "love against all the odds", interplanetary love story. The search for love is shown to be universal. When the aliens (creatures of mind) must inhabit human bodies to repair their ship, two "souls" (one human, one alien) in search of something more, find each other. They find, in each other, what we all desire and sometimes never achieve. Will they have each other? Will they escape? Will love conquer? I ended up caring...A LOT !!!
