Gripping story with well-crafted characters

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Just a couple of days ago, I narrated the Peter Pan fairytale to my five-year-old son before bedtime. Luckily I read him the sane and harmless Disney version, because this mentally depraved cult variation probably would have messed up his innocent little mind beyond repair… Just like his daddy's, yikes! We all know and worship the Hammer Studios for the outrageously vicious Grand Guignol horror movies they unleashed, but many people remain unaware that Hammer also produced several mysterious and experimental psycho-thrillers that don't feature their big stars, Victorian castle settings or entire buckets full of gore & bloodshed. The vast majority of these titles sadly ended up in obscurity, and that's a damn shame because most often these are extremely suspenseful, original and unorthodox thriller and/or film-noir beauties. "Straight on till Morning" is a terrific example of an atypical Hammer movie that nevertheless turned out to be a fascinating surprise and truly one of the most morbidly disturbing thrillers that I've seen in a very long time. It has to be said that the brief plot description here on the website is rather misleading. It says: "A timid, withdrawn woman meets a man she believes is finally the love of her life, unaware that he is a vicious serial killer". It makes you believe that this is a typical damsel-in-distress story, but the timid and withdrawn woman in question is actually quite troubled herself. Brenda Thompson lives with her meddlesome mother in Liverpool, but she dreams about meeting a handsome husband like the ones she describes in her self-written children's fairy tales. Brenda tells her mother that she's pregnant and heads off to London to find a father for her inexistent baby. In the swinging capital she tries hard to meet guys, but she's too obtrusive and desperate and it certainly also doesn't help that her much sexier roommate Caroline dives into bed with all of Brenda's potential boyfriends. One night Brenda kidnaps the hunky Peter's dog Tinkel, only to be able to bring him back the next day and properly makes his acquaintance. Peter knows what she did, but still offers Brenda to move into his house and live with him. He does insist that she changes her name to Wendy, and through previous flashbacks we also learned that he's a bit of a murderous psychopath.Admittedly the first half hour of "Straight on till Morning" is dull, confusing and very hard to struggle through. There's far too much experimental editing going on and the script extendedly introduces too many characters that aren't really relevant. However, if you manage to sit through this, you'll be rewarded with an otherwise uniquely twisted thriller, full of dark themes, misogynist undertones and so-called "kitchen sink" trademarks. There are several uncanny references towards the Peter Pan story (the names and the title, but little plot details as well) and the eventual explanation of why our hunky protagonist is killing is incredibly vile and disturbing. On a side note, it actually also reminded me of the excellent Nick Cave song "Where the Wild Roses Grow". The climax is literally breathtaking and hugely depressing. The film is undeniably a prototypic "life in London during the early 70's" product, illustrated through a cast full of bleak and unsympathetic characters and hideous clothes & hairstyles. Rita Tushingham gives a stellar performance, which I figure wasn't easy since she's supposed to be unattractive, naive and pitiable. Shane Briant is excellent as well, with a performance that is simultaneously menacing and miserable. And supportive babe Katya Wyeth, well… she's simply one of the most ravishing girls I've ever seen. Peter Collinson, who died way too young, did a great job as the director, although he should have cut some scenes towards the beginning.

Brenda is extremely timid and has low self esteem. She see's herself as ugly and is desperate to fall in love and have a baby. She leaves her Mothers and vacates to London to search for her Prince. She meets Peter and thinks she has met the man of her dreams and he seems to be infatuated with her too.It would be unfair to give too much away; you should see this film, recommended. An unusual diversion from Hammer, who was still making Dracula & Frankenstein films at the same time, this is a gem though and as always, Hammer don't disappoint. They sure can make films whatever genre they do.Although this is a girl meets guy who is not what he seems type of film, it's not your average body at the bottom of the stairs that keeps getting up, or a big fire that kills the bad guys off, I suggest Halloween or a clichéd horror for that. This film is intelligent and well written, although does tend to be ambiguous.Rita Tushingham and Shane Brent were both excellent and the former gives an audio commentary on the DVD if you look around carefully. Look out for James Bolam too.9 out of 10, good old Hammer films.

Perhaps the least formulaic film ever released by Hammer, Straight On Till Morning is a bleak and unforgiving "kitchen-sink" horror flick that doesn't quite come off. It is undeniably refreshing to find the studio veering away from the usual period chillers with which it built (and then subsequently bludgeoned) its reputation. However, Straight On Till Morning has not dated particularly well and seems somewhat stuck in a time capsule of music, costumes and attitudes (other controversial movies of that era – Straw Dogs, Performance, Deliverance, Frenzy, etc - have all aged much better). Also, director Peter Collinson's busy and fragmented narrative style proves just a bit too wearisome for the film's own good.Ugly duckling Brenda Thompson (Rita Tushingham) lives in a terraced house in Liverpool, where she spends hours writing children's' fairy stories and dreaming of a perfect life. She lies to her mother that she is pregnant and heads off to London, claiming that she wants to find a nice man to raise her baby (when, in reality, she thinks she will find her perfect prince with whom to live happily ever after). Brenda is incredibly naïve and inexperienced, and it isn't long before she is literally throwing herself at men in desperation. When she fails to woo a work colleague named Joey (James Bolam), losing him instead to her beautiful room-mate Caroline (Katya Wyeth), she runs off into the dark London streets in despair. Whilst out wandering, she comes across a stray dog and takes it back to her lodgings to clean it up and make it look pretty. Later Brenda returns the dog to its rightful owner, the handsome yet day-dreamy Peter (Shane Briant). He seems to like her and offers her the chance to move in with him, but later – while Brenda is away collecting her things – he stabs his dog to death with a knife. Seems that Peter is psychologically messed-up and has a real problem with "beauty"…. in fact, he is behind the disappearance of various beautiful girls in the Earl's Court area of London, all of them brutally murdered by him because of their good looks. Blindly, agonisingly, Brenda allows herself to walk into the life of this dangerous psychopath….There are no characters in the film with whom we can empathise. They range from psychotic (Peter) to promiscuous (Caroline); from stupid (Brenda) to cruel and cold (Joey). To share an hour and a half with such mean-spirited people is fascinating in some respects, yet very unpleasant in others. (This is certainly not a film that encourages repeat viewings). The pacing is slow but deliberate, and the shocks are fairly infrequent (but powerful and disturbing when they come). The film ends on a typically bleak note – no great crescendo of action at the end with the villain getting his just desserts; instead a painfully realistic conclusion which cruelly refuses to play to genre expectations. Straight On Till Morning marks a major departure for Hammer and is interesting, challenging stuff. Sadly - having set up its grim tone, style and themes - it doesn't make a terribly good job of shaping them into a great film.

I say it is one of the most memorable Hammer films for me because I remember watching this film as a child. However, I didn't know its title, the actors/actresses names nor remember that it was a Hammer film, only that it was a rather tragic tale of a plain girl seeking a partner.After a week or so searching via a movie guide book I stumbled upon the title and acquired the movie to watch it all over again.It is an early 1970s film and not one that I would associate with Hammer, but is very good. I think of it as a tragic tale really. The serial killer, Peter (Shane Briant) is obviously a deeply troubled individual bothered by things of beauty which he feels he must kill. The "Plain Jane" tells her mother she is pregnant and goes off to London to search for the man who can make her pregnant, she finds him in Peter unfortunately for her. She's infatuated with him and both live in a fantasy world.She kidnaps his dog in order to get to know him. In its time this film was quite different from all the other films I've seen and I suppose it still is. Shane Briant is a very good looking actor, extremely blonde and it is easy to see why "Wendy" would become besotted with him.The ending is very sad and the tape recordings disturbing. The ending was probably a necessity to the film but nevertheless had Peter not decided to play the tape to her the ending wouldn't have had to be the way it turned out.In short I found the film remains one of my most memorable childhood memories, but isn't in the usual Hammer Horror league. It's difference is what makes it unique.