Some films start out with the best intentions but due to budget cuts, editing, crew conflicts, miscasting and other factors, the final product ends up being much less than the sum of its parts. Over time the good intentions of all who were originally involved in the film are forgotten and we’re left with the remnants of what could have been a great movie full of unrealized potential and untapped possibility. The Navy vs. The Night Monsters (1966) is a movie that should have been better than it is.

This low-budget science fiction thriller began life as a novel called The Monster from Earth’s End written by the award-wining author Murray Leinster (aka William F. Jenkins). The story revolves around an expedition in Antarctica where some strange tree specimens are found and shipped to an isolated US Naval base. Soon afterward the trees begin to kill anyone who has the misfortune of coming into contact with them. As the film develops it becomes clear that these monstrous trees have the ability to destroy the world but the US Navy is determined to stop them.

The plot probably sounds a bit crazy and it is, but better horror films have been made from lesser ideas. The author’s original story seems to have been influenced by two science fiction classics, John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids and John W. Campbell Jr.’s Who Goes There? (better known as The Thing or The Thing from Another World). If you’re familiar with these two stories or the films that were based on them you’ll find a lot of similarities between them and The Navy vs. The Night Monsters.

Michael A. Hoey wrote the original screenplay for The Navy vs. The Night Monsters in 1961 under the title of The Nightcrawlers with the idea of turning it into a movie. British born Hoey was the son of the character actor Dennis Hoey who appeared in many Sherlock Holmes films from the ’40s as well as How Green Was My Valley (1941), Wake of the Red Witch (1948), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), Golden Earrings (1947), This Above All (1942) She-Wolf of London (1946) and David and Bathsheba (1951). Young Michael A. Hoey grew up on Hollywood film sets and was inspired by his father to get into the movie business. He started working as an editor in the early ’60s and moved onto writing, producing and finally directing. His first major full-length film was The Navy vs. the Night Monsters.

In 1965 Michael A. Hoey got a call from producer George Edwards who had worked on other science fiction films such as Queen of Blood (1966) and Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965). George Edwards was collaborating with producer Jack Broder as well as the legendary director and producer Roger Corman at the time. They expressed interest in Hoey’s script and they also agreed to let him direct it. Hoey was eager to make his first feature film and jumped at the chance. The celebrated cinematographer Stanley Cortez (The Magnificent Ambersons; 1942, Flesh and Fantasy; 1943, The Man on the Eiffel Tower; 1949, The Night of the Hunter; 1955, The Angry Red Planet; 1959, The Three Faces of Eve; 1957 , Shock Corridor; 1963, The Naked Kiss; 1964, etc.) was brought on board and soon after makeup man Harry Thomas (Cat-Women of the Moon; 1953, The Ten Commandments; 1956, Frankenstein’s Daughter; 1958, Plan 9 from Outer Space; 1959, The Little Shop of Horrors; 1960, Von Ryan’s Express; 1965, etc.) joined the crew.

The beautiful and busty blond actress Mamie Van Doren (Jet Pilot; 1957, High School Confidential; 1958, Teacher’s Pet; 1958, Sex Kittens Go to College; 1960, etc.) was set to star in the movie along with Anthony Eisley (The Young Philadelphians; 1959, The Wasp Woman; 1959, The Naked Kiss; 1964, Frankie and Johnny; 1966, etc.) Billy Gray (mostly known for his role on Father Knows Best 1954-1960), entertainer Bobby Van (Kiss Me Kate; 1953, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis; 1953, etc.) and James Mason’s wife Pamela Mason (Pandora and the Flying Dutchman; 1951, Lady Possessed; 1952, The Sandpiper; 1965, Five Minutes to Live; 1961, Sex Kittens Go to College; 1960, etc.) The movie had promise but once the cast was in place and shooting started the production began to fall apart quickly.

The film’s director started quarreling with the executive producer right away. The $125,000 budget and 10-day shooting schedule became a point of contention. Michael H. Hoey knew that he would need a bigger budget and more time to shoot if the film was going to be successful but producer Jack Broader wanted the movie done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Broader also suggested a title change so Hoey’s original script for The Nightcrawlers was transformed into The Navy vs. The Night Monsters. It was an exploitative title that was sure to grab attention but Hoey hated it. The budget cuts become apparent when a complete unknown by the name of Edwin Tillman was brought in to do the special effects for the film. Hoey was horrified when he saw the cheaply made and amateurish “tree monsters” that were created for his movie but there was nothing he could do about it except express his disappointment. The director decided to try and overcome the production’s limitations and work with cinematographer Stanley Cortez to mask the film’s low-budget with creative photography and lighting. Unfortunately they couldn’t mask the meandering script, uninspired performances of the actors involved or the lack of chemistry between the female and male leads. Hoey thought he had overcome some of the production restrictions when he finished his 78-minute movie but once shooting was done the film’s executive producer brought in two other directors (Jon Hall and Arthur C. Pierce) to add additional footage that only seemed to make the film worse. These new directors added unnecessary dialogue to the finished film and shot the monsters in bright daylight, which highlighted how cheaply they were made. When the final product was released into theaters the crew and cast distanced themselves from it as much as possible.

The film’s main attraction is undoubtedly Mamie Van Doren who has never been known for her acting abilities but she’s a lovely woman with some noticeable assets. By 1965 Mamie Van Doren’s career was in decline but she was still beautiful. Unfortunately for her she was working on a contentious set that undoubtedly caused the entire cast a lot of distress. It’s not too surprising that all of the performances in the film were forgettable but Mamie Von Doren’s appearance in The Navy vs. The Night Monsters has turned the movie into a minor cult classic. In Barry Lowe’s book Atomic Blonde, Mamie Von Doran was asked about her role in the film and said, “I had fun doing it – but I thought I should have been eaten by the monster. I was looking forward to being gobbled up. I just took my money and ran. Now that was a ‘B’ movie!” And she was right.

The Navy vs. The Night Monsters is a bona fide B movie but when it was initially released the critics were surprisingly kind to it. According to Tom Weaver who interviewed director Michael A. Hoey extensively for his book I Was A Monster Movie Maker, The Hollywood Reporter called The Navy vs. The Night Monsters “a classic vehicle in every detail.” And Kevin Thomas of The L.A. Times also gave the film a very positive review. Most of these reviews seemed to focus on Stanley Cortez’s impressive cinematography and praised the film’s ability to create tension. I would personally never make the claim that The Navy vs. The Night Monsters is in the same league as the Day of the Triffids (1962) or The Thing from Another World (1951), but this low budget movie does hold some appeal for science fiction and horror film fans.

I first saw The Navy vs. The Night Monsters on television when I was just a kid and it frightened me. I was especially impressed by Harry Thomas’s makeup work. There are some rather gory moments in the movie involving missing limbs and burn victims that still give me the creeps. The soundtrack is memorable even though its mostly made up of stock music composed by Walter Greene, Hans J. Salter and Leith Stevens. Stanley Cortez’s photography is occasionally very affective and even with the film’s low-budget and limited sets, Michael H. Hoey did manage to  create a mood of anticipated dread in some scenes. As a kid I was also impressed with the Navy attack sequences against the tree monsters even if the monsters were rather unbelievable. These sequences were actually compiled from colorized stock footage of the Blue Angels performing their air show but it worked for me. I’m much older now and a little bit wiser so I’m not as easily impressed anymore. The Navy vs. The Night Monsters isn’t  one of the worst films I’ve seen but my childhood imagination has been hindered by my  adult expectations so the movie’s failings tend to stand out more than its accomplishments. While watching the movie again I couldn’t help but imagine how The Navy vs. The Night Monsters might have turned out if it had a bigger budget, a better cast and a more experienced director like Roger Corman at the helm.

The Navy vs. the Night Monsters was recently released on DVD for the first time from MVD (Music Video Distributors). It’s a low budget DVD with no extras so don’t expect much if you decide to rent or purchase the movie yourself. If you want to get any enjoyment from The Navy vs. the Night Monsters you’re going to have to go into the film with low expectations. I also suggest watching it at midnight with a big bowl of popcorn by your side. Popcorn makes any B movie a little bit better.