Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Night of the Big Heat Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 27, 2025

Terence Fisher's "Night of the Big Heat" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films. The supplemental features on the release include new program with actress Jane Merrow; new program with second assistant director Mike Higgins; new audio commentary by critic and journalist David Flint; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The usual suspects are at it yet again. Terrence Fisher directs Christopher Lee, Patrick Allen, and Peter Cushing in yet another B-film about vicious creatures threatening peaceful folks living far away from the hustle and bustle of London. This B-film has another glorious title too, Night of the Big Heat. Did someone think it could attract the same crowds that saw Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat a decade earlier? Probably. It would not hurt to promote a B-film with a title that makes it look like a relative of a huge Hollywood film, would it?

It takes approximately fifteen minutes to realize that Night of the Big Heat, despite having been scripted by different writers, intends to impress with a story that is practically identical to the one told in Island of Terror, which Fisher had completed a year earlier. Even though it is early winter, on a remote island, something causes the temperature to rise very quickly and reach unprecedented levels. While male and female residents double their consumption of cold lager to stay cool, Godfrey Hanson (Lee), a visiting scientist, goes out gathering evidence to support a crazy theory, which is that aliens from another galaxy have arrived to conquer England and then the rest of the world. Because Hanson is too busy to be polite and drink with the occupants of the secluded inn where he is staying, eventually he is confronted by Jeff Callum (Allen), a popular local writer, whose wife, Frankie (Sarah Lawson), runs the place. When Hanson reveals the nature of his research to him, Callum reluctantly accepts that he is on to something big and seriously concerning, and with another intelligent resident, Dr. Vernon Stone (Cushing), begins helping him to prevent a disaster. However, while the men are trying to figure out a good strategy to stop the alien invasion, Callum is repeatedly distracted by his new and very sexy secretary, Jane Merrow (Angela Roberts), a former secret girlfriend, who has come from the mainland to reunite with him.

The narrative is full of logical fallacies, making it impossible to see Night of the Big Heat as anything but a cheaply and quickly made B-film. For example, Hanson discovers that the alien invaders need heat to survive, so they are raising the temperature on the island, which would be their main base, before they launch their worldwide invasion. It would have been so much easier if they had landed in an African country, where they would not be required to raise the temperature to their liking, and go straight to preparing their invasion. Towards the end, it turns out that the alien invaders are also allergic to rain, but on the island they are trying to conquer, it rains all the time.

Like the silicates in Island of Terror, the alien invaders are super-slow. They are attracted to and emit bright light. When attacking their human targets, they need several seconds to activate high-pitched signals that disable the human mind’s ability to function properly. So, while they are equipped with something humans do not have, they are not difficult to avoid, and, as it becomes clear later, outmaneuver and defeat. But, for obvious reasons, it takes a long time for Hanson and his helpers to realize that their enemy is neither very intelligent nor very dangerous.

An unexpected development partially redeems Night of the Big Heat. When the sexy secretary arrives on the island and begins teasing her supposedly happily married lover, she unintentionally helps the alien invaders raise the temperature faster. Several of her interactions with her annoyed lover and other willing to replace him male residents are hilarious. An Italian director would have instantly recognized the potential and, with some strategic tweaks in multiple areas, delivered a drastically different and more entertaining film.

Fisher once again collaborated with cinematographer Reginal Wyer, who lensed many more similar low-budget genre films. One of the best is John Krish's Unearthly Stranger, a paranoid thriller about a different, far more sinister alien invasion.

Night of the Big Heat Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Night of the Big Heat arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.

Night of the Big Heat looks terrific in high-definition. It is very easy to tell that it has been recently remastered, and it is even easier to tell that the party tasked to oversee the work is very knowledge. Needless to say, I hope that more and bigger projects are handled by it.

All visuals boast wonderful delineation, clarity, and depth. A few transitions are a bit uneven, but they replicate native fluctuations. During indoor and darker footage, subtle background nuances look really good, at times even excellent, so on a large screen depth can be quite striking. I think that for any hypothetical improvements to materialize, this film will have to be presented in native 4K. Color reproduction and balance are fantastic. Primaries look lush and very healthy, while all supporting nuances are wonderfully balanced. The stable color temperature is pitch-perfect as well. Because of all this, some of the visuals that emerged throughout the film are flat-out gorgeous. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is very good. Finally, I did not see any distracting age-related imperfections to report in our review. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Night of the Big Heat Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

As the alien invaders paralyze the minds of their human targets, they produce high-pitched signals/noises that are surprisingly effective. There is decent music that creates good contrasts as well. So, while Night of the Big Heat is not a big production, it has a fine soundtrack could surprise a few viewers. All exchanges are clear, sharp, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any age-related anomalies to report in our review.

Night of the Big Heat Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Jane Merrow Remembers Night of the Big Heat - in this exclusive new program, Jane Merrow, who plays the sexy secretary, acknowledges that Night of the Big Heat tells a ridiculous story, but argues that it is a very well made film. Merrow also recalls her interactions and work with Christopher Lee and Terence Fisher, and what it was like to work in a very cold environment while pretending that it was the middle of the summer. At the of the program, Merrow also confesses that she is extremely happy to see Night of the Big Heat on Blu-ray. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Mike Higgins Remembers Night of the Big Heat - in this exclusive new program, second assistant director Mike Higgins recalls his work on Night of the Big Heat and comments on the type of locations and sets that were chosen for it. According to Higgins, Night of the Big Heat was completed in six weeks. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, critic and journalist David Flint discusses the stylistic identity of Night of the Big Heat, some of its strengths and weaknesses, production history, the cast that was assembled for it, Terence Fisher's opus, etc.

• Stills Gallery - presented here is a collection of archival publicity and promotional materials for Night of the Big Heat. With music. (4 min).

• Booklet - 16-page illustrated booklet featuring Barry Forshaw's essay "Rising Temperatures On The Night of the Big Heat".

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art for Night of the Big Heat.

Night of the Big Heat Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Planet Film Productions' final horror film, Night of the Big Heat, borrows material from multiple places, so it is not a straightforward genre film. However, like its predecessors, it is a small B-film. It entertains quite well, but not as its creators intended. It gets quite loose and playful, so instead of being spooky, or at least in an old-fashioned way, it is often very, very funny. For this recent Blu-ray release from 88 Films, Night of the Big Heat was fully remastered and regraded, and I think that it looks terrific in high-definition. RECOMMENDED.