FountainPen SPOILERS AHEAD!! Honestly, I could not determine whether a certain blond/blonde, floppy-haired person was male or female! My opinion during the opening minutes of this strange film kept going back and forth. Very odd. Of course, it was 1972. A hideous screeching, high-pitched yell also disturbed me during the early minutes, apparently a road accident with a sporty car, but we see only a tantalising fleeting glimpse. Then there was the overhead scene, looking down on two naked bodies engaged in sex, with the camera quickly zooming in fairly slowly on his backside as he went about his business. Many, many other attempts to be arty and edgy, just about all of them silly and amateurish, quick scenes, lil snippits, angles, bits of music, sound effects, can't determine what is going on.So what WAS going on? The strikingly-unusual-looking Rita Tushingham was leaving home... worried mom sees her off as she departs lovely Liverpool for luscious London. Rita drops a bag of something, picks up the bits, the bag is knocked again by someone, spilling contents. Wow! This is some kinda deep-meaning flick, shades of 2001 and Marienbad. Or is it just 01 and BAD? Btw, Rita's looks I find very attractive, though distracting because I spend a lot of time looking at and analysing her face, including that mole by her mouth (her mother's mole is bigger and on her cheek, incidentally). And Rita's prominent nose, those big, wide, staring, penetrating eyes, those remarkable gnashers, all demand attention and take you away from the story, the plot, if there is one: there IS, isn't there? Yes, I think so, 'coz she's meeting lotsa fascinating folk. Back to the male/female character, with a clock ticking loudly and oddball echoing voices, now we see Rita writing, then looking at a burning oil painting. Huh? What the hell is going on? The IMDb rating is 6.1, so this MUST be a good movie. What am I missing? Oh! We're back to the naked couple, gal gasping. Now we're at party with raucous nasty music. Yeah, what IS going on??? Things are heating up? No, doesn't look promising. Rita's looking for a feller and a drink, breaks a cork off in the neck of a wine bottle. Gosh! This cinematic experience is moving into high gear. Love 1972. Attractive but ascerbic blonde girl tells John Lennon lookalike guy to piss off. Rita has trouble getting fags from a cig machine down the road. There must be some kind of deep meaning here, just can't figure it out, sorry. Rita, with Rothman cancer sticks, goes back to apartment, starts crying at what she discovers. Mournful song dribbles on......... THIS is a real motion picture? WHY? What does it all mean? Why am I bothering to waste any more time on it? Do I really care whether the blond/blonde is a guy or a gal? It's a guy, btw, with light makeup, very heavy darkened eyebrows. I suspect he's a baddie."Paul Andrews", an IMDb member since September 2001, a "Top Reviewer" who has reviewed more than 2,500 films, gives this movie "Straight On Till Morning" 1/10. Yes, he certainly is a top reviewe in my book, for sure. He refers to this stinker as "Hammer's worst"Well, I cannot recommend this moo-vee either, but I give it 2/10 because of Rita Tushingham and the blond/blonde. Maybe you'll like it if you enjoy oddities and have nothing else to do. Me? I'm going to fire off a few emails to my correspondents, choose my clothes for tomorrow, place a few bids online, make a cappuccino, then go to bed. Good Night, Rita. Hope you have fun with your friends and your maybe baby and your cigarettes and... whatever ! Oh HELL ! Someone's been attacked with what looks like a box cutter blade. This is a violent one; it's Hammer's worst. Good Night.

Coventry 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.

Radish4ever 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.

catherinekeohane 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.