On the South Coast of England in the 18th Century, the Crown has been tipped off to smuggling activities around the village of Dymchurch and sends naval captain Collier (Patrick Allen), and his crew, to investigate.
He is not at all discouraged by the local folklore of "marsh phantoms" - skeletal figures on 'flying' skeleton horses - seen riding across the nearby Romney Marshes.
The village churchyard is the last resting place of the legendary pirate Captain Clegg, with whom Collier has history.
On top of that, Collier's party of excisemen includes a mute, ex-pirate (Milton Reid), who had previously sailed with Clegg but had been tortured and marooned by his former captain after assaulting Clegg's wife.
Collier and his crew are clearly not welcome in Dymchurch and the audience is very quickly let in on the secret that the smuggling in the area is being co-ordinated by the village parson Dr Blyss (Peter Cushing, sporting a fine Mallen streak in his hair).
However, when the mute sailor attacks Dr Blyss, Collier starts to get suspicious, and when the hulking brute sneaks into the parson's house for a second attempt on his life, Collier realises what we've known pretty much from the get-go: Clegg isn't dead, just masquerading as the village priest.
The film then becomes a game of cat-and-mouse as Collier tries to catch the smugglers with their ill-gotten goods before the criminals can ship them out to customers across the county of Kent.
Captain Clegg (or Night Creatures in the States) is based on the character of Dr Syn, created by novelist and actor Russell Thorndike in the early 20th Century, in turn inspired by historical smugglers in the Romney Marsh area of Kent.
I've been aware of the character of Dr. Syn for as long as I can remember as my late mum was a massive fan of the books, and, of course, Dymchurch and Romney Marsh were within easy travelling distance of our home, and frequent destinations for family holidays.
The reason Syn was renamed Blyss in this Hammer film is that while the British film production company had the rights to remake a 1937 version of the story, Disney had just acquired the rights to the books and would go on to make Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow in 1963 with Patrick McGoohan as Dr. Christopher Syn.
A compact script from Anthony Hinds, and tight direction from Peter Graham Scott, means Captain Clegg plays out like the second half - or even just the final act - of a much longer film.
No time is wasted setting anything up, this bare bones 82-minute action-packed thriller hits the ground running and takes no prisoners.
Of particular interest is the fact that Collier and his crew are most definitely not the good guys in this piece and from the moment we meet them our sympathies lie almost entirely with the so-called criminals.
In fact, in my eyes, the only thing Collier has going for him is the fact that I felt he had the look and mannerisms of modern comedian/actor/singer/quiz show host Alexander Armstrong (although there is no relation between him and Patrick Allen).
Whereas the smugglers - fighting back against unfair taxes - were led by the charismatic Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed (as the charming son of the oblivious local Squire, Derek Francis).
Not that the smugglers are all angels, but the members of Royal Navy are painted in a very poor light as violent, thoughtless, drunks, and womanisers.
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| My mum's well-read collection of Dr Syn novels, which I inherited |
