Lured by the sweet sweet sound of the jazz flute, sailor Johnny Drake (Dennis Hopper) enters the Blue Grotto bar at Venice Beach where he becomes captivated by a beautiful young woman called Mora (Linda Lawson). Despite her initial frostiness, Johnny wins Mora over with his affability and begins dating her, learning how she makes her living in a sideshow attraction as a mermaid. However, talking to other folk at the carnival, Johnny also learns that Mora believes herself to be a real mermaid, and that her previous two boyfriends drowned in suspicious circumstances. Could Johnny be next to meet a watery fate?
The first feature from director Curtis Harrington, Night Tide possesses an eerie and ethereal atmosphere not unlike the following year's over-rated cult classic Carnival of Souls; there's also more than a touch of Val Lewton about the film, with a splash of The Twilight Zone for good measure. Throughout the movie, Harrington plays with his audience, keeping them in the dark about whether Mora is merely a confused young woman with deep-seated emotional issues, or whether she really is a 'person of the sea'. Unfortunately, the novice director allows the pace to drag, doesn't generate much suspense and fails to pull all the strings together in a satisfactory manner for the somewhat muddled (some might say 'ambiguous') conclusion.
Thankfully, Mora's wild beach dance to groovy bongo beats and the octopus dream sequence help to prevent the film from being totally dullsville.
The first feature from director Curtis Harrington, Night Tide possesses an eerie and ethereal atmosphere not unlike the following year's over-rated cult classic Carnival of Souls; there's also more than a touch of Val Lewton about the film, with a splash of The Twilight Zone for good measure. Throughout the movie, Harrington plays with his audience, keeping them in the dark about whether Mora is merely a confused young woman with deep-seated emotional issues, or whether she really is a 'person of the sea'. Unfortunately, the novice director allows the pace to drag, doesn't generate much suspense and fails to pull all the strings together in a satisfactory manner for the somewhat muddled (some might say 'ambiguous') conclusion.
Thankfully, Mora's wild beach dance to groovy bongo beats and the octopus dream sequence help to prevent the film from being totally dullsville.