Director: Peter Graham Scott
Writers: Anthony Hinds, Barbara S. Harper
Stars: Peter Cushing, Yvonne Romain, Patrick Allen
1 Hour, 27 Minites
Link: https://amzn.to/2PlyNt8
Synopsis
Spoilers Ahead
We start aboard a ship in 1776. A crewman has committed a crime: he attacked Captain Clegg’s wife. So, Captain Clegg, an unseen pirate, orders the man’s tongue be cut out and that he be left behind on the nearest island.
Credits roll.
We fast-forward a few years to 1792, and we see the grave of Captain Clegg. We also hear of the legend of the marsh phantoms, who strike fear into all who cross their paths. A man runs through the swamps, and he encounters numerous horsemen wearing what look like glow-in-the-dark skeleton costumes. He falls in the lake and drowns.
We cut to a church, where Peter Cushing is the priest. He explains how lucky his parishioners are, and it sounds like the town is pretty well off.
Meanwhile, outside, troops are getting out of boats. A boy alerts some of the men in church. The soldiers start going from house to house looking for something. They tear apart the local bar, but they can’t find anything. They bring in the mulatto, the man who lost his tongue earlier, and now he’s sort of a human bloodhound who can sniff out what they are looking for. They find a hidden cellar. Inside, they explain that they’re looking for illegal drink, but they don’t find it, because it’s all hidden in a secret cave.
Captain Collier, the leader of the soldiers, wants to see Tom Ketch, who turns out to be the man who died last night. He was the one who told Captain Collier that the town was smuggling alcohol. Collier doesn’t believe in the Night Phantoms.
Rev. Blyss storms in, and he reminds everyone who’s in charge in this town. He instructs everyone to not cooperate with the soldiers in any way. He’s a lot bossier now than he was in the pulpit. The gentle preacher persona is something of an act.
There’s no room at the inn, by design, but the soldiers have to stay somewhere. They all walk by Captain Clegg’s grave, and Collier explains that he chased Clegg all over the world, but he never caught him.
That evening, Squire Cobtree lets the soldiers stay in his barn, which irritates Rev. Blyss. All the soldiers are partying outside when the tongueless bloodhound-man spots Reverend Blyss and attacks him.
A man runs into town, claiming to have seen the Marsh Phantoms, and all the soldiers go out to find them. Meanwhile, all the villagers smuggle out what’s left of their contraband, but not before Mr. Rash kills one of the soldiers. Captain Collier figures out that the terrified man was just a distraction, and they all turn back to town.
The next morning, Collier finds the dead soldier, and the Mulatto has vanished; he’s outside digging up Captain Clegg’s grave, which is empty. The Mulatto then sneaks into Rev. Blyss’s house and attacks him again. They fight, and the man breaks out a window and runs off.
Mr. Rash finds Captain Clegg’s Will, which leaves everything to his daughter Imogene, who works for Rash and is his ward. He tells all this to Imogene. She runs to Blyss, who confirms that it’s the truth. She tells her fiancee, Harry, about Mr. Rash, and Harry goes over there and threatens Rash. Rash turns Harry in to Collier, who has his men brutally work over Harry. Rash starts to give Clegg’s will to Collier as evidence, but Harry grabs it and throws it in the fire.
We see the soldiers leading Harry out into the swamp, and also see the Phantoms riding toward them. The phantoms attack and rescue Harry. Then they ride right into town, and it’s clear that they really are just the townsmen in costumes. One of them is Blyss, who takes Harry into the church.
Blyss says all he cares about is Imogene’s happiness, so Harry should get her and the two of them should leave town at once. Blyss performs a marriage ritual, marrying Harry and Imogene. The soldiers break into the church, but Harry and Imogene are already gone.
Collier interrogates Blyss. He asks Blyss where he lived before he came to this town. Collier suggests that the Mulatto would recognize Clegg if he saw him. He accuses Blyss of being Captain Clegg. Clegg calls for support from the villagers. There’s a battle, and Clegg is shot, but he does get away and he hides in the coffin factory. The problem is, the Mulatto is there as well, and Clegg is finally, really killed. They place him in his empty grave and cover him over.
Commentary
There’s secret doors, creatures in the marsh, coffin factories, pirates, smugglers, murder, and romance. What’s not to like?
It’s really not completely clear if Clegg had really reformed or not. Smuggling alcohol isn’t really the same as piracy, but he was still guilty of his former crimes. He was also guilty of leading the “Phantoms,” which resulted in Tom Ketch’s death, so he’s not completely a good guy.
There’s no real monsters in this film, although I thought the phantoms might turn out to be real in the end. Still, even though we got Scoobied again, Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed are always fun to watch, and the movie was decent.