Story
Jeff and Frankie Callum run the Swan, an inn and tavern on the remote Scottish island of Fara. Jeff, a novelist in his spare time, hires a secretary named Angela Roberts. Unknown to Frankie, Jeff and Angela are former lovers. The Callums moved to Fara Island so that Jeff could escape Angela's amorous advances (although as far as Frankie knows, it was to escape the tedium of city life on the mainland). Angela wants to resume her fling with Jeff, despite Jeff wanting nothing to do with her. Not helping matters much is the fact that despite the fact it's the middle of November, Fara Island is experiencing a stifling and inexplicable heat wave, with temperatures in the 90s and rising daily. It has become so hot that cars stall, beer bottles shatter, Televisions explode, and telephones have ceased to work.
Into this tense situation comes Dr. Godfrey Hanson, a mysterious scientist from the mainland who rents a room at the Swan. Hanson spends his time exploring the island, setting up motion-sensitive cameras and taking soil samples. The locals, including the Callums, find this suspicious, especially since quite a lot more is going on Fara than just the heat and Hanson's snooping. A homeless man is burned to death in a cave by something emitting a high-pitched whirring sound. Later, farmer Ben Siddle claims his sheep are all dead. Hanson examines the dead sheep and finds their corpses are badly burnt.
Swan regular Bob Hayward, is attacked by something on the road while driving into town. He crashes after being blinded by a bright light, which also creates enough heat to ignite the car's petrol tank. Jeff finally corners Hanson and demands answers from him. According to the scientist, Fara Island is the site of an invasion by extraterrestrials, whose high body heat burns any living creature that gets too close to them. Jeff and Hanson attempt to stop the aliens with the help of local physician Dr. Vernon Stone.
Stone tries to get to Fara's radar station so he can alert the mainland of the invasion, but is waylaid by the aliens and killed. Hanson tries to makes it next, but witnesses the death of Stella Hayward, Bob's wife, and realises the aliens are attracted to light. At the radar station, he learns that the aliens already destroyed all their communications equipment, making it impossible to call for help.
Quickly formulating a plan, Hanson summons Jeff, Frankie and Angela up to the radar station. He and Foster will set fire to bales of hay in a field, attracting the aliens. The others will lob dynamite into the field, hopefully destroying the aliens.
Read more about this topic: Night Of The Big Heat (1967 Film)
Famous quotes containing the word story:
“A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“Cinderella and the prince
lived, they say, happily ever after,
like two dolls in a museum case
never bothered by diapers or dust,
never arguing over the timing of an egg,
never telling the same story twice....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Wit is often concise and sparkling, compressed into an original pun or metaphor. Brevity is said to be its soul. Humor can be more leisurely, diffused through a whole story or picture which undertakes to show some of the comic aspects of life. What it devalues may be human nature in general, by showing that certain faults or weaknesses are universal. As such it is kinder and more philosophic than wit which focuses on a certain individual, class, or social group.”
—Thomas Munro (1897–1974)