STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING, released in 1972, was one of the very few Hammer films I had not seen. (The movie is available on Tubi.) It was one of the many attempts by Hammer in the early 70s to go in a more modern & different direction, and, like most of those attempts, didn't make much of an impact.
The main character of the story is Brenda (Rita Tushingham), an awkward young girl who lives with her mother in a drab flat in Liverpool. Brenda spends most of her time dreaming and writing fairy tale stories, and she decides to go to London to find her Prince Charming (after lying to her mother about being pregnant and having to seek a father for her baby). In the big city Brenda meets a strange, handsome fellow named Peter (Shane Briant), after returning his lost dog Tinker. Brenda becomes more and more involved with Peter's weird life, but doesn't realize until it's too late that the young man is a murderous psychopath.
STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING sees Hammer dealing with a more mainstream director (Peter Collinson) and a more mainstream star (Rita Tushingham). The story is also set in a very contemporary London that is far more realistic than the one portrayed in DRACULA A.D. 1972. Due to this the movie has a dreary feel to it instead of being thrilling or exciting.
One main issue is the character of Brenda. When she appeared in this film Rita Tushingham had already played a number of social misfits, but here Brenda is such a sad sack that it's hard to feel sympathetic toward her or even worried about her plight. At one point Brenda gets a makeover in order to be more attractive for Peter, but she can't even do that right--she winds up looking dowdy instead of glamorous. The script even seems to suggest that someone like Brenda deserves to wind up with a psycho like Peter.
As for Peter, Shane Briant is perfect for the role. Briant had pretty-boy looks combined with an off-putting, quirky personality. Briant was the type of actor that you never knew what he was going to do or how he was going to react. Much of Peter's deadly activities are left vague, which actually makes him more of a threat--but the reasons behind his actions are left vague as well. He has a Peter Pan fixation (which is the point of the film's title), but even this isn't explored enough. Hammer put a lot of effort into showcasing Briant in the early 1970s, but despite his talents he didn't go on to bigger stardom.
Katya Wyeth, as Brenda's sexy co-worker, fulfills the obligatory Hammer Glamour quotient very effectively--so much so that one wishes her character had been the main focus of the story.
Peter Collinson (best known for THE ITALIAN JOB) injects a lot of showy editing techniques and unique shot compositions, but these seem self-indulgent rather than necessary for the story. There isn't a lot of suspense in this film--it's very easy to ascertain where the story is going to go. It's almost embarrassing to watch Brenda constantly make a fool of herself, and the movie has some very disturbing moments, such as a sequence in which torture by audio is used, and a horrid scene that will drive animal lovers to the brink (this scene is probably why one never sees this film on broadcast television). I'm sure STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING was meant to be depressing and upsetting, but it also means that it's not a movie one wants to watch multiple times.
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