Night of the Big Heat (1967 film)

Night of the Big Heat
Italian theatrical poster
Directed by	Terence Fisher
Produced by	Tom Blakeley Ronald Liles
Written by	Jane Baker Pip Baker Ronald Liles
Based on	novel Night of the Big Heat by John Lymington
Starring	Christopher Lee Patrick Allen Peter Cushing Sarah Lawson
Music by	Malcolm Lockyer
Cinematography	Reginald H. Wyer
Edited by	Rod Nelson-Keys
Production company	Planet Film Productions
Distributed by	Planet Film Distributors
Release date	May 1967 (UK) 1971 (USA)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	509,439 admissions (France)

Night of the Big Heat is a 1967 British science fiction horror film released by Planet Film Productions. Based on the 1959 novel of the same name by John Lymington, the film was directed by Terence Fisher, and starred Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Jane Merrow.

The film was released theatrically in the United States in the winter of 1971 by Maron Films as Island of the Burning Damned where it was paired up on a nationwide double bill with Godzilla's Revenge, but the poster art confused it with "Island Of Terror" from 1966 which only starred Peter Cushing. The title was changed years later to "Island Of The Burning Doomed" for US television.

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.