The Navy vs. the Night Monsters (1966) (USA)

aka The Night Crawlers/Monsters of the Night 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

An Antarctic research expedition discovers strange flora specimens buried in the ice. They excavate and ship the prehistoric plant life out for further study. The specimens end up at a Navy base in the South Seas thanks to a mixture of mid-flight chaos and a rough landing. There’s a lone survivor and a destroyed plane on the runway making it impossible to leave. As nighttime hits, the plants come to life and they are some hungry shrubs. They also secrete acid… so yeah, it sucks to be stuck with these bushes from hell. The best kind of lame thrills follow. Everyone assumes the comatose pilot is guilty of murder and when he wakes up, he doesn’t do much to quell their suspicions; he attacks his nurse and a guard but collapses soon after and ends up back in bed. Corroded corpses pop up and the Navy boys begin to recognize that something inexplicable is afoot. All the usual 1960’s monster flick pitfalls are there: comedy that one would not dare call “comedy”, romance that’s about as hot as a frozen chicken you told your mom you’d take out of the freezer first thing in the morning, endless talking and a general lack of action keeping the viewers at home nice and drowsy. Having said that, it’s about killer trees and I have no idea why, but I love killer trees. From first reading about that Central-American nightmare the Yateveo to the crap-classic From Hell it Came, I got a soft spot for the damn things. Give me some violent vegetation or an angry Triffid and I’ll be grinning like a damn fool. Also, Mamie Van Doren was there, so at least you have something to focus on while boredom stretches scenes out to a breaking point and Edward Faulkner rocks his performance as a truly detestable asshole by the name of Bob Spaulding… who changes his tune just a bit too soon for my liking. I know it’s bad, every fiber of my being knows it’s bad, but I’ve seen it too many times and enjoyed it every time to deny my love of it. Thankfully, my opinion doesn’t really matter.