Night Slaves (1970)** (out of 4)Clay Howard (James Franciscus) survives a tragic car wreck that sadly killed the people in the other car. Him and his wife (Lee Grant) decide to get out of town for a while and they end up in a small town out West where he soon begins to think something isn't quite right. At night the townspeople get loaded onto a large truck but in the morning only Clay can remember what happened.NIGHT SLAVES is a pretty bland made-for-television horror film that simply doesn't have too much going for it. Often times these movies were extremely well-made by people who wanted to do something fresh and original. Other times these movies just seemed to be rushed so that they could have something on air by a certain date. Everyone here just seems to be going by the numbers and the cast appear to just be picking up a paycheck.The biggest problem is that there's really not enough done with the central story. I won't ruin why the people are being loaded into the trucks but it's not the greatest storyline out there and I'd argue that there's no suspense gained from it. Both Franciscus and Grant are pretty much going through the motions and even Leslie Nielson is wasted as the Sheriff. NIGHT SLAVES remains partially watchable if you enjoy these types of movies but there's certainly nothing special about it.

"Night Slaves" is a pretty obvious remake of "It Came from Outer Space" but on its own terms, it's a good film. The movie starts out with James Franciscus cracking up his car and ending up with a metal plate in his head. He and wife Lee Grant decide to recover by vacationing in a small California town. While there, Francsicus discovers that the entire town (except him) is mysteriously disappearing every night and returning before the sun rises.Franciscus finally finds out that an alien spacecraft has crashed nearby, the population has been hypnotized into repairing the ship, and the chief alien has cleverly disguised himself as the local dimwit. Franciscus is immune from the alien's powers because of his metal plate.Franciscus then gets the hots for one of the aliens (played by Tisha Sterling), and wants to leave with her. Why he would want to leave faithful wife Lee Grant isn't really explained. The ending of the movie is truly offbeat.Franciscus and Grant are very good, while a pre-"Airplane!" Leslie Nielsen stars in a serious role as the local sheriff. This mystery/sci-fi film is well worth watching if you can locate it.

Although I only saw the film once and quite a while ago I remember it to be an entertaining film that had a very interesting premise.From what I remember of it, I thought that it showed some interesting possibilities in the story line. That a marooned alien spacecraft would use local talent, so to speak, to effect repairs was to me a novel idea. And to have the locals be unaware of their being used was even better. It put me in mind of "Strange Invaders" which as I recall had a similar idea but the people in that one I think were replaced by aliens who assumed their identities. I like this idea much more as the visitors seemed to be trying to have as little impact as possible on the hometown folks and it fell more in line with the non-interference provisions upheld throughout the Star Trek series and movies.I would like to see it again, though not bad enough to buy it anytime soon.

I recently purchased this movie NIGHT SLAVES, but I received a copy, so my guess is that this was never released on video, which is a shame, because it is a fun film. Now, I didn't think the film was great, but it was entertaining and short. I could see some stupid producer making a boring mini-series out of this story, but luckily this film is short and never loses your attention. The plot is not perfect, and the acting is subtle. I would only recommend watching this movie if you are bored and want some entertainment, not if you're looking for a great movie to watch with some great actors and a "sounds-interesting" plot. SUMMARY: Clay Howard (Jim Franciscus) is in a horrible car crash, which kills another couple involved. Clay is put in the hospital, while his wife Marjorie (Lee Grant) and friend Matt (Scott Marlowe) plan to leave him and become lovers. A metal plate is inserted into Clay's head, he leaves the hospital and takes a road trip with his wife. They stop in a small town for the rest of one day and evening. That night Clay wakes up from his slumber to discover the entire town loading into one truck and vacating the town, his wife included. He meets Naillil/Annie (Tisha Sterling) who tells him she's to make sure he doesn't escape. The next morning Clay wakes up to find his wife in bed, sleeping and everything back to normal. Was it a dream, or is he really going crazy? Clay decides to stay in town a few more days and figure out what really is going on.This is a great made for TV film. I suggest you check it out if the chance arises. The setting is creepy in the old town. The ending is no big surprise. A recommendation for this film would definitely be: THE STEPFORD WIVES. ** 1/2 STARS and 7/10.