A college professor in England named Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) and his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) seem to live a charmed life. Then Norman finds out Tansy is using witchcraft to "protect" him. He firmly disbelieves of it and makes her burn all her protective charms. Then his life becomes a living hell...

Scary, well-made British chiller filmed in atmospheric black & white. This is the kind of movie where the chills creep up on you and quietly scare you.

The acting is great all around. Peter Wyngarde is very effective as Taylor--you see his character struggling to rationalize all the bad things happening to him. Surprisingly director Sidney Hayers (in an interview with Fangoria magazine) didn't want Wyngarde for the role. It was well known that Wyngarde was gay and the director felt he would be too effeminate for the role! His doubts were totally misfounded. Blair is even better as his wife Tansy. Her sacrifice at one point in the movie is actually very moving. And I'll never forget Margaret Johnston--that woman was EVIL. Trust me, I'm not giving anything away--you'll know who the evil witch is within the first 10 minutes.

A well-made, frightening horror film. Turn off the lights and cuddle up with this one. Perfect for late night viewing.

Nobody will mourn the truly wicked in this delicious supernatural thriller of a devoted wife (Janet Blair) who knows that something wicked this way comes as she casts spells to protect husband Peter Wyngard. Extreme envy and false accusations leads an unknown source to declare vengeance on psychology professor Wyngard, and that insights wife Blair to reach into her bag of tricks to protect him from harm. But his own disbelief gets him into trouble as he orders her to toss away her bag of protective tricks, leading to instant terror which occurs as soon as he burns the protective powders and picture she keeps in a locket. Things go from bad to worse, making Blair susceptible to the magic powers of the demonic forces out there, leading her to decide to take her own life in order to save his. It is quickly proven that true evil comes from forces you cannot see or often control as Wyngard opens his eyes to what is really going on and must take steps to stop it before both his and his wife's lives are taken from this great force from beyond hell itself.

Incredible acting from the two stars makes this psychological horror film one of the best of its genre's. The source from where the evil comes from is a true surprise and the perpetrator gives a performance of such delicious eccentricity and innocence that it does indeed turn out to be a huge surprise. This is the type of film that may chill you to the bone as every step of evil taken to destroy these two occurs with such delicious cunning, resulting in a confrontation that can only be described as spine tingling. The presence of a real threat to both Wyngard and Blair occurs simultaneously, and one can truly hear their heart pounding as the film reaches a stunning conclusion. Terrific pacing, a brilliant script and a haunting atmosphere of subtle evil disguised as innocence makes this a must. Veteran voice over actor Paul Frees provides an opening that sets the tone, and the supporting players (which includes "Black Narcissus" psycho nun Kathleen Byron as well as Margaret Johnston and Colin Gordon.

Night of the Eagle is an effective low budget chiller with an early starring role for Peter Wyngarde. It also compares favourably with Jacques Tourneur's Night of the Demon.

Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) is a psychology professor and a rationalist. Popular with students this is a young professor with a rising career at his university.

Flora Carr, the creepy disdainful wife of his rival to a forthcoming promotion conspires to use the occult to spin Taylor's life out of control. However Taylor's wife Tansy (Janet Blair) is also versed in voodoo, something she picked up in the Caribbean when Taylor fell seriously ill.

When Taylor finds out charms and poppits that Tansy has being using, he gets angry and destroys them. This is despite his wife's pleas that it has brought him good luck and she wants to protect him from danger.

Soon Taylor's life becomes tumultuous, he is accused of rape by one of his students. Tansy nearly drowns and Taylor needs to consider if there is some truth in witchcraft.

This is an understated horror, it has a sense of atmospheric dread. The finale gets hysterical as Flora uses hypnotism over a loudpeaker and an eagle comes to life.

Wyngarde is an effective lead and shows early promise that made him a big television star in Britain by the end of the 1960s. Blair is also good as his wife.