EDITOR’S NOTE: The Navy vs. the Night Monsters was on Chiller Theater on Saturday, November 15, 1969 at 1:00 a.m.; Saturday, February 6, 1971 at 11:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 5, 1973 at 1:00 a.m.; Saturday, May 11, 1974 at 11:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 5, 1980 at 1:00 a.m. 

Directed and written by Michael A. Hoey, along with help from Jon Hall, this starts with a plane crashing into the small American Navy weather station based on Gow Island. Lieutenant Charles Brown (Anthony Eisley, admirably heroic despite so many minor roles), nurse Nora Hall (Mamie Van Doren) and biologist Arthur Beecham (Walter Sande) reach the wreck and find no survivors. No bodies, to be exact.

There’s only a freaked-out pilot and prehistoric trees, which get replanted and, yes, come to life. 

Do you know how to defeat evil trees? Molotov cocktails and napalm. Never overlook the American military-industrial complex’s ability to blow things up real good. Now, Eisley and Van Doren’s characters can get it on without the specter of walking murderous trees.

Based on The Monster from Earth’s End by Murray Leinster, this film features James Mason’s first wife, Pamela — who thought the film was beneath her — and two members of Elvis Presley’s Memphis Mafia, Sonny West and Red West. 

The original cut was 78 minutes, and this is where Hall came in, shooting new scenes to pad the film. Eisley said, “The producer totally recut the picture after it was made and totally destroyed any validity it might have had.”

When Anthony Eisley says bad things about your movie, you may want to reconsider your choices.

You can watch this on Tubi.