Having served as a romantic backdrop for many works of British literature (see the Brontë sisters), the Yorkshire Moors symbolize both heaven and hell in Leslie Arliss’ The Night Has Eyes, a romantic thriller in which stunning atmospherics thankfully distract us from any gaps in story or suspense. The relatively forgotten Joyce Howard plays schoolteacher Marian Ives, who, accompanied by her friend and fellow teacher Doris (Tucker McGuire), travels to Yorkshire partly on holiday and partly in honor of a third friend who had disappeared from the area almost exactly a year earlier. As they enter the region, a violent storm leaves them stranded and ultimately taking shelter in a remote mansion occupied by mysterious pianist Stephen Deremid (James Mason). Over several days, Marian simultaneously falls in love with Deremid and suspects he may have murdered their missing friend, a suspicion which is only reinforced by comments from servants Mrs. Ranger (Mary Clare) and Jim (Wilfrid Lawson). Based on a 1939 novel by Alan Kennington, the film offers nonstop visual splendor from the moment the women enter the countryside, soupy fog reflecting thick rays of moonlight, figures fading into swampy hills, the Deremid house draped with shadows inside, the roaring fireplace casting patterns of light on the walls and glowing halos around faces. The film offers plenty of chills, occasionally entering horror territory, such as Marian’s discovery in the basement, but some viewers may find that the mystery is prematurely deflated, and the parts end up being greater than the whole.