Dead of Night Reviews

A super-psycho-natural flick. For a 1945 flick, the scripting seems quite advanced. Not the best, but definitely worth a watch (and maybe even more entertaining if you can resist looking for plot-holes).

Many of the reviews I've read over the years of "Dead of Night" seem to sideline the "Christmas Party" episode as being less successful and effective than the other stories involved. At first, I tended to agree with them; however, after a while it dawned on me that there was something rather unusual about the sequence that I couldn't quite place my finger on. Normally, in a ghost story, any part of the story containing the appearance of the ghost looks rather unreal in comparison with the everyday part to underline the supernatural aspect of the spectre's apparition. However, in this particular story, it's the (real) children's party that looks unreal, and the (supernatural) ghost that looks real. The party shows a massive house, with a roaring log fire, loads of toys, food, etc, and the children enjoying themselves enormously, without any adults present. It has the look of a fantasy of the perfect party any child would want. However, the meeting with the young boy seems more rooted in reality, and this is the irony of the story - that Constance Kent, the sister he mentions, actually did exist and did admit to killing her younger brother. In real life, the boy was actually a baby when he was murdered, but his age has obviously been changed so that Sally could talk to him. This gives an extra poignancy to the story, in that he likes Sally and presumably would have wanted her for his real sister, but instead had Constance, who killed him - the worst crime she could have committed against a helpless child.

I think it would be wrong to overlook this sequence as unworthy of comment, and reassess its value in "Dead of Night". It may not be as frightening as the famed ventriloquist story, but it does carry an emotional power which is perhaps its strongest point.

The best horror movie of 1945, maybe even of the whole decade! See it for yourself.

Precursor to later episodic horror (i.e. TV's Night Gallery and The Twilight Zone). Five house guests recount their nightmares to each other with each one a little more sinister than the last. A spine-tingling horror classic that scared me as a child and still today creeps me out.

i really enjoyed the surreal ending. the comedy segment was fun but brought down the overall suspense alot. excellent performances and michael redgrave was outstanding in the famous ventriloquist's dummy segment

Spooky anthology film about a man's trip to a country house for a party and the stories he hears while he's there. One of the best (of many lesser) stories about a mad ventriloquist.

Dead of Night is a very interesting film. Technically the film is contained in one story but there are five stories contained within the story and the works of four directors chronicle what was the first Horror Anthology film. Our main character is invited to a country house and can't shake the feel of dà (C)jà vu, so much so that he manages to make a few successful predictions as the day moves along. So spooked by the mans supernatural anomaly they begin to recount a their own tales of the unexplainable. The first few stories are a great big bore, simplistic ghost-like stories with slight and predictable twists. Halfway through I almost bailed on the movie but decided to grind it out. The fourth tale adds a bit of dark humor about a pair of golfing rivals which kept the film at least watchable. It is however the fifth story that has lived on throughout the years and is still the most provocative and effective. It is the tale of a ventriloquist who begins to develop a split personality with his dummy, believing it to actually be real. Add in some betrayal, vengeance and murder to the plot and it has quite a shocker of an ending. The real triumph of Dead of Night is of course the overlapping story throughout all the mini-arch's. The main character recalls killing a guest after his glasses break, once said glasses are broken he feels compelled to commit the murder. Afterwards he is sent spiraling through each characters story in a dreamlike sequence climaxing in the dummy from the fifth story strangling him to death. The man then awakes and it is all revealed to have been a dream, a nightmare and one that he has trouble recalling in great detail. He receives a phone call and is invited to a country house, once he gets there he can't shake the feeling of dà (C)jà vu...

The horror potmanteau that spwaned them all which, today, is still the best. Five short stories and a linking narrative, varying from dark to light to very dark. Many later British horror portmanteaus, particularly by Amicus, trace their roots back to this excellent picture. Ground breaking.

Eerily reminiscent of a theatrical elongation of a 'Twilight Zone' installment, except that program hadn't been conceived yet! So I can only presume Rod Serling was a fan of 'Dead of Night.' This similarity results in familiarity, which unfortunately works against the movie through no fault of its own. Still, the tales are almost all engaging and includes a neat paradoxial twist at the end - a trademark of that TV show.

Scares that hold up today. Some of the stories have been ripped up countless times, especially the Ventriloquist story towards the end.

An anthology of scary stories with a great "twist" ending. This British production tells tales from funny, to bizzare, to down right creepy (the ventriloquist dummy anyone?). But they are not just seperate stories. Everything is connected and that's why it works.

Grade: A-

Part compilation horror part mindfuckery, Dead of Night is an obvious influence to later horror filmmakers and a great film in its own right. The ventriloquist dummy steals the show.

What a brilliant film! Each segment is very entertaining, and in such very different ways, but the final segment with Michael Redgrave is the best. Wonderful production, the cinematography is excellent, great score. Wonderful.

A true horror anthology masterpiece of the macabre, the best tale is the final story about a mad ventriloquist and his evil dummy. Check it out!

Wonderful horror film that perfectly uses the lets tell a ghost story premise. It is always creepy and occasionally funny. What makes the film is the perfect way it ends.

From Ealing Studios, a portmanteau film in which various people discuss their encounters with the supernatural. Ptobably the first of its kind, and very dark and gripping -- with a gibbering nightmare of a finale.

The Park Library in the Haight Ashbury showed this for free every Halloween for 20 or 30 years. A real class British classic!

Fascinating tale of a meeting between a number of individuals who tell stories with strange details. The first story revolves around a man who has nightmares that become a reality. The second of a man who can't see his wife in a mirror. The third story is of man who talks to a ghost of man in public who played golf with him and killed himself during a round. Finally, a story of a ventriloquist who has very detailed conversations with his puppet, on for which that is capable of murder. All tales are really interesting and well filmed, the script and cast are both quirky and entertaining, a really good combination. The United Kingdom delivered some fine mysteries during this era, and this along, with another 1945 film "And Then There Were None" rank most likely among the best.

The last segment is brilliant & MUST BE SEEN

A mild horror film containing five stories. The ventriloquist story was best and weird.