When a group of strangers mysteriously meet at a secluded country estate, they resort to recounting stories of the supernatural to determine why they’re involved. The intriguing premise is left somewhat undercooked due largely to its era, with the 1945 British production simply too short on the imaginative nightmare fuel dreamed up by more unrestrained writers in later decades. It plays much like an early draft of The Twilight Zone as seen through a prim and proper lens, offering the stars a chance to stick a toe into the waters of the mystical unknown rather than taking a full-on plunge.
Buy Dead of Night Blu-rayThe film is constructed as an anthology, combining four different short stories filmed by four different directors, with the country-estate footage acting as the connective tissue between the tales. There’s little to differentiate the styles, with the stories seamlessly slotting into the final product. To its credit, the writing borrows one story from H.G. Wells, and while the British directors aren’t exactly household names in the U.S., contributor Charles Crichton did go on to helm A Fish Called Wanda. The most notable cast member is Michael Redgrave, who also wins the story lottery with the best spooky tale in the batch.
That closing tale has Redgrave playing a ventriloquist in a codependent relationship with his seemingly sentient dummy, leading viewers to wonder which one is the actual dummy. Like an early Chucky, the evil doll has murder on his mind, with the convenient perk of an already attached patsy. The story is the most accomplished, while the preceding three play more like sketches of cautionary tales than robust thrillers. They involve a speed freak who receives premonitions from beyond after a near-death experience, a teen’s game of hide-and-seek that finds something a little dangerous, and a lighthearted bet between competitive golfers that complicates the winner’s life. It may have been thrilling for its time, but in this era it’s largely just a tired curiosity that generates precious little suspense.
The film has received a new “uncut and complete UK version” HD master from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative. The original cinematography is fairly bland, but the remaster enhances the interplay between deep black tones and bright whites, with very little noticeable debris. Unfortunately, sound remains scratchy and thin, clearly due to the inferior original recording but still disheartening. An audio commentary track is provided by novelist/critic Tim Lucas, and a retrospective documentary is also included.
