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Just perfect...

Good concept, poorly executed.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

A truly great horror anthology with a tremendous wrap around story with a twist and interesting sub-stories. It's a little dry and old fashioned for today's viewers, but if you give it a chance, it'll stick with you. You can see where the roots of the style spring from and how, done right, this style of movie can be superb. Worth tracking down, as long as you find the full, uncut version with all stories.

You KNOW a movie is good when you even stay and watch the end credits. But yeah, this film was made way back in 1945 and it still can creep the heck out of anyone. Make sure you avoid all spoilers for this because there is a little cherry on top that you want to experience with fresh wits about you. I put this film on my must watch list a few years ago after reading an article about the best scary movies of all-time. I recall that stupid article spoiling the end but luckily I forgot about it. So yeah, this review is spoiler free because the only way to watch this film, or the best way to watch this film is going into it knowing absolutely nothing about it.

DEAD OF NIGHT is the first horror anthology film and a well-remembered classic courtesy of Ealing Studios. The first story is a short but sweet tale of precognition and a spooky omen. Although it's a simply-told story, the presence of the ever-cheerful Miles Malleson as the chirpy hearse driver certainly enlivens the segment a lot, while the haunted performance from narrator Antony Baird also keeps things interesting. The best thing about this tale, though, is the subtle chill that ensues after Baird realises that the bus is on its way to doom and backs away; both he and the viewer stare on in horror at the inevitable, a climax which isn't ruined by some rather unconvincing model work.The second story is largely disappointing, and any chills are dissipated by the overacting of the youthful cast. The story is of a Christmas party at an old mansion. While playing hide-and-seek, a girl finds herself in a remote attic bedroom where she befriends a frightened young boy. Later on that evening, she discovers that the boy was murdered by his sister decades ago. The figure she was with turns out to be a ghost. Sadly, the female lead in this story is terrible with her clumsy over-emphasising which makes her performance an embarrassing one. The old-fashioned dialogue and plot points also make this one less than inspiring.Thankfully, the third story returns some credibility to the film, with an interesting tale telling of a man haunted by a possessed mirror which witnessed murder and suicide decades before. The man finds himself becoming possessed by the spirit of the murderer and attempts to kill his wife. This is a clever and disturbing tale, with some good, understated acting from the male lead and an imaginative plot. It was reworked in 1973's FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE with David Warner in a more gruesome fashion.The fourth is an incongruous comedy which is at odds with the rest of the subtlety-filled chills and hauntings. It concerns two rival golfing companions who both fall for the same girl. To decide who gets her, the pair embark on a tournament together, with one of the men winning through cheating. His rival promptly walks into a lake and drowns himself, but the winner finds himself haunted by his companion. Although this episode is mildly amusing, the comedy aspects have dated in the worst way and the whole story is treated as one big 'joke'. See AN American WEREWOLF IN London for a better film about a man being haunted by his dead friend.The fifth and final story is a case of saving the best till last. This classic and well-remembered yarn concerns a ventriloquist who becomes possessed by his own dummy. It turns out that he is actually a schizophrenic who personifies his dummy, Hugo, as an evil, living being and who eventually causes him to attempt murder. Thanks to some fantastic acting from a twitchy Michael Redgrave (plus the narrator, a disbelieving doctor) and a really spooky story, this is classic stuff and inspired at least two full-length movies, DEVIL DOLL and MAGIC. There's just something inherently sinister about a wooden dummy's grinning and this intelligent story exploits that to the full.Subtle and spooky, Dead of Night is an effectively chilling ghost film and a minor classic of the genre. While not explicitly frightening today, most of the episodes still pack a punch and the film is well worth watching for the story lines, the performers, and the circular ending.

A troubled man accepts an invitation to a meeting at an old farmhouse, but when he gets there finds the guests may make his nightmares come true.Interesting anthology that seems familiar and a bit tired. It's certainly heavy on dialogue and some of the stories do drag on, but the framing of feelings versus analysis works well, at least in the first half and in the climax. But a bit lax in the middle.Other reviewers have set out the stories, so I'll just say the haunted mirror is my favourite, and I expected that would be the H G Wells contribution because it uses all its potential. But no - he wrote the daft golfing story.The actors are OK - nobody outstanding (including Redgrave) - and the protagonist has several ucnonvincing dramatic moments. There are a few unnecessary characters in the farmhouse, and I think it would have been more interesting to have the farmhouse actors also play the supporting characters in the stories. Y'know - Wizard Of Oz style.Editing very patchy, with an obvious insert to deliver gravitas to the golfing story. Plus the protagonist's first view of the house, when the car comes to a halt, is so awkward - at the end of the film the same footage is used much better. Music threatened to overwhelm, but thankfully it eased off.Two most impressive moments were the golfing suicide + the scene where the faces press up against the jail bars. The latter is nice and weird and brings the wraparound to a satisfying point, where you think back on everything you've seen. Not perfect, but you get a sense of the conflict of feelings and analysis ending in horror.Overall, interesting but not gripping.