Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Dead of Night (1945)


Before films like "Tales from the Crypt", there was "Dead of Night".  "Dead of Night" is a film compiled of several horror stories.  A group of people are gathered at a house and they all tell the group of an experience they had with the supernatural. 

At first the film was a bit slow.  The horror stories involving ghosts and a possessed mirror were good, but very predictable.  The final story, about a ventriloquist dummy, was the best.  It was shot very well and it was very creepy.  The best thing about the film is the way that all the stories come together at the end.  It was shot in a very unique way and it was incredibly eerie.  The scariest part is when the ventriloquist dummy comes to life, gets up from his chair, walks over, and strangles the main character.  SPOOKY!

The audio is a huge problem with the movie.  It seems that all of the audio was done in ADR and it was in poor quality.  I assume they did this because of a low budget.  

"Dead of Night" overall is an average horror film with a couple very good sequences.  Still I think it is worth watching for a fun time.  An audience today could most likely guess the way stories end, but it is still fun to see the route the director takes to get you there.

B-  I recommend it.

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