Dead of Night (1945)

[chriskl99]

From the Amazon listing:

This is the uncut and complete UK version of Dead of Night, now newly restored in 4K from original archival materials for the first time in decades.

Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
-Remembering "Dead of Night" - Documentary (75:35)
-Trailers

[BluPat]

Watching my Region B Studio Canal Blu-ray of Dead of Night (1945) for the very first time. Love it so far!

[Banned User]

Great news. I have the SC too and have watched it numerous times. Amazing film.

[Member-222782]

As far as old ghost movies go, what does this compare to best in visual style/setting? I remember being taken in by hype by Criterion's impending release of The Uninvited but I was ultimately somewhat underwhelmed by the film. I guess it takes getting a little used to these older films if you're not well versed in them.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

As far as old ghost movies go, what does this compare to best in visual style/setting? I remember being taken in by hype by Criterion's impending release of The Uninvited but I was ultimately somewhat underwhelmed by the film. I guess it takes getting a little used to these older films if you're not well versed in them.

Its a Anthology. Likely the one that started the trend. A group of people meet at a house and each tell a story. It's a great film and has many great moments. One of my top favorite films. Here's a trailer:

Dead of Night 1945 Trailer - YouTube

Think of it as a few twilight zone ghost stories all framed by a mysterious meeting of these characters. Which is fitting considering some of these tales inspired a few Twilight Zone episodes. The film is a precursor to films like Tales from the Crypt & Creepshow.

For the record The Uninvited is underwhelming. Should of got The Innocents.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Its a Anthology. Likely the one that started the trend. A group of people meet at a house and each tell a story. It's a great film and has many great moments. One of my top favorite films. Here's a trailer:
Dead of Night 1945 Trailer - YouTube

Think of it as a few twilight zone ghost stories all framed by a mysterious meeting of these characters. Which is fitting considering some of these tales inspired a few Twilight Zone episodes. The film is a precursor to films like Tales from the Crypt & Creepshow.

For the record The Uninvited is underwhelming. Should of got The Innocents.

One of my all-time faves as well. I believe this is the first British anthology horror film, and still the best for my money. The framing story has definitely never been bettered. As for THE UNINVITED, I do like it quite a bit, although it's admittedly not as intense as THE INNOCENTS, which is just brutal.

[Member-222782]

The Innocents is another one I "didn't get". I think I need to give it another watch under the proper conditions.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

The Innocents is another one I "didn't get". I think I need to give it another watch under the proper conditions.

The Uninvited is maybe a little underwhelming for modern audiences, however it was the first haunted house movie not to be a comedy. I think The Innocents is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful b&w films ever made though.

Like most anthology films Dead of Night is a bit of a mixed bag. Two segments are classics (the ventriloquist dummy, the haunted mirror), one is good (the children’s party) and the other two are forgettable. The hallucinatory pay-off to the framing story still gives me the creeps, I remember being utterly terrified the first time I saw that. Overall it’s a great movie.

[MJD64]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

The Innocents is another one I "didn't get". I think I need to give it another watch under the proper conditions.

I hope you'll give it another go. I consider THE INNOCENTS to be the most frightening ghost story on film; it's also one of the most literate, beautifully shot and superbly acted.

That scene where Deborah Kerr's Miss Giddens frantically attempts to get the hysterical young Flora to acknowledge what appears to be the figure of the deceased former governess Miss Jessel across a lake is utterly chilling - and just one of many such hair-raising scenes. Such a brilliant film, and Deborah Kerr's performance in particular is one of the greatest in the history of the horror genre.

[Pecker]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Two segments are classics (the ventriloquist dummy, the haunted mirror), one is good (the children’s party) and the other two are forgettable.

"Just room for one inside, sir".

[DVD Phreak]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Like most anthology films Dead of Night is a bit of a mixed bag. Two segments are classics (the ventriloquist dummy, the haunted mirror), one is good (the children’s party) and the other two are forgettable. The hallucinatory pay-off to the framing story still gives me the creeps, I remember being utterly terrified the first time I saw that. Overall it’s a great movie.

The hearse story is very short, so that isn't so bad. The golfing story has the wonderful Wayne and Radford, and it makes me think of threesomes, so it is enjoyable. Elisabeth Welsh as a nightclub singer is very charismatic. In the Christmas story, I love it when the boy says "good night" in a creepy voice. The only thing that irks me in the film is the flashback within a flashback in one of the segments, kind of a no-no in cinema.

I expect the Kino BD to look similar to the UK BD from Studio Canal in 2014. The 75-min making-of is on the old BD too.

[DVD Phreak]

This kind of portmanteau film turned out to be influential in the UK as later studios like Hammer and Amicus went all in for this genre. "Dead of Night" remains the best in the horror genre. But of course, this anthology film-making goes way back to "Intolerance" in 1916. Classic anthology films include "Kwaidan," "Akira Kurosawa's Dreams," Pasolini's "Arabian Nights" and "Canterbury Tales." I recently discovered the films of Polish director Walerian Borowczyk, who made the controversial anthology film "Immoral Tales" (1973) with multiple tales about sex, incest, and masturbation. And then there are portmanteau-esque films like "Pulp Fiction" and South Korea's "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring" (2003). They are "-esque" because they have multiple distinct segments of the same story rather than multiple distinct stories.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by Pecker

"Just room for one inside, sir".

Love that first story, short but creepy, and Miles Malleson is always great.

[PGW]

Originally Posted by Banned User

For the record The Uninvited is underwhelming. Should of got The Innocents.

1. Apples and oranges. "The Uninvited" is 1944. "The Innocents" is 1961. For the 1940's, "The Uninvited" is an exemplary, ground-breaking ghost story - not softening the story with silly comic relief, or some "oh, it wasn't really a ghost after all!" explanation. "The Innocents" is a much darker film that simply couldn't have been made decades earlier. Both are terrific films. Neither is as good as "The Haunting," though.
2. It's "should HAVE got" not "should OF got" - just so you know.

[Roy Batty]

For once, even Kino's usual botched-up gamma couldn't be as graysh, washed-out as the UK release.

[Moleman]

What forum am I on? No one's mentioned the cover art yet???

[Baron Blood]

Originally Posted by Moleman

What forum am I on? No one's mentioned the cover art yet???

OK...I will.
I'm glad they used the original poster Art.

And yes, this is the first Horror Anthology release.
It's a bona-fide Classic

[Daveismyhero]

Just preorder this. Can't wait!

[John Earls Umbrella]

I’m interested in this - the UK release is underwhelming.

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by Baron Blood

OK...I will.
I'm glad they used the original poster Art.

And yes, this is the first Horror Anthology release.
It's a bona-fide Classic

I do love when they use original poster art for covers, however in this case, I think I'm going to use the U.K. cover. It is just so creepy....