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.

[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.

[sonny gaunt]

Originally Posted by PGW

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.

I love both of them!

[Vertigo2010]

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.

The movie this compares to the most is "The Halfway House" which came out exactly a year before "Dead of Night" and almost serves as a thematic prequel in that it covers similar ground and features many of the same cast and crew members.

It makes for an excellent companion to the latter film and is a perfect Double Bill option for a Sunday afternoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Halfway_House

[Baron Blood]

Originally Posted by Vertigo2010

The movie this compares to the most is "The Halfway House" which came out exactly a year before "Dead of Night" and almost serves as a thematic prequel in that it covers similar ground and features many of the same cast and crew members.

It makes for an excellent companion to the latter film and is a perfect Double Bill option for a Sunday afternoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Halfway_House

Well, IMO it would be a stretch to call Halfway House a Horror film.
But yes it kinda serves as a template.
I have the UK release and it has yet to make any kind of positive impression on me.
Queen Of Spades is a bit better IMO

I'm not a big fan of The Uninvited myself despite having a few great moments.

I would say anyone interested in stuff like The Night Gallery should enjoy at least a couple of the stories in Dead Of Night.

[Vertigo2010]

Originally Posted by Baron Blood

Well, IMO it would be a stretch to call Halfway House a Horror film.

I never mentioned the word 'horror' once in my post. I was answering the question "As far as old ghost movies go, what does this compare to best in visual style/setting?", of which, naturally The Halfway House couldn't get any closer.

[Baron Blood]

Originally Posted by Vertigo2010

I never mentioned the word 'horror' once in my post. I was answering the question "As far as old ghost movies go, what does this compare to best in visual style/setting?", of which, naturally The Halfway House couldn't get any closer.

The movies discussed so far fall into the Horror genre so I was just being clear to you or anyone who doesn't know this film.
But fine... I couldn't care less.

[BPW2016]

Originally Posted by Vertigo2010

The movie this compares to the most is "The Halfway House" which came out exactly a year before "Dead of Night" and almost serves as a thematic prequel in that it covers similar ground and features many of the same cast and crew members.

It makes for an excellent companion to the latter film and is a perfect Double Bill option for a Sunday afternoon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Halfway_House

This and the subsequent comments certainly make interesting reading. The documentary from the UK release was, I believe, ported over for the Kino disc. It actually covers this area in detail, including citing The Halfway House as the progenitor of Dead of Night and discussing the misinterpretation (or otherwise) of the latter's key genre denotation.

I will keep my personal viewpoint to myself, save to say that it may serve well if one fully understands the definition of the word 'horror' and its distinction from 'terror' and similar terms as the two are all too often conflated.

[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.

[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".

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by Pecker

"Just room for one inside, sir".

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

[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.

[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.