Old School Flix: Dead of Night (1945)

 A Film so good, they made it twice.  Well, kind of.
I'll get to that later.

This is Dead of Night, a 1945 British Horror Film with a dash or two of Comedy sprinkled in. 
For somewhat obvious reasons, Horror Films were discouraged in the UK during WWII.  This was supposedly one of the first ones allowed to be made after the War (there) ended.

The Plot involves a confused man in a familiar situation.  Why does he remember these people he's 'never met?'  Will their Stories clear things up?

To find out, read on...

As an Anthology Film, it has multiple Directors for the Framing Device and separate Stories.

Of note, Mr. Crichton ended his career by Directing 'A Fish Called Wanda.'  Neat.

A man arrives at a Cabin way out in the Woods where he meets a bunch of people.

He seems to know them but doesn't know why.  They don't know him either.

He also speaks vaguely of something dire...

The first tale involves a Young Racecar Driver (this is pre-NASCAR) who nearly dies.
He has a dream/vision of a hearse, and the Driver says that 'There is room for one more.'

The next day, he is about to get on a Bus, but the Driver is the same one he saw and says the line.

He doesn't get on the Bus, and it crashes.

The next tale involves a young lady at a Christmas party.  Topical...ly late!

She plays a form of Hide & Seek, but gets separated after a guy tells her the tale of a kid killed there years before.  Christmas!

She finds a child and puts him to bed...only to find out that he was the Ghost of that kid.

The kid does nothing btw.

In the next Story, a woman gets a mirror as a gift for Husband.
No issue there, right?

Well, it apparently was owned by a man who went crazy and killed his (not really) cheating wife.

It seems to possess the Husband...until she breaks him free.

Another Guest tells a tale that is clearly designed to lighten the mood (both in and out of story)...

A pair of Golfers agree to decide who can romance a woman with a Golf Game.  The winner seems to cheat, so the loser drowns himself in a lake!

Yep, this is the Comedy one.

Said man is now a Ghost who makes his old friend unable to enjoy life.  They settle things, but now the Ghost can't 'disappear.'

In the stress of teaching him how, the living man...disappears...somehow and the Ghost gets the girl.

******

The next Story- and the final one- is the most famous of the Film.

A Ventriloquist has a sardonic dummy that makes him thinks that he'll leave him for another Ventriloquist.

When said man finds the dummy missing and in that guy's room, he shoots him (but not fatally).

The Therapist- who was skeptical the whole tie- tells of how the man eventually smashed the dummy...and then began to speak in his voice.

Back in the Framing Device, the lights go out and the group splits up.

Our Hero kills the Therapist and escapes...into the settings of the previous Stories.

He wakes up and tells his wife about his vivid dream...before the phone rings.

He's invited to help out a man at his Cabin and that's...the guy from the beginning (with the Golf Story)!

Time Loop?  Hell?  White Bear?
Dunno.  

The End.

A good, if dated, Film that has some good Stories to share.  There's certainly no confusing Dead of Night with a modern Horror Film in any way, shape or form.  Is that a bad thing though?

The Film doesn't necessarily feel stodgy or outdated- just of its era.  There's no blood.  There's no guts.  There's really not much that's graphic or anything.  The worst you get is the Mirror Story or the creepiness of the Ventriloquist's Story.

Oddly, for me, the most unsettling thing was the casual nature of how the one guy just walked into the Lake to die and nobody stopped him.  At a certain point, what did you think he was doing?  Why didn't you help him?!?

If you're looking for true Horror, the Stories are mixed bag. 
The first one with the Racecar Driver is ominous, while the Christmas Ghost is harmless. 
The Golf Story- casual and avoidable suicide aside- is intentionally Comedic. 
The Mirror Story has a nice slow burn, just not the payoff you might expect as a modern viewer.
The Ventriloquist Story is the most famous one for a reason.  While there's still no actual death, it is the most Horror of them all.

The wrap-up is intentionally vague, but interesting.  I have to imagine that David Lynch was inspired by it.

Dead of Night is a Classic bit of unique Horror- just know what you're getting into.  Don't be caught off-guard like this little guy, which is a small animal reacting to the Golfer's slow-motion suicide.  No, really.

Next up, I might as well watch the follow-up (in name only) Film next.  Will 30 years change the tone?  Stay tuned...