Dead of Night (1945)

Dead of Night (1945) (Blu-Ray) (*)

$28.99

Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Dolby Linear PCM )
English ( Mono )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( Blu-Ray/Region B )

Running Time:
104 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Featurette
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access
Black & White
Remastered

Movie filmed in 1945 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Alberto Cavalcanti

Written By:
H.G. Wells
E.F. Benson

Actors:
Mervyn Johns ..... Walter Craig
Roland Culver ..... Eliot Foley
Mary Merrall ..... Mrs Foley
Googie Withers ..... Joan Cortland
Frederick Valk ..... Dr. Van Straaten
Anthony Baird ..... Hugh Grainger (as Antony Baird)
Sally Ann Howes ..... Sally O'Hara
Robert Wyndham ..... Dr. Albury
Judy Kelly ..... Joyce Grainger
Miles Malleson ..... Hearse Driver
Michael Allan ..... Jimmy Watson
Barbara Leake ..... Mrs O'Hara
Ralph Michael ..... Peter Cortland
Esme Percy ..... Antiques Dealer (as Esmé Percy)
Basil Radford ..... George Parratt
Michael Redgrave ..... Maxwell Frere

Synopsis:

Considered the greatest horror anthology film, the classic British chiller Dead of Night features five stories of supernatural terror from four different directors, yet it ultimately feels like a unified whole. The framing device is simple but unsettling, as a group of strangers find themselves inexplicably gathered at an isolated country estate, uncertain why they have come. The topic of conversation soon turns to the world of dreams and nightmares, and each guest shares a frightening event from his/her own past. Many of these tales have become famous, including Basil Dearden's opening vignette about a ghostly driver with 'room for one more' in the back of his hearse. Equally eerie are Robert Hamer's look at a haunted antique mirror that gradually begins to possess its owner's soul, and Alberto Cavalcanti's ghost story about a mysterious young girl during a Christmas party. Legendary Ealing comedy director Charles Crichton lightens the mood with an amusing interlude about the spirit of a deceased golfer haunting his former partner, leaving viewers vulnerable to Cavalcanti's superb and much-imitated closing segment, about a ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave) slowly driven mad when his dummy appears to come to life. Deservedly acclaimed and highly influential, Dead of Night's episodic structure inspired an entire genre of lesser imitators.

Walter Craig, an architect, is summoned down to a house called Pilgrim's Farm by a prospective client whom he does not know. On arrival he experiences strongly the feeling that he has been to the place before. He is taken into the house and introduced by his host to a group of people. These also are familiar, though none of them appear to know him. After somewhat constrained greetings he tells them that he has met them all, and the house, and the situation, is a recurring dream. He explains how this dream always starts quietly and pleasantly - at the present moment - but after a certain small incident invariably begins to darken into ghastly nightmare, culminating in horror - a horror of his own creation - from which he wakes up sweating with fear. He never remembers his dream for more than a few moments after waking, until the next time it occurs. He then describes the incident which will mark the turning point of his dream - the breaking of a pair of glasses belonging to one of the party, a psychiatrist. Increasingly fascinated, the party one by one reveal that each has at some time undergone an 'inexplicable' experience. The narration of these make up the body of the film.

Architect Walter Craig, seeking the possibility of some work at a country farmhouse, soon finds himself once again stuck in his recurring nightmare. Dreading the end of the dream that he knows is coming, he must first listen to all the assembled guests' own bizarre tales.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 01 August, 2014.

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