Dead of Night (1945) - Lisa's Review

Dead of night takes us back to 1945.  It is an anthology horror, which is a genre I love.  This can also be referred to as a portmanteau horror (something I only learnttonight!).  Everything is exaggerated and dramatic as movies of this era tend to be, but it has a real charm and intrinsic Englishness to it.   I found it much easier to watch the movie having the stories broken up.

The stories are told by way of a group of people in a mansion (it's always a mansion, isn't it...?).  Walter Craig, an architect, arrives at the house to see a potential client.  When he enters the room full of the family who lives there and their guests, he becomes visibly shaken.  He explains that although he hasn't been to the area before, nor has he met anyone in the room, he recognises everyone.  This is because he has had repeated, vivid dreams about them.  He is very unsettled as he knows something horrid is going to happen to someone there, but he can't remember the details.   The guests go on to tell tales of varying degrees of wierdness they had heard of or had experienced.  Stories with no apparent explanation.   There are 5 in total.

I won't go into any detail about the stories, as it is honestly one of those movies best watched with no information.  That's how I watched it and have to say, I'm glad I had no prior knowledge.  One of the stories is about a ventriloquists dummy and is reported as being the most creepy and just being overall better in quality than the others.  I don't know...  maybe dummies just don't make me feel unsettled like some, but I didn't see the reason for its apparent superiority.  Coincidentally there is a story-line in 'American Horror Story'  (Season 4) at the moment, which is pretty similar to this.

Overall, this is a good movie and one I would imagine most people would enjoy if they gave it a chance.  That's why these movie reviews are good for me.  They have forced me to watch older movies, that I otherwise would never have entertained, purely as my previous experience was abysmal previouslly.   I have watched quite a few little gems since I started these reviews.

Summing up 'Dead of Night' - the acting is hammy in places and everything tends to be magnified, but that is just quintessentially 1940's.  So, as you can image my recommendation for this movie is positive.  Go out and watch it.  Nice little movie.