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Bookmark this pageDead of Night (1945)
Director: Robert Hamer, Basil Dearden, Charles Crichton, Alberto Cavalcanti
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Nearly 60 years on, Ealing's compendium of spooky tales remains scary as hell. The best of the five stories, which we see enacted as they're related in turn by guests at a country house, are Cavalcanti's 'The Ventriloquist's Dummy', with Redgrave possessed by his deceptively lifeless little partner, and Hamer's 'The Haunted Mirror', with the splendid Withers a reluctant participant as history repeats itself; least frightening, but amusing, are Radford and Wayne as typically obsessive sporting coves in Crichton's 'Golfing Story'. Best of all, however, is the overall narrative arc, with the framing story finally taking a headlong rush into a nightmarish realm almost surreal in its weird clarity and familiarity.Author: GA
User reviews of this film
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- E A Dobson said...
- Posted on Dec 19 2009 14:59 Most highly recommended,with The Haunted Mirror being my personal favourite of the five stories and Golfing Story not really worthy of being included but it still deserves 5 stars.Also highly recommended from Ealing`s dark side are,Kind Hearts and Coronets & Went the Day Well?.
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Cast & crew
Director: Robert Hamer, Basil Dearden, Charles Crichton, Alberto Cavalcanti
Producer: Michael Balcon
Cast: Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Frederick Valk, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Roland Culver full cast
Genre(s): Horror
Rated: PG
Duration: 102 mins
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