DEAD OF NIGHT
US, 1977, 75 minutes, Colour.
Joan Hackett, Ed Begley Jr, Anjanette Comer, Patrick Mac Nee, Elisha Cook.
Directed by Dan Curtis.
Dead of Night resembles the original British film of the same title which was a compendium of horror stories. This small group of stories, filmed in the mid-'70s, has a tale of mystery, of terror, of horror. They are all from the pen of Richard Matheson, veteran writer of such stories ranging from Roger Corman's adaptations of Poe to adaptations of the classic British horror stories like Dracula and Dr. Jekyll for director Dan Curtis.
The films range from time travel to a non-vampire thriller and to a ghost story. They are quite effective of their kind.
Second Chance: This is a story of time travel starring Ed Begley Jnr. It shows a car lover and his driving back 50 years. By chance he holds up somebody who takes his car. On return to the '70s, he discovers that he held up, and saved from death, the grandfather of the girl that he wants to marry. The grandfather also has the car and commissions him to clean it up and use it as he wishes. The film is a mild and pleasant time travel story with a few suspenseful touches.
There Is No Such Thing As A Vampire: This is an entertaining and very brief short story. Anjanette Comer is suffering from fear that she would be destroyed by a vampire. Her professor husband, Patrick Mac Nee, is most solicitous for her. He invites a young friend, Michael, played by Horst Buchholtz, to visit and tells him of the horrible story and the precautions that he has taken against the vampire, including garlic everywhere. The professor poisons Michael, takes some blood from his wife's neck and smears it on Michael and then puts him in a coffin in the attic. In the uproar in the morning, he persuades his servant, played by Elisha Cook, to transfix the vampire thus murdering his wife's lover. Effective of its kind.
Bobby: This is a ghost story where distraught Joan Hackett tries to conjure up the spirit of her drowned son. He arrives at the door, there are gentle sequences, he then starts to play games and it is soon revealed that he hated his mother. He terrorises her in rooms, in cars, with a knife. She shoots him but he returns and pushes her down the stairs and finally as a demon, kills her. A quite exciting short horror tale.
