Dead of Night (1945)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Dead of Night (1945) – A. Cavalcanti, C. Crichton, B. Dearden, & R. Hamer

Classic spooky horror omnibus film from Ealing Studios with contributions from four notable directors from their famed team. Basil Dearden handles the framing story, which is remarkable in its own right, with architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) arriving at Pilgrim’s Farm but feeling a pronounced sense of dejá vu which only increases when he goes inside and sees a small group gathered. Soon, he realises that he is remembering a dream and goes on to prognosticate about events that will soon happen (and, of course, they do). One of the group is a psychiatrist who plays the role of Doubting Thomas throwing cold water on the idea of premonitions. But each of the characters then proceeds to tell a story about their own brush with the supernatural (each story showcased by a different director).  Dearden begins with a short story about a race car driver who receives a warning about his own death (“room for one more inside, sir!”) which allows him to avoid it. Then, with Calvacanti in the director’s chair, young Sally tells of her encounter with a young boy (while playing hide-and-seek) who turns out to be a murdered ghost. Next, Googie Withers stars in Robert Hamer’s tale of a haunted mirror that curses her husband. After this rather harrowing tale, a bit of light relief: Charles Crichton directs Naughton & Wayne (famous for their roles in Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes, 1938) as a pair of golfers who use 18-holes match-play do decide who will win the lady they both adore. The loser commits suicide and becomes a ghost who ineptly haunts his former friend. And then the most famous of tales (by Calvacanti again) features Michael Redgrave as a ventriloquist at odds with his dummy.  This might be the one to give you nightmares, if you are small.  Finally, we return again to the framing story and its haunting conclusion. If you love the sort of uncanny horror that leaves you with a weird suspicion that the world is far stranger than we think, then I highly recommend this masterpiece.