Review: Dead of Night (1977)
Directed by: Dan Curis
Starring: Ed Begley Jr., Patrick Macnee, Joan Hackett
Written by: Richard Matheson
Music by: Robert Cobert
Country: United States
Available on: DVD (MPI)
IMDb
This made-for-television horror anthology is the spiritual follow-up to 1975’s Trilogy of Terror, which is best known for a standoff between Karen Black and a tiny but angry fetish doll with sharp-ass teeth. Both films are directed by Dan Curtis with screenplay contributions from horror author Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, A Stir of Echoes, What Dreams May Come). Like the 1975 flick, Dead of Night starts off slowly and subdued, saving its most savory scares for last.
This is a very workmanlike anthology; there’s no wraparound story and, unlike Trilogy of Terror, wherein all the stories starred Ms. Black in a different role, there’s nothing to tie these three segments together. We’ve got Ed Begley, Jr., as a nice man with bouncy hair who loves restoring old cars and finds that once he’s fixed up a 1926 classic, he’s been transported back in time to that year. Then there’s Patrick Macnee as the worried husband of a woman convinced she’s being fed upon every night by a vampire. And finally, Joan Hackett is a distraught mommy who turns to witchcraft — always the best idea — to resurrect her son, who accidentally drowned.
The first segment (“Second Chance”) could never be construed as horror. Although it’s pleasant, it’s more of a flight of fancy out of something like Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories. Begley discovers his time traveling has allowed him to correct a tragedy in his current timeline. It’s just sort of there, not being terrible but also being annoying to sit through because this is supposed to be a horror movie. The second entry (“No Such Thing as a Vampire”) is quite a bit better. The filmmakers do nice work obscuring what’s really going on in a seemingly standard vampire yarn until the very end, which leads to a fun, sardonic twist. The reveal is a little clunky, but it’s a perfectly enjoyable story. The third (“Bobby”) is where Dead of Night earns its (bat) wings. It’s obvious from the premise that shit ain’t right with the eponymous back-from-the-dead kiddo, but child actor Lee H. Montgomery is great as he slowly lets slip why he’s really come back. He’s a super-creeper whose depiction of a killer kid is right there with the most terrifying tots in horror. The final shot, although still shocking, is unfortunately softened by the limitations of television budgets and audience tolerance before the vapors set in.
Dead of Night is inherently tame as a TV film, but it’s got its spooky heart in the right place. The strength of its cast and confidence of its direction and writing are enough to ensure a very gratifying yeoman’s anthology, even if it’s not particularly stylish or memorable.
Overall rating: 7 out of 10
