Dundead: Dead of Night (80th Anniversary)

There is something about anthology films that make them feel particularly suited to this time of year. Perhaps they appeal to a deep-seated story-telling tradition, a sense of gathering round the fire, swapping ghostly tales to guard against the cold and the dark. So, gather round in DCA Cinema to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Dead of Night and its selection of chilling tales. 

Ealing Studios, a UK film institution best known for satirical post-war comedies like Whiskey Galore, Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Ladykillers, were (perhaps unexpectedly) responsible for this classic chiller. 

The film features five disparate stories within the framing narrative of architect Walter Craig (played by Mervyn Johns) arriving at a country home to advise on some renovations. Once he arrives, the other guests entertain each other with stories of the frightening and the unexpected. The film employed four different directors across its various stories, including Charles Crichton (who would go on to direct The Lavender Hill Mob for Ealing, and later, A Fish Called Wanda) and Basil Dearden (who later directed the Dirk Bogarde film Victim). 

While all of the film’s various sections are entertaining, perhaps the most famous is a segment starring Michael Redgrave as a ventriloquist whose doll may have malevolent motives of his own. While, like many horror films throughout history, Dead of Night arguably doesn’t have the most nuanced take on mental illness, and terms like ‘insane’ are used derogatively and liberally, it is representative of an interesting and entertaining moment in film history, and still possesses the ability to chill today.