Título original Dead of night
Año 1945
País Reino Unido
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer
Guion: John V. Baines, Angus McPhail (Historias: E. F. Benson, H. G. Wells, Angus MacPhail, John Baines)
Música: Georges Auric
Género: Terror
Sinopsis: En un caserón inglés se reúne un grupo de personas que empiezan a contar historias de misterio: la de un conductor de autobús que parece anunciar la muerte, la de un fantasma infantil que mora en una mansión, la de dos amigos enfrentados por una mujer incluso después de la muerte, la de un espejo maldito, la de un muñeco de ventrílocuo que controla a su propietario.
Dead of Night is a 1945 British anthology horror film (a gothic or horror anthology) made by Ealing Studios; the individual stories were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes and Michael Redgrave. The film is probably best-remembered for the ventriloquist's dummy episode with Redgrave.
Dead of Night stands out from British film of the 1940s, when few horror films were being produced in the country (horror films had been banned from production in Britain during the war), and it had an influence on subsequent British films in the genre. Both of the segments by John Baines were recycled for later films, and the possessed ventriloquist dummy episode was adapted as the audition episode of the long-running CBS radio series Escape.
Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) has been invited by Elliot Foley (Roland Culver) to his country home in Kent to consult on some renovations. Upon arrival at the cottage, he reveals to Foley and his assembled guests that despite never having met any of them, he has seen them all in a recurring dream.
He appears to have no prior personal knowledge of them but he is able to predict spontaneous events in the house before they unfold. Craig partially recalls with some dismay that something awful will later occur, and becomes increasingly disturbed.
The other guests attempt to test Craig's foresight and set him at ease, while entertaining each other with various tales of uncanny or supernatural events that they experienced or were told about.
These include a racing car driver's premonition of a fatal bus crash; a ghostly encounter during a children's Christmas party (a tale cut from the initial USA release); a haunted antique mirror; a light-hearted tale of two obsessed golfers, one of whom becomes haunted by the other's ghost (another cut from the initial USA release); and the story of an unbalanced ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave) who believes his amoral dummy is truly alive.
The framing story is then capped by a twist ending in which Craig murders one of the guests, then escapes into a feverish montage of scenes and characters from the house guests' tales. At the climax, the dummy Hugo is strangling him when Craig suddenly wakes up at home from the nightmare to the sound of a phone ringing.
The phone call is from Elliot Foley, inviting him to his country home to consult on some renovations. As the end credits roll, Craig is again driving up to Foley's cottage, exactly as in the film's opening.
Año 1945
País Reino Unido
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer
Guion: John V. Baines, Angus McPhail (Historias: E. F. Benson, H. G. Wells, Angus MacPhail, John Baines)
Música: Georges Auric
Género: Terror
Sinopsis: En un caserón inglés se reúne un grupo de personas que empiezan a contar historias de misterio: la de un conductor de autobús que parece anunciar la muerte, la de un fantasma infantil que mora en una mansión, la de dos amigos enfrentados por una mujer incluso después de la muerte, la de un espejo maldito, la de un muñeco de ventrílocuo que controla a su propietario.
Dead of Night is a 1945 British anthology horror film (a gothic or horror anthology) made by Ealing Studios; the individual stories were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes and Michael Redgrave. The film is probably best-remembered for the ventriloquist's dummy episode with Redgrave.
Dead of Night stands out from British film of the 1940s, when few horror films were being produced in the country (horror films had been banned from production in Britain during the war), and it had an influence on subsequent British films in the genre. Both of the segments by John Baines were recycled for later films, and the possessed ventriloquist dummy episode was adapted as the audition episode of the long-running CBS radio series Escape.
Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) has been invited by Elliot Foley (Roland Culver) to his country home in Kent to consult on some renovations. Upon arrival at the cottage, he reveals to Foley and his assembled guests that despite never having met any of them, he has seen them all in a recurring dream.
He appears to have no prior personal knowledge of them but he is able to predict spontaneous events in the house before they unfold. Craig partially recalls with some dismay that something awful will later occur, and becomes increasingly disturbed.
The other guests attempt to test Craig's foresight and set him at ease, while entertaining each other with various tales of uncanny or supernatural events that they experienced or were told about.
These include a racing car driver's premonition of a fatal bus crash; a ghostly encounter during a children's Christmas party (a tale cut from the initial USA release); a haunted antique mirror; a light-hearted tale of two obsessed golfers, one of whom becomes haunted by the other's ghost (another cut from the initial USA release); and the story of an unbalanced ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave) who believes his amoral dummy is truly alive.
The framing story is then capped by a twist ending in which Craig murders one of the guests, then escapes into a feverish montage of scenes and characters from the house guests' tales. At the climax, the dummy Hugo is strangling him when Craig suddenly wakes up at home from the nightmare to the sound of a phone ringing.
The phone call is from Elliot Foley, inviting him to his country home to consult on some renovations. As the end credits roll, Craig is again driving up to Foley's cottage, exactly as in the film's opening.
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