It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This 1945 film opens with Architect Walter Craig driving to a house in the English countryside. He immediately feels uneasy; he has never been there before or met any of the people present but states that he has dreamt about them many times before... this recurring dream always ends badly! Of those present only Dr Van Straaten is sceptical and soon each of them tells their own story with spooky elements. In between these stories the evening advances as Craig predicted.One usually associates Ealing Studios with their classic comedies but apart from the 'Golfing Story', told by one of the people in the house, there are few laughs to be had. There may not be gore or the 'nastiness' of more modern horror films but there are a few nicely chilling moments. Of the five stories told I found 'The Haunted Mirror' and 'The Ventriloquist's Dummy' to be the creepiest. The level of scares means this is suitable for most ages although elements may be disturbing for younger viewers. Some elements may seem a little cliché now but that is because later works have been inspired by this; it is original for films of its era. The cast does a fine job bringing the various stories to life; each fitting the tone of the section they feature in. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to anybody wanting gentle chills rather than gore and terror.

Ealing films, the warm and cosy home of lovingly crafted British comedies, branched out into slightly more unnerving territory with this early anthology. At a country house, in an age where, following communal afternoon tea, the local doctor likes to offer round the cigarettes, Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) turns up and recognises the ensemble (none of whom he has ever met) from his recurring dreams.In this world, where everyone speaks in the clipped tones of racing horse commentators, ("I can't leave. This is Mr Craig and I'm a character in his dream." "Oh how do you do? Such fun, charades!") the anecdotal stories everyone tells merely confirm Craig's suspicions. He can see their future: he knows what is going to happen.I cannot knock a 72 year old production for being dated, so I won't. But it is. The extreme politeness and styles are often difficult to get past, even harder to take seriously. To begin with, such chills as there are are very tame and wholesome. The segment featuring the malevolent mirror is where things pick up, giving the impression 'Dead of Night' is unveiling its frights in a measured way. Until the following dreadful golfing farce sequence lets things down. "Totally incredible and decidedly improper," to quote Mrs Foley (Mary Merrall).If you can sit through that segment, the best and most widely remembered is saved till last. Maxwell Frere (Michael Redgrave) is a ventriloquist, performing and popular with packed audiences every night. So when it becomes apparent that the dummy Hugo appears to be the controlling element of the partnership, initially amusing music-hall scenes become genuinely tense. This is partly due to the writing, in which Hugo's comedy jibes to his partner become increasingly spiteful, and Redgrave's performance, in which the showbiz charade slips and he becomes edgy whilst still continuing with the act.The Director for this final segment is Alberto Cavalcanti, who eschews the brightly lit jollity of the other stories and coaxes an intense performance from Redgrave. To say this finale is the best of the bunch is understating things. In its way, it is a masterpiece.In case Walter Craig's plight has been forgotten in all this, the twist ending gives the film's climactic moments a nice sense of closure.

I usually abhor movies that turn out to be dreams because it almost makes watching them a wasted effort, but this one was different. The principal character Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) continually dropped hints that he'd seen and done all of this before, so when it finally comes around to the finale and the nightmare loop he was experiencing, it felt more like the story was bringing all the disparate elements together for one last hurrah. I thought the resolution was cleverly done, and well set up by all that had gone before.In the spirit of deja vu, what surprised me more than anything about the film was how it might have served as inspiration for episodes of my all time favorite TV series, "The Twilight Zone". The sequence with the ventriloquist dummy was very similar to Rod Serling's script for a third season TZ story titled 'The Dummy', right down to the twist ending with Maxwell Frere (Michael Redgrave) trading places with Hugo. The series spun off a similar story in the final season with another entry called "Caesar and Me".Then there's the almost plagiaristic similarity to Grainger's (Anthony Baird) story about a bus crash and the eerie invitation of the bus driver to come on board with "Just room for one inside, Sir". In the second season Twilight Zone episode "Twenty Two", the venue changes from a bus ride to an airline flight, with a stressed out dancer questioning her very sanity, while continually encountering a morgue attendant who utters the words "Room for one more, Honey".Which just goes to prove that in movies and books, everything old is new again with the passage of time and the influence of creative efforts casting their subliminal appeal down through the years. Seeing as how this film came out in 1945, I'd have to conclude that this one might have been a trend setter for much of what came after in a similar vein, certainly in the way of anthology stories connected by a recurring theme. As an added bonus, you've got an actress in the cast with the name of Googie Withers (as Mrs. Joan Cortland). How can you pass up a story with someone in it named Googie?

Dead of Night is just something like a nightmare. Romantic, funny, mysterious and terrifying dream. I think in this film is not the point in watching the future but the premonition and despair. This is one compound of confusing psychological experience, sharing stories by several protagonists, and at the end the main protagonist of all the experiences connected to one fantastic nightmare climax. Witnesses chronologically contain foreboding and vision, love and hallucination, "spicy" section and finally jealous split personality. Attempted murder leads to hilarious dreamy swirl in which intertwine all recounted horrors individually.Michael Redgrave as Maxwell Frere left the deepest impression as mad ventriloquist. All the other actors are episodic protagonists who dominate in their sequences. Group of director and screenwriter made sure that every story has a frightening honest tone.