On July 9 Kino Lorber studio Classics is releasing the classic British horror anthology DEAD OF NIGHT.
Released in the fall of 1945, it was the first British horror film produced since 1936 when the BBFC began to actively discourage the production of horror film much as its U.S. counterpart the PCA had been doing. Produced by Ealing Studios it consists of five tales of the supernatural and a framing device and can be looked upon as a predecessor to the string of horror anthologies produced by Amicus during the 1960's and 70's. Two of the three segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti along with Charles Crichton (who would direct A FISH CALLED WANDA), Robert Hammer and Basil Deardon (who also directed the wrap-around segments).
Like most anthologies some stories work better than others with the comedic ghost story featuring a pair of golfers being the outlier here. DEAD OF NIGHT does have a couple of corkers including one concerning a haunted mirror and the justifiably famous one with Michael Redgrave and a malevolent ventriloquist dummy. The original U.S. release had two the segments cut including the golfing and a Christmas themed one which brought the run time down to 77 min., but this release will contain the full 110 min. version.
Kino's release will be based on 4K restoration released by Studiocanal in the UK (I own this disc and it's a beauty) and the Kino disc will feature a commentary by Tim Lucas and an excellent 75 min. documentary carried over from the Studiocanal release.
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