Dead of Night (1977 film)

Last updated
Dead of Night
Genre
  • Horror
  • Mystery
  • Thriller
Written by Richard Matheson
Jack Finney (story by "Second Chance")
Directed by Dan Curtis
Starring Ed Begley Jr.
Ann Doran
Patrick Macnee
Joan Hackett
Elisha Cook Jr.
Music by Robert Cobert
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producer Robert Singer
Cinematography Ric Waite
Editor Dennis Virkler
Running time76 minutes
Production company Dan Curtis Productions
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseMarch 29, 1977 (1977-03-29)

Dead of Night is a 1977 American made-for-television anthology horror film starring Ed Begley Jr., Anjanette Comer, Patrick Macnee, Horst Buchholz and Joan Hackett. Directed by Dan Curtis, the film consists of three stories written by Richard Matheson [1] (although the first segment, "Second Chance", was adapted from a story by Jack Finney [2] ) much like the earlier Trilogy of Terror . The film originally premiered on NBC on March 29, 1977.

Contents

Plot

"Second Chance"

The first segment features Ed Begley Jr. as a man who restores a 1926 roadster and finds himself transported back in time.

Cast

"No Such Thing as a Vampire"

The second segment features Anjanette Comer as a woman who seems to be actively terrorized by a vampire. Patrick Macnee plays her husband who attempts to deal with her terror by engaging the services of a friend, Michael (Horst Buchholz).

Cast

"Bobby"

The third and final segment deals with the grieving feelings of a mother (Joan Hackett) for her drowned son, Bobby (Lee H. Montgomery) and the lengths she will go to see him again. This story, an original script written for Dead of Night, was later remade for the Dan Curtis omnibus movie Trilogy of Terror II with different actors.

Cast

Home video

Dead of Night was released on DVD by Dark Sky Films in 2009. The DVD includes a 1969 TV episode, "A Darkness at Blaisedon" written by Dan Curtis and Sam Hall and directed by Lela Swift, which was the pilot for a Dead of Night television series that was never picked up. [3]

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References

  1. New Triolgy Of Terror On DVD: Dead Of Night!, Paper, January 29, 2009
  2. McKendry, Rebekah (October 20, 2014), 30 for 31: "DEAD OF NIGHT" (1977), Fangoria
  3. Carman, Keith (January 25, 2009), Dead Of Night, Exclaim!