Dead of Night (1945)
Directed by 4 different directors
Dead of Night is absolutely one of the best horror anthology ever made. When an architect--Walter Craig, shows up on an assignment at a country house full of people, he's disturbed to find that practically he never met them before but remembers from a recurring nightmare. A psychiatrist among them tries to convince him that his fears are unfounded, while the remaining guests proceed to share their own spooky stories one after another, followed by an amazing surreal conclusion.
All five stories are effective in their own way, but two stand above the others...
The Haunted Mirror and The Ventriloquist & his Dummy! The guy who played the role of disturbed Ventriloquist did a brilliant job, to some extent I think he was as great as Anthony Perkins was in
Psycho (1960).
Still today what really elevates
Dead of Night from any other anthology pieces is the framing story, which not only ties all the individual tales together, but also succeeds in trumping all of them in originality and surely it left a definite influential effect on the genre. The movie that starts with one of its character's confession about his bizarre repeating nightmare finally ends up becoming the viewer's own nightmare. The surprising twist at the end that goes a long way after the screen fades off, and makes it a must-see for fans of classic horror films.
>>: A-
I'm not sure whether there is any remake already made or not but if there will ever one I think William Macy can do a fairly decent adaptation of the role of the main character Walter Craig. But is there anyone can do the ventriloquist like that actor of the original? I don't think so...therefore the remake may eventually lead to another disaster like
Psycho.