Mit der Nacht kommt der Tod

Dead of Night is one of those legendary TV anthologies that tends to haunt the memory of anyone who saw it when they were young and impressionable, but like Trilogy of Terror, that 'other' fondly remembered anthology from director Dan Curtis and writer Richard Matheson, it's just one story out of the three that really warrants the attention.

The first story, 'Second Chance', is a rather charming time-twister of a tale which sees Ed Begley Jr. taking a trip into the past in his restored classic car and inadvertently saving the life of its original owner. It's well told and well acted, and contains a clever Twilight Zone-style twist at the end (not at all surprising since Matheson penned many an episode for Rod Serling's classic series) but this fantasy is just a little too gentle to sit comfortably as part of this collection.

Tale two, 'No Such Thing As A Vampire', has Patrick Macnee playing a jealous professor who exploits local superstition about vampires to do away with his wife's lover. Too far fetched to take seriously and a tad predictable, this is the least memorable tale of the trio.

As was the case with Trilogy of Terror's unforgettable Zuni Fetish Doll, the best is saved for last: 'Bobby' is a well crafted and genuinely scary occult story that stars Joan Hackett as a distraught mother who resorts to black magic to try and bring back her late son Bobby from the dead. Of course, meddling with dark forces is never a good idea and Bobby's mum learns a little too late that she should be careful what she wishes for. Atmospheric and very eerie, with a really creepy turn by Lee Montgomery as Bobby and a killer of a finalé, this is best watched alone in the dark on a stormy night for maximum effect.

Dan Curtis gives us another effective film, told in a trio of stories.

First has Ed Begley Jr. as a young man whose love of a car sends him on an intriguing time-travel excursion that, while not original, is at least satisfying.

Second has Patrick Macnee in a period piece as a husband worried over his fear that his wife is the victim of a vampire. Film has a clever twist that you may not see coming...

Third tale called 'Bobby' is by far the best, reminiscent of "Trilogy Of Terror" in how it tells the scary tale of a guilt-ridden mother who turns to the supernatural to resurrect her drowned son, a decision she comes to regret horribly...tense and effective, with a hair-raising final scene that will not be soon forgotten, after seen...

Horror anthologies have been a staple since the Silent days; ironically, this particular one shares its name with perhaps the most celebrated example in movie history – the 1945 Ealing film (another fine movie so entitled is Bob Clark's 1974 cult zombie flick actually better-known as DEATHDREAM!). Anyway, director Curtis had already tried his hand at the form with the popular TRILOGY OF TERROR (1975; TV), which had intended showcasing the versatility of its star i.e. Karen Black. Though some bemoaned the fact that here only the last segment was really scary, the very opening narration states that we would be seeing a tale of Mystery, another of Imagination and, well, just one of outright Terror! Incidentally, all three were scripted by genre expert Richard Matheson, with the second episode adapted from one of his own stories, the third an original and the first inspired by the writings of Jack (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) Finney.

"Second Chance": this actually has the feel of a "Twilight Zone" with car fanatic Ed Begley Jr. buying a scrap of metal (the remnant of an automobile-against-train accident from 50 years before) who restores the vehicle to its original state. When he tries it out on the road, he begins to unaccountably pass by a number of similarly-vintage cars and soon realizes that he has been caught in a time warp and effectively gone back to the mid-1920s! Emerging from the car to check out his surroundings, it is stolen shortly thereafter, even if he does try to stop the thief's flight (though pedestrians he meets assure him that that reckless driver did in fact own a car like it). He goes to sleep by the porch of some house and finds himself once again in his own time, later meeting a girl from school he was sure he had never seen before; when she introduces him to her family, he is surprised to learn that not only is the girl's grandfather a car aficionado as well but he actually still owns one from his youth…and it turns out to be the very same vehicle he himself restored, so that, by way of the three-second delay that it took him to intervene, the accident that claimed the life of the man and his female companion was miraculously averted!

"No Such Thing As A Vampire": this is more typical fare (down to the classical Transylvanian setting), but it still provides a sting in the tail – Patrick Macnee is a doctor whose wife (Anjanette Comer) seems to have fallen victim to a bloodsucker. The townsfolk are naturally terrorized, but the protagonist's butler actually happens to be a vampire hunter (played by Elisha Cook Jr.!). Still, the attacks persist and Macnee sends for his friend (Horst Buchholz) – the former gives him a lowdown of the recent events whilst sipping tea, but the guest begins to feel drowsy and loses consciousness after a while. It transpires that Buchholz was having an affair with the doctor's spouse, and the latter took advantage of local superstition to exact his revenge – indeed, he puts Buchholz in a coffin in the attic and smears his lips with a trickle of blood extracted from Comer…and then, to complete the illusion, rouses Cook to locate and destroy the vampire via the traditional stake-in-the-heart!

"Bobby": like the famous Zuni Doll segment from TRILOGY OF TERROR, the best episode is left for last – interestingly, this draws both from it (a woman is terrorized in her remotely-located home by a strange presence) and from the afore-mentioned DEATHDREAM (a mother resorts to the occult to have her dead son restored to life). In fact, we first find Joan Hackett chalking a large symbolic circle on the floor by which to invoke the Forces of Darkness. In the meantime, she has spoken to her husband on the phone about how she is coping with their son's tragic demise in a drowning accident. Eventually, the boy does turn up knocking on the front door and complaining of the extreme cold (apparently, his body was never retrieved). His mother takes him inside and purports to treat her kid to his favorite food, but he suddenly turns hostile and knocks the plate off the table! His aggressive behavior continues to escalate and he even denounces the woman for her possessiveness – the boy demands that she play a game of hide-and-seek with him which grows more and more threatening, as he attacks her with a knife and even breaks the windshield of her car when, terrorized, she takes shelter inside it. She decides to call her husband for help but the man's voice is listless until she realizes that the wires have been cut and that the boy is on the other line himself! In the end, the kid throws his mother down the stairs and confesses to not wanting to come back because he hates her…and, in fact, he sent a demon in his place (with the child's countenance now acquiring terrifying features)!

There is no doubt that the last section is the most effective here but the ones that preceded it, providing nostalgia and inventiveness in equal measures, make for more than adequate (and thankfully varied) build-up.

I saw this movie when it originally aired in 1977. I was only a little intrigued with the first two stories, but it was the third, "Bobby," that gave me nightmares for years. Joan Hackett is excellent (as usual) as Bobby's mother, and Lee Montgomery is equally good as a boy who goes from sweet victim to hellish tormenter. When I saw it again in '82, I was older of course and more cynical, but I found the ending just as frightening as it was the first time I watched it. Damn scary for a T.V. movie, and worth watching when Halloween rolls around!

If you enjoy Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, this fine made-for-TV anthology will be right up your alley. It consists of three stories that each hit a different spot on the TZ spectrum, all with screenplays by horror/fantasy veteran Richard Matheson.

1. Second Chance. Ed Begley, Jr. plays a student who rebuilds an old car, which takes him back in time with unexpected results. This is one of those gentle, "what if" episodes that TZ did so well. Don't expect any scares. The original story is by Jack Finney, who wrote two memorable novels on the subject of time travel, and also the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

2. No Such Thing as a Vampire features a post-Steed Patrick Macnee as a doctor whose wife is suffering from the symptoms of vampire attacks. This has some scary moments and a very clever ending that would have felt at home on TZ or Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

3. Bobby is the story of a woman who can't cope with the loss of her young son, so she does everything in her power - including occult power - to bring him back. As anyone knows, you always get more than you bargain for when you make deals with the devil! This segment has a stalking terror element that may remind you of Matheson's "devil doll" segment in the earlier "Trilogy of Terror."

Of course, there are goofs, and 70s production values (day-for-night photography, etc.). Also awful 70s shag carpets and very obvious stunt doubles. But it's still loads of fun to watch and holds up well. The DVD has loads of extras, including 36 music cues by Dark Shadows composer Robert Cobert, deleted scenes, and a complete, 50-minute pilot called "Dead of Night" that Dan Curtis pitched to ABC back in 1969. You can also Dan Curtis doing a pretty decent Rod Serling impression in his guide track for the opening narrator.