Things Happen at Night

Wilfred Prescott (Alfred Drayton) and his wife Joyce (Beatrice Campbell) find that their large country estate house is haunted. Pictures are found turned to the wall, a bearskin rug catches fire, and a window is broken. What's worse, their daughter, Audrey (Gwyneth Vaughan) seems possessed sometimes by this female spirit.

With the help of friend Vincent Ebury (Robertson Hare), insurance investigator Joe Harris (Gordon Harker), and self styled ghost buster Spenser (Garry Marsh), Prescott tries to get rid of the poltergeist.

What follows is a night of comedic slap stick spiced with some clever special effects as the ghost raises windows, levitates plates and vases, and generally bamboozles the ghost hunters. Spenser tries to get a photo, Harris uses a bottle of bug spray as a weapon, and Prescott tries shooting it with a shotgun. It's all quite lighthearted and amusing. Can they ever get this spirit out of the house?

Although uncredited and never seen on camera, Patricia Owens provides the laughing voice of the poltergeist.

I just watched Things Happen at Night (1948) on YouTube. The complete movie is available there. I don't know think it's ever been released on DVD. It's a pleasant way to spend an hour or so.

The last and least of the screen comedies made together by Aldwych farce duo Alfred Drayton and Robertson Hare, this is mildly amusing in its quirky way, but should have been funnier. Hare in particular has little material to work with, slightly more humour emerging from Gordon Harker's dry exchanges with Wylie Watson's butler. Francis Searle's direction is pedestrian and the night-time confrontation with the poltergeist clumsily handled though ending in quite satisfying fashion. Searle told Brian McFarlane how Drayton suffered a heart attack in the ballroom scene - missing from some prints - where Harker is being sawed in half, and to complete it had to be brought back from hospital; he can be seen lying on the floor having supposedly fainted. Can't imagine they could get away with this today.

Much better than I anticipated - this one is rather cute. Living in a house that's haunted and the ghost possesses the young girl's mind. All she has to do is to think about him and he does things to haunt the girl's family.

This one is very British, a haunted house and a possessed girl, so you will already know or have a general idea of the type of humor you will see in this film. I love the British humor and comedy horror film so this movie is right up my alleyway.

Don't expect this to be perfect - it's simply a B film done all in fun and it is a fun watch if you enjoy British humor and comedy horror films.

Just one question: Why did they add this film to the Dark Crimes 50-Films Pack? LOL I'm glad to have it but it really does not belong in this pack.

8/10

This film has a wonderful cast of comedy actors but alas in the end they are let down by an uninspired script and some fairly amateurish "Special effects".Despite the fact that Harker,Hare and Drayton are amongst my favourite actors of this era even they fail to cause me to burst out laughing during this rather lame effort.Basically the story is of an attempt to exorcise a poltergeist which is terrorising a family.It of course is very easy to guess where the spirit emanates from.The writers unfortunately seemed to have run out of ideas once they had thought out the basic premise.It can be seen on the new satellite channel in the UK ACTIONMOVIES.Lots more 50s British films on this and MOVIES4MEN if you are interested

My father hated "English" films. This may have been what he was talking about. Starting with a silly premise, having a bunch of hangdog British comedians react to it, over, and over, and over, and you have this dullard. The plot involves a house that is being haunted by a poltergeist. Chunks of hot coal burn holes in things, pots smash to the ground, things tip over or move, the usual. Enter an insurance agent and an expert on paranormal events. Sound like fun? Unfortunately, it's neither exciting or funny; it just becomes endless. The conclusion is grossly unsatisfying and the reason the poltergeist is in the house is never dealt with. The master of the house a silly, ineffectual man. The daughter, who becomes possessed, is equally dull. The wife is beside herself. Don't bother with this one.