Dead of Night (1977 film) explained

Director:Dan Curtis
Producer:Robert Singer
Based On: "Second Chance"
Starring:Ed Begley Jr.
Ann Doran
Patrick Macnee
Joan Hackett
Elisha Cook Jr.
Music:Robert Cobert
Cinematography:Ric Waite
Editor:Dennis Virkler
Company:Dan Curtis Productions
Network:NBC
Runtime:76 minutes
Country:United States
Language:English

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 (although the first segment, "Second Chance", was adapted from a story by Jack Finney) much like the earlier Trilogy of Terror. The film originally premiered on NBC on March 29, 1977.

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.