Dan Curtis' Dead of Night (1977) Comes to DVD

[David]

 

Just announced at the Classic Horror Film Board:
Dark Sky Films, MPI's horror film label, will release Dan Curtis' 1977 anthology film Dead of Night to DVD in Jan 2009.

Now if we could just get A Darkness at Blaisdon!!!

David

PS should DS have been under the Dark Sky label?

[Gothick]

It would be nice if Blaisedon would be included as an extra on one of the DVDs.  It doesn't seem to warrant a stand-alone release, although it is a fun snippet and I've watched it several times over the years.

G.

[retzev]

PS should DS have been under the Dark Sky label?

I don't think Dark Sky was around when MPI started releasing the DVDs.

[borgosi]

Great news! www.dvddrive-in.com reports the "A Darkness At Blaisedon" will be included on this DVD as an extra! This should be my first DVD of 2009.

[Gothick]

That's fantastic news Borgosi!  Thanks for sharing.

G.

[Taeylor Collins]

I was wondering why A Darkness At Blaisedon wasn't filmed?  Was it standard to tape hour dramas from that time peroid on video tape?

[joe integlia]

this was a pilot for a proposed nightime series. videotape was mostly used for daytime soaps, variety shows and talk shows. it is a bit strange that it was not filmed but i think all of dan curtis productions were shot on video untill he made House Of Dark Shadows.

[Taeylor Collins]

Thanks Joe!  I knew it was a pilot, however, I always wondered why it was on flat videotape for a NIGHTIME show.  I guess we all know DC was cheap!! LOL     Until we got HODS which I watched for Halloween curtiousy of my friend BORGOSI!

[jimbo]

Dead of Night DVD premiere article

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=8634

[Gothick]

Thanks for this, Jimbo.

An OT plug for the recent DVD release of the 1964 Hammer feature The Gorgon (Peter Cushing, Barbara Shelley, Christopher Lee) which has a real DS atmosphere to it, including a love affair in the shadow of Gothic horror and a score that may have inspired some of Robert Cobert's work.

The Gorgon is part of a 4 movie set which bears a title something along the lines of "Hammer Icons of Horror."  The other films in the set include The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, Scream of Fear (which again has an atmosphere reminiscent of the original 1966 storyline on DS), and The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb which is just a bit of trivial, silly fun.

Best,

G.

[Gerard]

I've never had the chance to see Dead of Night.  Was the one story in it, entitled Bobby, remade for the Trilogy of Terror II movie?  The plot sounds very familiar.

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I would get this even without the DC connection because I love the late Joan Hackett's work. She was someone who passed away way before her time...

[Brian]

Was the one story in it, entitled Bobby, remade for the Trilogy of Terror II movie?

Yes, and it was almost a scene-for-scene remake, with the same Cobert score.  But I think the first with Joan Hackett was much better!

Brian

[Mysterious Benefactor]

and it was almost a scene-for-scene remake

DC doing a scene-for-scene remake of his own previous work? No, that can't be possible! ... Yeah, right!   

[Gothick]

Joan Hackett was one of those who died way too young.  I remember her incredible bravura performance in Bobby even though it's been something like 35 years since my one viewing of the story.

DC in some ways really was a throwback to the old days of the big studio directors. Carbon copying entire sequences in remakes seems so Old Hollywood. Of course van Sant did the same thing in his Psycho retread.

G.