From the Dead of Night (1989) (TV)

Director:

Paul Wendkos

Writers (WGA):

Gary Brandner (novel)
William Bleich (teleplay)

Release Date:

27 February 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

After having a near death experience Joanna finds her life in constant danger. She begins to believe...

Plot Keywords:

Supernatural | Near Death Experience | Based On Novel

Cast

Lindsay Wagner	...	Joanna
Bruce Boxleitner	...	Peter Langford
Robin Thomas	...	Glen Eastman
Robert Prosky	...	Doctor Walter Hovde
Merritt Butrick	...	Rick
Peter Jason
Joanne Linville	...	Dr. Ann Morgan
Dani Minnick
Rita Zohar	...	Elena
Diahann Carroll	...	Maggie
Jeanne Bates	...	Nurse
John H. Evans	...	Patrolman (as John Henry Evans)
Timothy Fall	...	Kevin
Richard Fancy	...	Dr. Breedlove
Sheldon Feldner	...	Gus

Runtime:

192 min | Germany:115 min | Brazil:125 min (video version) | USA:102 min (VHS version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Company:

Shadowplay Films

One for Lindsay fans only..

Seems to me that a lot of the posts for this movie are from Lindsay Wagner fans and TV watchers. I'm neither of those and am putting forward my point of view as a horror/SF fan - perhaps providing a little bit of balance to the comments here that seem to consist of 'this is really scary' and 'Lindsay we love you.'

I watched this movie hoping for some chills and it certainly delivered...eventually. There's lots of good things on offer including some very tense scenes, reasonable acting and good direction (check out the scene where Joanna is in the lift and feeling claustrophobic - excellent stuff.) It's not a classic by any stretch of the imagination but it passed the time and had a few good frights.

On the negative side, at times it's painfully slow. Some scenes are shown more than once - for example we get a long panning shot of a a woman reading tarot cards, then later in the film we get the same shot again. This is probably because the original TV movie was shown in two parts, so the audience wouldn't have noticed and it might help them to recap the plot. I did notice and was tempted to hit fast-forward more than once.

As for the plot, despite what some others have said, it has little originality. If you've seen 'flatliners' (admittedly released one year later) you'll notice similarities immediately.

Much of the spookiness is engineered using cliched stuff such as skulls, candles and the ever reliable tarot cards. I almost jumped out of my seat with shock when the woman did a tarot reading and turned over the......*gulp*....'death' card. Scary stuff.

It's obvious from the start who Joanna is going to fall in love with (If he's good enough for Delenn he's good enough for anyone!) and the ending is unsurprising and actually a bit of an anticlimax. It's on the lines of 'oh look - if we just do this everything will be alright in the morning..'

To sum up, I got this DVD for about four pounds in the UK and don't think it was worth the money. It's exactly what is says on the tin - a TV movie with everything you'd expect from one. Watch it if it comes on cable, borrow it from a friend if you must but don't buy it, unless you're a big fan of Lindsay Wagner.