Dead of Night (1988)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

Director:

Deryn Warren

Writer:

Jerry Daly (writer)

Release Date:

1 February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

An abused woman conjures up a spirit to take revenge on the men who have misused her. |

Plot Keywords:

Witchcraft | Independent Film

Cast

Julie Merrill	...	Sara / Sura
Janet Graham	...	April (as Kuri Browne)
John Reno	...	Bobby
Richard Fast	...	Richard (as J.K. Dumont)
Isaac Allan	...	David
Aarin Teich	...	Charles
Bob Kipp	...	John Smith (as Bob Kip)
George Carter	...	Mensa (as Jordan Brown)
Jak Castro	...	Napoleon Whitehead
Abigail Rains	...	Actress
Stanla Shirley	...	Bag Lady
Michael McGuire	...	Actor
F. Thom Spadaro	...	Policeman
Bobby Bird	...	Policeman

Also Known As:

Mirror of Death (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

95 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mad Women Productions

Trivia:

The producer of this movie is Claude Rains' daughter Jessica Rains. At a party early in the movie, there is a poster for The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934) starring Claude Rains.

Movie Connections:

References The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934)

Low-budget dreck saved by a few redeeming qualities

The reviews on this site are really out of date. This film HAS been transferred to DVD -- by Troma no less -- and this film was most definitely not made with a super 8! Though I do have to agree with one review, that I wonder if the person who wrote the back of the box had even seen this film. Anyway...

Here's a somewhat entertaining film about a housewife who gets beaten and choked and she decides to conjure up evil spirits and rip some throats. Really, the first half of this movie is hilarious and entertaining, with a chick killing people for the most random reasons ever. "Don't touch my mirror!" "Don't ever touch my candles!" After about 40 minutes, the film loses steam, though it picks back up in the fitfully bizarre and over-the-top finale which features some weird makeup, ridiculous special effects that have to be seen to be believed, and sloooooow moooooootiooooon. After the first 40 minutes there's really no gore to speak of, and my mind kind of wandered after that point.

Really, except for the gore, there's only two things that make this film worth sitting through: The main actress is extremely cute with her short and spiky red hair, and the movie focuses on her 100% of the time. Also, the acting -- especially the two male leads -- is probably amongst the greatest examples of overacting ever. Not a bad film but nothing special either.