Horror Daily Double: Dead of Night, Black Sabbath

Dead of Night wasn’t the first horror anthology film, but it was the first to make a lasting impact. Martin Scorsese recently placed it fifth on his list of 11 scariest movies of all time. (Though this was before Slender Man came out so who knows what his list looks like now.) Not bad for a spooky film coming from peak-era Ealing Studios, who were more known for putting out mannered comedies and dramas, though perhaps the stately approach to Dead of Night‘s material is precisely what gives it lasting, haunting power. The film takes place in a house in the country, where a man is looking for some R&R after being plagued by recurring nightmares. To his astonishment, the arriving guests are the ones in his dreams and he’s able to tell bizarre stories about each. Dead‘s twist ending and circular plot established a horror device that has reached as far within genre film, such as Polanski’s The Tenant, Triangle, and current horror anthology champ, Southbound.