Things Happen at Night
Things Happen at Night
| 03 November 1948 (USA)
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A young girl finds herself possessed by the spirit of a mischievous demon.

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Reviews
mark.waltz

This farce with demonic elements is extremely silly in structure but sort of disturbing in nature. It's not a wretched attempt at supernatural comedy, but when viewed along side with "The Exorcist", you wonder what was in the writer's mind when they put this on paper. It takes place among the British upper-crust and insinuates that the demon is some sort of mystical playmate for the young girl who lives there. The spirit is more pranksterish than frightening, although I'd be pretty scared of I saw a wine bottle move across a table without aide. Plants sprout and disappear back into the dirt again, and a ghastly laugh has a ring of sinister intentions to it. Cheaply made, this features a cast of unknowns, with only Gordon Harker familiar to me. So with Topper, Mrs. Unit's ghost, am invisible man and woman, and several other light-hearted spirits of the dead, this one remains as perhaps the most obscure, and definitely one of the wildest. It's just too bad that it focuses more on slapstick than story, because ultimately it is just a one-joke mess that never fully succeeds.

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Paularoc

A low key comedy about an impish poltergeist who has invaded the large home of Wilfrid and Hilda Prescott. The imp plays harmless tricks but one of them damages a bear skin rug for which Prescott makes an insurance claim. The always watchable Gordon Harker plays the insurance investigator looking into the merits of the claim. Also on hand is a potential business partner, Vincent Ebury, a paranormal researcher, the two Prescott daughters and the fiancé (and Ebury's son) of the elder daughter. Some of the funniest scenes are those in which the cook and butler appear. Things go bump all through the night and while all this is mildly amusing, it doesn't add up to a really funny or memorable movie. I'm a Harker fan but this isn't one of his better movies. Still, I'm glad I saw it.

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classicsoncall

Well this had a pretty good premise, and it started out like it could have been a fun romp, but there comes a point in the picture when things hit a wall and it just abruptly comes to an end. Too bad, because the British actors seemed to have a decent chemistry together, and things could have clicked with a more imaginative script. The film reminded me a little of the early Fifties TV series 'Topper', although the spirit haunting the Prescott home had no identity. The hauntings consisted of random events like pictures on the wall turned backwards and objects moving around, and there was a sense that the film makers weren't sure if they should go for comedy or horror. I guess I can answer that, there wasn't anything frightening at all to be afraid of. Gordon Harker is the nominal lead actor as insurance investigator Harris, and he has a few funny moments. However he can't sustain the picture by himself, and ultimately, the film ends as unceremoniously as it began, with each of the three main characters, Harker, Prescott (Afred Drayton) and Spenser (Garry Marsh) congratulating themselves on ridding the house of it's haunting presence, even though the poltergeist was determined to have the last laugh.

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malcolmgsw

This film has a wonderful cast of comedy actors but alas in the end they are let down by an uninspired script and some fairly amateurish "Special effects".Despite the fact that Harker,Hare and Drayton are amongst my favourite actors of this era even they fail to cause me to burst out laughing during this rather lame effort.Basically the story is of an attempt to exorcise a poltergeist which is terrorising a family.It of course is very easy to guess where the spirit emanates from.The writers unfortunately seemed to have run out of ideas once they had thought out the basic premise.It can be seen on the new satellite channel in the UK ACTIONMOVIES.Lots more 50s British films on this and MOVIES4MEN if you are interested

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