Things Happen at Night (1948)

People are voting emotionally.

Boring, long, and too preachy.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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.

Things Happen At Night is directed by Francis Searle and adapted to screenplay by St. John Leigh Clowes from Frank Harvey's play The Poltergeist. It stars Gordon Harker, Alfred Drayton, Robertson Hare, Gwneth Vaughan, Olga Lindo, Wylie Watson and Gary Marsh. It's an Alliance Film Studio Production out of Twickenham and Southall Studios, with music by George Melachrino and cinematography by Leslie Rowson.To be honest, it feels a lot earlier than 1947, 37 would probably sit right. It's one of those farce horror films that come off as an excuse for some tom foolery perpetrated by a bunch of actors enjoying themselves. The plot basically revolves around the strange goings on at Hilton Grange, where a number of characters gather, there's some guff about milk, an insurance investigation and an engagement. Poltergeist activity is rife, with coal and apples flung about the place, chest of drawers moved, vases hovering above heads and so on. Characters react in different ways, as you would expect, and as the mystery to the haunting draws ever closer, the makers ramp up the speed to deliver the coup de grace. It's all very harmless and wonderfully gay, if a touch irritating as well! 5/10

My father hated "English" films. This may have been what he was talking about. Starting with a silly premise, having a bunch of hangdog British comedians react to it, over, and over, and over, and you have this dullard. The plot involves a house that is being haunted by a poltergeist. Chunks of hot coal burn holes in things, pots smash to the ground, things tip over or move, the usual. Enter an insurance agent and an expert on paranormal events. Sound like fun? Unfortunately, it's neither exciting or funny; it just becomes endless. The conclusion is grossly unsatisfying and the reason the poltergeist is in the house is never dealt with. The master of the house a silly, ineffectual man. The daughter, who becomes possessed, is equally dull. The wife is beside herself. Don't bother with this one.

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