53 Spades Movie Reviews

One of the all-time great scare anthologies, DEAD OF NIGHT (Anchor Bay) is a classic collection of freaky supernatural stories told by strangers at a remote estate. The topper is Sir Michael Redgrave as a renowned ventriloquist who tells his tale of madness and murder when his dummy exhibits a mind of his own. The uncut, restored UK version is coupled with the wonderfully macabre QUEEN OF SPADES.

About ten years ago, I screened THE QUEEN OF SPADES at New York's Museum of Modern Art film library. I had heard that they had, in their collection, an old 16 mm print of this almost-lost treasure. I sat with a Russian stage/film director friend, as well as actress Rosemary Harris (late of Aunt May in SPIDERMAN); the three of us were transfixed as we discovered, and Rosie re-discovered (she had seen the premiere in England), this astonishing piece of film alchemy.

Anton Walbrook's talent, like Vivien Leigh's, was ineffable. His choices, as an actor, are so outlandish sometimes that you think he will never pull off the moment - then he stops right at the edge and leaves you gasping at the utter uniqueness and danger of his choice. Dame Edith Evans, in her film debut, playing a woman forty years her senior, is all remarkable, twisted, bitter, frightened restraint. (Rosie mentioned that Edith Evan's key moment of reaction, in the film, had so frightened the audience at the time that everyone screamed out loud. Not difficult to understand, even today...)

The lighting and camera direction are at once solid and ethereal; dreamy like Cocteau's LA BELLE ET LA BETE, and brutally unforgiving like Welles' CITIZEN KANE.

Much has been said about DEAD OF NIGHT and deservedly so. This genuinely is the grandfather of all psychological horror films. What seems so innocuous, almost gentle at first, develops into a disturbingly laden freight train barrelling straight towards you. There will be no way to escape. You will be knocked squarely off your tracks. Completely and utterly disorienting. Warning: do not watch this film alone at night. Don't even watch this film alone on a sunny day.

The picture and sound on each are very good and rich. The liner notes and artwork accompanying the DVD are of great interest, and are a wonderful starting-off point for the viewer.

Would that more DVD-producing companies were like Anchor Bay. Could they be poised to take over the position that Criterion, up until recently (with misleading claims of restoration and a chronicity of poor quality releases), enjoyed? One can only hope.

I won't say much about DEAD OF NIGHT, as any one who will be buying this set knows how extraordinary & ahead of it's time that film is. Needless to say, the Michael Redgrave segment is the best of a good bunch, with even the 'lighter' stories offering excellent viewing.
It's the QUEEN OF SPADES that proved the surprise to me - I had never seen this film, relagating it to 'second fiddle' after DEAD OF NIGHT, when it does in fact hold it's own remarkably well.
Slow moving, but to it's benefit, the story see's Anton Walbrook, a German engineer in the Russian army, envious of the wealth & title that are automatically bestowed upon his comrades. After learning that a Russian noblewoman posesses the secret of winning at cards, he manipulates her lady-in-waiting to gain access to this secret. things go slightly awray and although he gains the secret, the aged noblewoman dies of fright.
This part of the story takes up most of the film, with the 'haunting' of the engineer forming the final act.
Although lacking any actual 'horror', this film has a definate atmosphere of unease and of meddling with things that should be left alone. Superb performances again, with the key being the utter conviction of the cast.
A film like this could not be made today, which makes it all the more important that productions like this and DEAD OF NIGHT should be cherished by fans of what the term 'horror film' really means as opposed to what it was eventually twisted into in the '80's & '90's.