It's More Dan Curtis Fright in "Dead of Night"-Tonight!

Posted on September 28, 2024

Tonight on MeTV- we offer for your approval what might have been director/producer Dan Curtis’ version of “The Twilight Zone”- in an anthology of three stories- much like his “Trilogy of Terror”- that range from time-travelling sentimentality to frightening horror- in tales that come alive in the “Dead of Night”!

This 1977 made-for-TV film is, much like “Trilogy of Terror”, another collaboration of Curtis and Richard Matheson- who either wrote or adapted each story. Curtis had originally done a one-episode pilot for a “Dead of Night” series back in the late 60s that never got picked up- and this film, along with “Trilogy”, was his last attempt to sell a “Dead of Night” series.

 by

We begin with a story of a young man who loves vintage cars- who obtains and restores a 1926 roadster. On his first trip in the car, he somehow travels through time, back to the 20s! After an odd encounter, he finds himself back in the present day-and realizes his trip to the past has a major effect on his future in the tale of “Second Chance” !

Story number two takes us to an old European village, where a doctor’s young wife seems to be a continuing victim of -a vampire! He refuses to believe that such a thing is the reason for her illness- and recruits a young friend to try to solve the mystery of what’s going on-which leads to a shocking conclusion in “No Such Thing as a Vampire”!

The final story is almost as eerie and frightening as the final story of “Trilogy of Terror”! A distraught mother grieves the death of her young son who drowned- and, in spite of her husband’s warnings, goes to extreme supernatural lengths to bring the child back. Black magic succeeds in reaching that goal- but the boy doesn’t seem to be the same as before- as his mother finds out with the return of “Bobby”!

This anthology progresses from what could be a heart-tugging “Twilight Zone”-ish episode to more and more horror. It features a lot of familiar faces in the cast- Ed Begley Jr., 1960s “The Avengers” Patrick MacNee, Joan Hackett, and even Elijah Cook Jr. among others. We’ll introduce you to all of them, provide background information on the production, and you’ll see me check out another famous time-travelling automobile, plus a Nostalgiaferatoo visit, another “Too Drawn Out” guessing game, some vintage clips involving creepy kids, a new interview with the lovely Cerina Vincent of “Cabin Fever”- and more!

“Dead of Night” comes a little earlier in the evening- 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. As always, you are invited to join in on the Tweeting during the show on Twitter- just make sure to add the hashtag #svengoolie to your Tweets. Our Chicago area viewers can spend a “little” time this morning catching the rerun of “The Incredible Shrinking Man” at 11 am on our main local station, WCIU, the U !

Remember that the new Svengoolie comic book “Day of the Doorbell Demons” will come out next week! Also coming up- a new Sven decoration, and more anniversary goods!

Meanwhile,join us tonight for some fright in the “Dead of Night”!

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

2840 Comments

 during show

Private 23 days ago
I grew up with ZACHERLY! YOU ARE AWESOME TOO SVEN! LOVE YA!
daleuhlmann 1 month ago
The financial advice part of today's show would be of more interest to adult viewers than to kids.
Drang 1 month ago
[image=https://weigel-comments.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/AXl84-1728192602-17281925362968187229197310456333.jpg]
Catbat 2 months ago
Congrats on first blogger!! Here's your trophy 🏆!
drummerman56 2 months ago
I still have the last two weeks worth of Svengoolie episodes to watch on my DVR. So I guess I have a double feature to watch before I watch the double feature!
drummerman56 2 months ago
[image=https://weigel-comments.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NkZAi-1728100637-countdown.gif]
Deleted 2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
Katink 2 months ago
Did you make what, Smilodon? (I was hoping you made cookies. . . )
1MikeM 2 months ago
Chocolate chips?
Katink 2 months ago
That would work, Mike, but maybe snickerdoodles . . .
Deleted 2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
Klaatu 2 months ago
Looks great…but where are the patrons? Looks empty🤔
2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
RobBarnes 2 months ago
Son of Frankenstein is just loaded with talent: Boris, Bela, Basil and Lionel! Sadly the same can't be said for MTCTW, but even though unlike SOF it doesn't exactly ooze with talent (well the little girl that causes all this trouble is kinda cute), it does ooze in other ways.
RobBarnes 2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
Smilodon 2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
Deleted 2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
RobBarnes 2 months ago
Looks like a fellow Taurus.
PARANORMA 2 months ago
Why do I have this image of it trying to get through an opening like a Lab with a very long stick, and...
2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
TheKodakKid 2 months ago
Here’s some good news for those in the race for First Blogger tonight. You’re going to have a better shot at grabbing either 3rd-5th place (with slim possibility of 2nd).

I’m heading to bed soon. Have to leave for Nashville at 5:30AM. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch most of tomorrow’s double feature.

I’ll explain my absence on Sunday.

Good night. Don’t let the vampires or werewolves bite.
Katink TheKodakKid 2 months ago
Safe travels, TKK!
Aceman2 TheKodakKid 2 months ago
Stay safe.
PARANORMA TheKodakKid 2 months ago
Have a good trip, be safe.
The1Butler 2 months ago
I havnt Decorated any for Halloween yet . Slackin bigtime .🎃
Klaatu The1Butler 2 months ago
When you finally get around to doing Halloween decorations, leave them up all year so you don’t need to stress next October😁👍. I see homes in my neighborhood that follow that rule for ALL holidays. It’s funny seeing an animated Santa Sleigh in June😖
Klaatu 2 months ago
This comment has been removed.
TheKodakKid The1Butler 2 months ago
I always look forward to time for Halloween decorations to go up. Then I can pass the cobwebs and dust in my house off as “holiday decor.”
Jack TheKodakKid 2 months ago
And it takes at least a year to get decent cobweb coverage!
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?