THINGS HAPPEN AT NIGHT (1947)
Article #862 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-25-2003
Posting Date: 12-22-2003
Directed by Francis Searle
Featuring Gerry Marsh, Olga Linda, Beatrice Campbell

A poltergeist takes possession of a young woman, and a psychic investigator tries to exorcise it.

Title check: Technically, many things do happen at night in this movie, so I can’t find any fault with the title.

I don’t know how many movies were made about poltergeists, but this appears to be one of the earlier ones. Since it’s largely a slapstick comedy, it’s certainly not one of the scarier ones, as this poltergeist’s particular trick seems to be to drop vases on people’s heads. The beginning is confusing, but after you sort out the characters, it settles down, and though it never really becomes hilarious, it’s congenial enough. All in all, a minor but fitfully enjoyable British ghost comedy.