A word of advice to pretty women seeking employment at a remote stately home: if the property has an ominous name like Grimstock Towers or Mortlake Manor or Darkcliff Hall, then give it a wide berth. Something terrible WILL happen to you. Take Deadlock House for example, the setting for French horror Night of Death: attractive redhead Martine (Isabelle Goguey) goes there to work as a nurse, tending to the needs of a group of kooky old people. What she doesn't realise is that the pensioners are much older than she thinks, having halted the ageing process by devouring the innards of the young women hired to look after them.

Martine becomes suspicious when fellow nurse Nicole (Charlotte de Turckheim) suddenly disappears, supposedly having been fired for misconduct. After spying Nicole's suitcase in the boiler room, the missing girl's belongings about to be burnt, Martine goes looking for further evidence to support her belief that something bad has happened to her co-worker. Naturally, this course of action puts Martine in deadly peril.

The plot for Night of Death is predictable horror hokum that rarely surprises, but a likeable central turn from Goguey, a creepy soundtrack (crashing piano chords and screeching violins, accompanied by haunting vocals),and plenty of quirkiness (check out the bizarre procession of the old people down the hallway, their strange appearance at Martine's window while she is changing) all go to make this an atmospheric treat for fans of obscure oddball Euro-horror.

Also adding to the fun are a couple of very messy gore scenes (the disembowelment of Nicole is particularly grisly),a smattering of nudity (de Turckheim is stripped naked and the ample Goguey briefly bares her blouse bunnies),and a neat twist ending in which we discover the identity of the Golden Needle Killer, the murderer who has been preying on local women.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb. A ghoulish, gory Gallic gem.

The precedent user and I ,we have not seen the same movie!But there's no accounting for taste they say.

Amateurish directing,horrible soundtrack,abominable performances ,only the cinematography is rather decent.

A cursory look at Raphael Delpart ,the "director"'s filmography:from coarse comedy to abysmal horror films ("la Nuit de la Mort" and its doomed successor "Clash"),he made five films in total and that's enough! Here Delpart's idee fixe is to be Roman Polanski: Rosemary and the cannibals.It's all there ,from the first victim who writes a letter to the heroine,to the old people who give her a green beverage added with vitamins ,to the nightmare which is not really one...You'll probably notice snatches of "Beauty and the Beast" too.

Here's Delpart's first mistake:after twenty minutes ,we know almost all about the plot.And it's not much of a plot.On a similar subject, Alain Jessua did a lot better with his overlooked "Traitement de Choc" .Ah! Lemme think! there are two unexpected twists but they come at the most awkward moment.The pictures are often disgusting and some people might go veggie after watching that.But why should they bother?

Approximately 15 years or so ago, I held a bare-boned DVD version of this film in my hands, for sale at a gas station of all places! To this day I still regret that I didn't blindly buy it back then. I didn't because it was only in French, without any subtitles or English soundtrack. The atmospheric cover and grisly little images on the back of the box always haunted me and, ever since then "La Nuit de la Mort" has been waiting on my must-see list. It's a damn difficult title to track down, I ensure you, but I finally managed, and it was more than worth it. And the good news is that I also properly speak and understand French by now! "La Nuit de la Mort » is truly a hidden gem of French horror cinema! Writer/director Raphaël Delpard astounds us with a film that seemingly has everything that horror fanatics so desperately desire: an original plot, insane characters, genuine atmospheric tension and a fair portion of old-fashioned & revolting gore! Moreover, the lead actress Isabelle Goguey is honestly one of the most naturally beautiful, sympathetic and spontaneous women I've ever seen! I couldn't keep my eyes of her; - what a woman! It's downright unfathomable that this red-headed angel isn't more known! She only starred in a handful of unknown movies and worked as an assistant director for a dozen that are even less than unknown! This dream-woman stars as Martine, a young woman who accepts a job as a nurse and all-round household help in a secluded old folks' home named Deadlock House. The landlady and the caretaker are quite eccentric, and also the residents are bizarrely energetic for their ages, but Martine is an open-minded girl and she's up for a challenge after 8 months of unemployment. The other nurse, Nicole, mysteriously vanishes shortly after Martine's arrival and she gradually grows more suspicious of what happens in this exclusive mansion after dark.

Delpard biggest scripting errors are that he reveals the macabre "secret" of Deadlock House too quickly, after 20 minutes already, and that he subsequently doesn't foresee any more victims, other than poor Nicole, to be led to the slaughter. For the remaining hour, "La Nuit de la Mort" solely thrives on sinister atmosphere and the genuine concern that something dreadful will happen to the mesmerizing Martine. It's not always enough, and certain parts of the film are boring and overdue (like Martine discovering Nicole's suitcase when she already knows that her disappearance was unusual). The extended finale features a few strong and unexpected plot twists and the gory make-up effects are really shocking for a low-budgeted 80s French flick. And, personally, I was happy enough to gaze at the ravishing Isabelle Goguey even during the duller moments. There's even a brief but wonderful topless scene. Did I mention already that this woman is a stunning natural beauty?