During the earliest days of cinema, there was a considerable amount of movie themes which were not only popular with audiences but became so well-received they were copied by practically every filmmaker in the day. The earliest of these movie themes included the 'serpentine dance' fad, remade because of the mesmerizing level of movement within the frame and the lovely hand-coloring applied to each frame; the 'arrival of a train' fad, copied no doubt because the realistic impact they had on the masses; and the theme of 'l'arroseur arrose' (the waterer watered), remade because of how the gag itself caused quite a chuckle during the period.
Of course, these fads were old by the time this film came along, so this film belongs to a different category in the many various genres during the period. It had originally started with the renowned director Georges Méliès's 'haunted inn' movies (the first of which was "The Bewitched Inn" of 1897) where every film would have the plot of a traveler entering a room at an inn and becoming haunted by the spirits who own the place. Méliès remade this theme many, many times throughout his career, in quite a few variations spanning from 1897-1905, and all were well received and considered among the best films of the period.
Since Méliès was terrible at copyrighting his films, other film companies who liked the originals could, quite easily, remake them in order to cash in on the popularity. (What's sadder is that some companies, Edison in particular, actually stole direct copies of the movies and called them their own). The Edison Manufacturing Company made a variation on the theme in 1901, called "Another Job for the Undertaker", which led to different versions by various other companies.
Segundo de Chomòn worked for the Pathé Company and this is one of his earliest variations on the 'haunted inn' theme. Chomòn was probably the main competitor against Méliès throughout the majority of his career; he began working for Pathé in 1902 as a cinematographer and colorist for the company, and started to make his first trick films by 1905. "A Dreadful Night" was not only made in 1905, it also shows how Chomòn was already becoming a major threat to Méliès's original popularity. Albeit simplistic, the film uses humorous acting (Méliès's trademark) and seamless effects (as well-executed as Méliès's) to create a pretty interesting work. The clothes coming back on the soldier (who even looks a little and acts a little like Méliès) is borrowed from "Going to Bed Under Difficulties" of 1901; the appearance of the ghost comes from "The Apparition" of 1903. To top that, Chomòn also includes a different, innovative ending which adds a level of originality.
Style-wise, however, there is not much difference. As evidenced by this feature, the director was merely copying the style of his rival without bothering to add a lot of his own ideas. As time progressed, Chomòn's filmmaking style would, however, change to become more sophisticated and groundbreaking. He would begin to incorporate medium closeups, stop-motion and shadow animation, and claymation which went beyond the simple appearances, disappearances dissolves and superimpositions of Méliès's work. This would later result in another variation on the 'haunted inn' theme in "L'Hotel Hante" of 1909, which uses the techniques listed above to make a much more original film. "A Dreadful Night", as said before, is not original at all in style and includes no medium closeups or other effects. Yet, it is not a direct rip-off of any sort, and does have enough original humor and good enough effects to make it worth viewing for fans of Méliès's original films.