In the Dark of the Night
"In the Dark of the Night " is a song written by lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty for the 1997 Fox Animation Studios film "Anastasia". It is sung by Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd speaking, Jim Cummings singing) and serves as the villain song. The song was produced by Jim Steinman, known for his work with artists such as Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler. Although the song is not used in the musical adapted from the film, the ending melody ("Come my minions, rise for your master...") is sampled extensively in the new song "Stay , I Pray You." Flaherty remarked that despite the drastically different context, the reused melody worked "surprisingly well." Synopsis. Rasputin is in his lair singing about his plan to kill Anastasia, and sends off his minions to do this task. Critical reception. FilmTracks wrote, "The villain's song for Rasputin isn't particularly popular, and some may even wish that Christopher Lloyd had attempted his own vocals. Yet, the deep male vocals paired with high female ghost hauntings are very creative, and outstanding lyrics and a fine balance between the Russian doom and gloom and the slight comedy needed for the  genre is decently accomplished. The bass region is well treated in this song, too." DVDTalk describes the song as grand. AWN described it as "a wonderful mixture of rock and traditional Russian choral music, with a gaggle of wormettes providing backup."