Nightmare

1964

Action / Horror / Mystery / Thriller

8
IMDb Rating 6.7/10 10 2956 3K

dreams nightmare father murder suicide attempt asylum girls' boarding school

Plot summary

A young woman is plagued by nightmares of her asylum-patient mother. Upon returning to her family home, the nightmares become real when she sees a strange woman pacing the halls.

Director

Freddie Francis Photo
Freddie Francis

Top cast

Timothy Bateson Photo
Timothy Bateson as Barman
Frank Forsyth Photo
Frank Forsyth as Waiter
Jennie Linden Photo
Jennie Linden as Janet
John Welsh Photo
John Welsh as Doctor
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
704.59 MB
1280*544
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 22 min
Seeds ...
1.26 GB
1920*816
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 22 min
Seeds 6

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Hey_Sweden 7 / 10

Good chiller from Hammer.

During the 1960s, Hammer would sometimes counteract their lavish color Gothic horrors with some effective black & white psychological thrillers; this is one of the latter type.Moira Redmond plays Grace Maddox, a nurse/companion hired by attorney Henry Baxter (David Knight). Henry is guardian to a very fragile teen aged girl named Janet (Jennie Linden), who as a child witnessed her mother snap and kill her father. Plagued by nightmares, Janet travels home from school and continues to be haunted by visions of a scar faced woman in white (Clytie Jessop).It would be better for me to not relay too much about the plot, so that potential viewers can experience the twists and plot developments fresh. It manages to avoid being particularly predictable.Written and produced by famed Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster, "Nightmare" is good fun, although I don't know if the screenplay would hold up under any intense scrutiny. Still, it is quite entertaining, and slickly directed by ace cinematographer (and sometime director) Freddie Francis. It's got plenty of atmosphere, especially in the opening scene, and Francis works well with the D.P. on this show, John Wilcox. The music by Don Banks is excellent.The cast is full of solid actors but no major stars. Brenda Bruce as kindly teacher Mary Lewis, George A. Cooper as chauffeur / gardener John, Irene Richmond as housekeeper Mrs. Gibbs, John Welsh as a doctor, Timothy Bateson as a barman, and Elizabeth Dear as the younger incarnation of Janet round out the credited players. The film ultimately belongs to those performers who are required to act out stress and hysteria; they're utterly convincing.A worthy viewing for any Hammer fan.Seven out of 10.
Reviewed by mark.waltz 8 / 10

What is reality and what is a dream? It keeps you in suspense.

A strong performance by Jennie Linden keeps this thriller gripping and along with the horrific dreams, jaw dropping. She's a private girl's school student plagued by haunting memoriesof when she was a child coming out in nightmares where she wakes up screaming. A holiday away seems necessary, and along with a companion and tutor from her school, she returns home. but the nightmares continue, and actually seem to get worse, and just results and a sudden act of violence where her sanity really comes into question while all the puzzle pieces around her begin to fall into place, for the audience at least if not for her.While Linden is surrounded by a supposed caring staff of servants, secretaries, attorneys and doctors because of her crazy family situation, not everyone seems above board so suspicions fall on everyone in the household. Her mother is supposedly planted inside a creepy looking mental institution, and once the audience learns of her family background, something definitely seems up that isn't right about what people believe about the past.As the dreams seem to be haunting Linden even when she's awake, it's often an obstacle to figure out what are the dreams, her own hallucinations or possibly a plot against her. what's perplexing to the audience because as soon as they seem to figure out what the truth is, something comes along that proves them wrong, and that is what the genius in the script is. The gloomy atmosphere, particularly in the dreams and hallucinations, really makes this intriguing and interesting visually.The twist and turn become more fast and furious as it nears its conclusion, and even then, it's difficult to see what will be coming around each corner. David Knight and Moira Redmond are memorable as the shady villains in the story with the twist of sudden identities being revealed about particular characters quite a shock as they are made known to the audience. This is a mystery horror thriller where it is best to expect the unexpected, and that's what makes it an absolute thrill to watch.
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