Muerte en la noche

Young Janet (Jennie Linden) saw her insane mother stab her father to death when she was a little girl. Years later she's still traumatized by it and is afraid she'll become insane like her mother. Her guardian Henry (David Knight) and nurse Grace (Moira Redmond) try to help her but she starts going mad...

This turns out to be nothing more than a reworking of the French film "Diabolique"--but it's pretty good. I have to admit I was actually surprised by one or two events that I should have seen coming. The film is shot in moody black & white (and Hammerscope) which helps immensely. Also there are good performances--especially by Knight and Redmond. This was a strange movie for Hammer--it wasn't shot in color and had no monsters. Still it works. Recommended. I give it a 7.

Freddie Francis' Nightmare is one of those lesser-known movies from Hammer Films which usually finds itself lumped together in box sets dominated by their more popular Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy series. It's obscurity is slightly unfair, as this black-and-white psychological horror-come-slasher unravels itself cleverly and with a healthy dose of style. Written by Hammer regular Jimmy Sangster, Nightmare conjures up a fair share of creepiness despite its age, and often feels somewhat Hitchcockian in its execution.

Janet (Jennie Linden) is a young girl attending boarding school. At night, she is plagued by nightmares of when she witnessed the stabbing of her father at the hands of her deranged mother. As her mental state worsens, she is sent back home to her guardian Henry Baxter (David Knight) and assigned a nurse Grace Maddox (Moira Redmond). Soon after arriving, Janet starts to have visions of a woman she has never seen before with a huge scar on her cheek. Essentially a movie broken into two parts, the second act cannot be summarised without giving away a spoiler.

The visuals are rather bland - Hammer tended to churn out movies quickly and cheaply to serve as a starter for the main event in cinemas - but the black-and-white photography gives the film a Gothic, and almost noirish, sense of style. While Knight is enjoyably smug, the rest of the cast fail to make any real impression, with the pre- Women in Love (1969) Linden extremely lucky to find herself cast after a number of preferable choices, including Julie Christie who chose to make Billy Liar instead, were unavailable. But the film's flaws are to be expected - it is a quickie B-movie after all - and it makes the most of its limitations. The plot's mystery is engrossing and the pacing is odd yet intriguing, and I would recommend Nightmare to any fan of British horror.

I've been a fan of Hammer horror for a while, and have only recently discovered this whole new side of theirs. Hammer have become synonymous with fun horror films, but their serious little black and white flicks show that they're certainly not limited to doing just what we know they're good at! Like Freddie Francis' Paranoiac a year earlier, Freddie Francis' Nightmare works through it's thick macabre atmosphere, tight plotting and great acting performances. The film is also very paranoid, which helps you to get under the skin of the plot and into the heads of the characters. The film starts off following young Janet. Janet's mother stabbed her father to death on her birthday many years ago and has spent her life in an insane asylum ever since. Janet is now having horrible dreams of her mother, and fears that she may go the same way...but after being sent home, her problems really start. The plot for this film is odd because once we reach the half-way point, it makes a full turnaround and we begin following two of the smaller characters from the first part of the film.

The second half of the story is definitely more interesting than the first, so the switch is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. This film appears to have been an obvious influence on Pete Walker's exploitation flick 'Frightmare', as the two follow pretty much the same theme. Hammer's version of the story is far better, though. The ensemble cast here are excellent, with everyone giving a terrific performance. Jennie Linden is convincing as the young girl being terrified by her dreams and more than does justice to the role. The greatness of the plot can be summed up by the fact that I often find myself giving low ratings to Hammer's black and white films, simply because I love to see the colours that Hammer do so well. This film is so professionally handled, however, that the lack of colour doesn't harm the film at all - and actually helps it. The atmosphere would never be the same in colour, and the colours are made up for anyway by the wonderful use of lighting. On the whole, this isn't one of Hammer's most important films - but it is a very good one, and I highly recommend it! Just one thing to note...it's not recommended that you watch this film with a headache - there's a lot of screaming!

When was an eleven year-old child, Janet witnessed her insane mother stabbing her father to death on their bed. Six years later, Janet (Jennie Linden) is a wealthy teenager outcast in a boarding school afflicted by dreadful nightmares and fearing to have inherited her mother´s insanity. After a series of nightmares, her teacher Mary Lewis (Brenda Bruce) brings Janet home and she is welcomed by the family chauffeur John (George A. Cooper), by his wife and housekeeper Mrs. Gibbs (Irene Richmond) and by the beautiful nurse Grace Maddox (Moira Redmond), who was hired as a companion by her guardian Henry Baxter (David Knight). However Janet continues to have nightmares with a woman (Clytie Jessop) with a scar on her face and wearing a white shroud wandering in the house and stabbed on her parents´ bed. After trying to commit suicide, two doctors and Henry summon Janet to the living room to decide whether she should go to an asylum. When Henry brings his wife to the room, Janet sees the woman with scar and stabs her to death. She is sent to an institution and soon a diabolical plot is disclosed. What will happen next?

"Nightmare" is an underrated and unknown thriller by Hammer, with a great story of greed and insanity. The plot is predictable but also engaging. The black and white cinematography and the camera work are magnificent. Jennie Linden never convinces as a teenager but the rest of the cast is excellent. The hysterical behavior of women on the 60´s is annoying but a reality in those years. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Cilada Diabólica" ("Devilish Entrapment")

Mysterious puzzle of who or what is behind a young girl, having just returned from a boarding school in the English countryside, becoming increasingly paranoid and psychotic. The girl witnessed her mother killing her father years ago and has nightmares of the event. She believes that she has the same mania and starts seeing her mother, other apparitions, and various things connected with the event that happened on her birthday so long ago. She is heir to the house, but her uncle manages her estate. A nurse is supplied for her and the home is run by an elderly couple of servants that have been with the family for a long time. What starts out as something you keep thinking you have seen before - swiftly and adroitly changes direction and becomes something I had never seen before. This is above all a well-crafted film made with creating suspense and maintaining suspense as its primary objectives. Director Freddie Francis, the Hammer stalwart, directs with his usual keen, meticulous detail for the lens. He paces the film very nicely, and he is aided by very good performances from all concerned. The real credit for the film's success though must go to veteran Hammer writer Jimmy Sangster. Above all this is a script-driven vehicle. Certainly one of the lesser known Hammer horror films but definitely one of the better psycho films I have seen.