The Night Nurse

The Night Nurse is a fascinating example of an Australian made-for-television feature, which in many ways leaves its U.S. counterparts in the dust. An eerie and largely effective psychological thriller, The Night Nurse appears to be a cross between Robert Aldrich's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Jean Genet's The Maids, as the film explores the deep psychological trauma resting in three generations of females, each with her own dark secret to share. Without divulging the plot, nobody is who they appear to be, and the heroes and villains are not easily defined. Davina Whitehouse, Kay Taylor and Kate Fitzpatrick are all memorable in their roles, each quirky and idiosyncratic to a fault, and the violence quotient is quite strong for the era. Perhaps the only false note in the film is the continual use of a tiresome piano riff used as punctuation for any moment of narrative import, but this is a minor quibble, as the film works regardless. Other than a few peripheral characters, there is one male prominent in the proceedings, and although he is a louse, still his demise is brutal and shocking. The climax is gruesome and baffling, if a bit abrupt, but it is right in line with other thrillers of the era, and again is not something you would see every day on American television. Kudos to Sinister Cinema for resurrecting this forgotten gem of psychological horror, well worth a peek.

I tried this on a whim because the premise sounded like it had potential. Ninety minutes later I was finished and had really enjoyed myself. Not bad at all. I got pulled in very quickly; this is the sort of suspense flick that keeps you wondering what might really be going on. The story is so simple: Prudence, to break free of her possessive and needy artist ex-boyfriend, takes a live-in job at the grand home of "The Diva", a famous former opera singer in her seventies. But all is not what it seems in this strange household; there is the stone faced servant Clara, who seems to have something to hide, and resents the new hire deeply. Before long, Prudence will make some startling discoveries, and unearth dangerous secrets from the past. It's the sort of "slow burn" flick that is not for everyone, but my curiosity kept increasing as the story went on. It's not great cinema, but it's a fun time if you want a cozy thriller, a horror experience that's not all blood and boobs and jump scares.

Rahter a stinker of an Australian drama/mystery/horror movie. A young woman is hired to be a night nurse for an elderly former opera star almost always only called "The Diva." The Diva's current nurse and companion, an elderly woman named Clara who is The Diva's sole heir, is unhappy anyone new is being hired.

Clara has taken the job to become independent of her artist boyfriend, who she has left, but remains friendly with him. Initially, it seems The Diva is a decent old lady and Clara an awful person (in fact in an early scene, if not the opening one, we see her kill a man who barges into the house to look at some expensive paintings). Clara does some nasty things evidently meant to encourage the night nurse to leave, if not actually harm or kill her. What she does to a pet goldfish is quite remarkable, if bizarre.

It seems like The Diva has guests (or sounds like it), but Clara denies that there are any. Also suspicious is what happened to The Diva's late sister Bessie.

Everything gets more or less wrapped up in the end. One death is rather silly, as a hatchet that is swung has its head spin 180 degrees mid-swing....