Meurtre par procuration

Released the same year as Aldrich's "hush hush sweet Charlotte" which it sometimes recalls, "nightmare" is a good effort in the enjoyable Hammer productions .

This is roughly a two-part screenplay;IMHO,the second one surpasses the first.It look be performed on stage and the final unexpected twist is worthy of Agatha Christie's celebrated "The mousetrap" .The Gothic atmosphere ,in Janet's desirable mansion ,gives the jitters."It will be alright" says the servant to the tormented young girl as an ominous wind begins to howl.

Superbly filmed in black and white,and without today's special effects which mar so many stories.

One of Hammer Films' best psychological-shockers features a marvellous British cast, great black and white cinematography, and solid direction by veteran horror filmmaker Freddie Francis. Like so many of Hammer's psychological scare flicks, the plot-within-a-plot owes much to the 50's French classic DIABOLIQUE, but this is still a moderately creepy little thriller.

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")

This is a Hammer film- a studio which is most popular for the re-imagined Frankenstein, Dracula and Mummy movies. But, as far as I know, this is a completely original plot line. The first half is truly creepy, the second half isn't quite as good, but it's still worth a watch.