My Review of Nightmare (1964) *SPOILERS*
Now this was a nice film to end the Halloween season. A very high-quality gothic horror/chiller/mystery. This film is visually impressive and brilliant. Director, Freddie Francis, sets up every shot from new and interesting angles. A former cameraman/director of photography, director, Freddie Francis makes great use of lighting and scope to create a sense of fear and isolation around the super sweet and vulnerable young Janet (Jennie Linden). This black and white film was much more colorful and vivid than the washed-out look of Video Violence. The lack of color is hardly noticed as the director's use of lighting vividly creates a rich palette of contrasting shades. The gorgeous sets (especially the High Towers mansion) further contribute to the development of the atmosphere of this film: tension, paranoia and suspense.
Very good performances from the cast and a nice tight script with twists by veteran Hammer writer, Jimmy Sangster, lead to an enjoyable movie. The sinister, Henry Baxter (David Knight) is a great villain. He uses Janet's school-girl crush to gain her confidence and trust only to prey upon her obvious mental problems. Henry Baxter also uses the affections of Grace (Moria Redmond) to convince her to help him drive Janet crazy enough to kill his wife. Then once he has inherited his wife's money and use of Janet's estate, he starts treating Grace with disdain and disinterest. David Knight does a great job portraying a smug and villainous character that is interesting enough to compel the viewer to watch even after we learn of Janet's fate just so we can see whether he is ever brought to justice.
The scene where Janet shatters the mirror with her radio and uses a shard to slit her own wrist evoked a physical reaction from me. Her desperation and anguish is intense and this scene is the punctuation point concluding all of the tension built up from the previous creepy dream-like scenes as Janet descends into madness.
The weakest part of this movie though was the inclusion of Janet's school teacher (Brenda Bruce) in the house keeper's and driver's plan to get revenge upon Henry and Grace for what they did to Janet. Presumably, John, the driver, and Ms. Gibbs, the housekeeper, have always been in Janet's life and especially became attached to her after she lost her mother and father. Its easy to see why they would be willing to cause murder to revenge Janet against Henry and Grace. But, how did they manage to convince the school teacher to go along with their plan? And, why do they need the school teacher to carry out their plan? They could just as easily manipulate Grace into believing Henry is trying to drive her mad without any help from the school teacher. If they needed a younger woman's help for their scheme, (to impersonate Janet) why couldn't they have recruited the young blond housekeeper that is shown in later scenes with Grace and the older housekeeper.
Now this was a nice film to end the Halloween season. A very high-quality gothic horror/chiller/mystery. This film is visually impressive and brilliant. Director, Freddie Francis, sets up every shot from new and interesting angles. A former cameraman/director of photography, director, Freddie Francis makes great use of lighting and scope to create a sense of fear and isolation around the super sweet and vulnerable young Janet (Jennie Linden). This black and white film was much more colorful and vivid than the washed-out look of Video Violence. The lack of color is hardly noticed as the director's use of lighting vividly creates a rich palette of contrasting shades. The gorgeous sets (especially the High Towers mansion) further contribute to the development of the atmosphere of this film: tension, paranoia and suspense.
Very good performances from the cast and a nice tight script with twists by veteran Hammer writer, Jimmy Sangster, lead to an enjoyable movie. The sinister, Henry Baxter (David Knight) is a great villain. He uses Janet's school-girl crush to gain her confidence and trust only to prey upon her obvious mental problems. Henry Baxter also uses the affections of Grace (Moria Redmond) to convince her to help him drive Janet crazy enough to kill his wife. Then once he has inherited his wife's money and use of Janet's estate, he starts treating Grace with disdain and disinterest. David Knight does a great job portraying a smug and villainous character that is interesting enough to compel the viewer to watch even after we learn of Janet's fate just so we can see whether he is ever brought to justice.
The scene where Janet shatters the mirror with her radio and uses a shard to slit her own wrist evoked a physical reaction from me. Her desperation and anguish is intense and this scene is the punctuation point concluding all of the tension built up from the previous creepy dream-like scenes as Janet descends into madness.
The weakest part of this movie though was the inclusion of Janet's school teacher (Brenda Bruce) in the house keeper's and driver's plan to get revenge upon Henry and Grace for what they did to Janet. Presumably, John, the driver, and Ms. Gibbs, the housekeeper, have always been in Janet's life and especially became attached to her after she lost her mother and father. Its easy to see why they would be willing to cause murder to revenge Janet against Henry and Grace. But, how did they manage to convince the school teacher to go along with their plan? And, why do they need the school teacher to carry out their plan? They could just as easily manipulate Grace into believing Henry is trying to drive her mad without any help from the school teacher. If they needed a younger woman's help for their scheme, (to impersonate Janet) why couldn't they have recruited the young blond housekeeper that is shown in later scenes with Grace and the older housekeeper.