Nightmare (1964 film)

Janet (Elizabeth Dear & Jennie Linden), a girl at finishing school who six years earlier saw her mother (Isla Cameron) stab her father to death, is plagued by nightmares. (Her mother, following the tragedy, was committed to an asylum.) Miss Lewis (Brenda Bruce), a teacher, takes Janet home and in the absence of Henry Baxter (David Knight), Janet's guardian, they are met by John (George A. Cooper), the chauffeur; Mrs. Gibbs (Irene Richmond), the housekeeper; and Grace Maddox (Moira Redmond), an attractive nurse-companion hired by Henry. Miss Lewis leaves Janet in Grace's care.

The nightmares continue: a white-shrouded woman (Clytie Jessop) roams the corridors, inviting Janet to burst into her parents' room, where she finds the same woman on the bed with a knife in her chest. When Henry returns, he finds Janet under sedation; her doctors recommend psychiatric care but he refuses and Janet tries to commit suicide.

Henry's wife comes to tea and, because she seems to be the woman in Janet's nightmares, Janet stabs the woman to death and is promptly committed to an institution. The woman in white is revealed to be Grace, disguised with a wig and mask and in cahoots with Henry. They marry, but Grace begins believing that Henry is trying to drive her mad. Under the impression that Janet has escaped from the asylum, Grace stabs Henry to death, expecting Janet to be blamed. Janet, however, never left the asylum and Grace is brought to justice.

• David Knight as Henry Baxter
• Moira Redmond as Grace Maddox
• Jennie Linden as Janet
• Brenda Bruce as Mary Lewis
• George A. Cooper as John
• Clytie Jessop as Woman in White
• Irene Richmond as Mrs. Gibbs
• John Welsh as Doctor
• Timothy Bateson as Barman

Jennie Linden was an 11th hour casting choice replacing Julie Christie who dropped out to do the film Billy Liar. The film was shot with the working title Here's the Knife Dear: Now Use It.[4]

Nightmare had its public premiere at the New Victoria Theatre in London on April 19, 1964.[1] It received a general release in the United Kingdom May 31, 1964 by Rank Film Distributors in support of The Evil of Frankenstein.[1]

In the United States, the film received a DVD release through Universal Pictures in an eight-film set titled The Hammer Horror Series on 6 September 2005.[5] This set was re-released on Blu-ray on 13 September 2016.

The film was released on 28 November 2016 in the United Kingdom on a Region B Blu-ray disc.[6]

In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as a "quasi-Diaboliques" and stated that the film "evidently proved an increasing burden of late for the writer, Jimmy Sangster, in his efforts to find even the slightest variations." describing the film as "predictable."[2]

AllMovie called the film an "effective little chiller that packs a surprising punch for a film of its age."[7]

• Nightmare at the British Film Institute
• Nightmare on IMDb