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Nightmare

1956, Movie, NR, 89 mins

Nightmare: Review

Creepy, atmospheric remake of FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1947), which was also directed by Shane. McCarthy is superb as a New Orleans jazz musician who dreams he has stabbed a man to death in a mirrored room in a large mansion. When he wakes up with cuts and bruises on his body, he believes the dream was reality. Worried, he tells his brother-in-law Robinson, a police detective, who humors him and advises him to forget about it. Haunted by a strange sounding jazz tune that he heard in his dream, he searches the Bourbon Street clubs, hoping to hear the tune again. On a picnic with his wife and Robinson, McCarthy discovers the house in his dream, complete with a mirrored room and a phonograph and a record with the very song he couldn't forget. Later, when Robinson learns a murder has recently been committed there, he gives McCarthy 24 hours to leave town before he turns him in. Eventually Robinson, who begins to believe that McCarthy was hypnotized by the owner of the house to cover the murder of his wife, traps the killer and frees his brother-in-law from his dream. A truly creative, expressionistic film which uses distorted visuals, a stylized jazz score, and great performances from a fine cast to powerful effect. leave a comment