The Night Walker (1964)

Simply Perfect

Did you people see the same film I saw?

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

From writer Robert Bloch of "Psycho" fame and the gimmick-loving producer-director William Castle comes this entry into that genre crudely referred to by some people as "hag horror". (Popularized by the legendary "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?".) Barbara Stanwyck, in her final feature film, stars as Irene Trent, who's unhappily married to embittered blind man Howard Trent (Hayden Rorke). When Howard dies in a suspicious explosion, she becomes a very rich woman. But she continues to be haunted by recurring dreams, in which she is romanced by a handsome young stranger (Lloyd Bochner). Her well-meaning lawyer friend Barry Morland (Robert Taylor) tries to help her solve this puzzle in her life.Castle does some great things with atmosphere, and his direction is stylish. One scene certainly leaves an impression, the "wedding" which is attended by mannequins. Ultimately, the story is resolved in a "realistic" manner which does negate all the surrealism created by Castle, cinematographer Harold E. Stine, and company up to that point. It's not a terribly surprising reveal, but it is a fun one, and in general the movie is quite enjoyable, gimmick or no gimmick. It does keep you engrossed for quite a while, although after some time has passed you do get a sense of where it is going. It's also enhanced by a repetitive, but catchy, music score by Vic Mizzy, somewhat reminiscent of the classic 'Twilight Zone' theme.Stanwyck is very appealing, with top billed Taylor offering solid support as the lawyer. Rorke ('I Dream of Jeannie') is absolutely great; Judi Meredith ("Queen of Blood"), Rochelle Hudson ("Rebel Without a Cause"), Jess Barker ("Scarlet Street"), Marjorie Bennett ("What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"), and Tetsu Komai ("Island of Lost Souls") co-star. The opening narration, ruminating on the entire concept of dreams and nightmares, is spoken by the great Paul Frees.Good fun, and rather under rated as far as Castles' output and the entire "older women in shockers" genre goes.Seven out of 10.

Irene Trent (Barbara Stanwyck) is struggling with her nightmarish world. Her possessive blind inventor husband Howard supposedly dies in a laboratory fire but she continues to be haunted by his presence. Her lawyer Barry Morland locks up the destroyed lab and she moves out of the home.This is solid for a modest B-horror. It has veteran actress Barbara Stanwyck and serves as her last theatrical performance. There is a good nightmare world. It's lower budget with limited sets. Some of it is definitely older style horror. This is not going to break the mold but I always like Stanwyck.

What were these two veterans thinking of when they became involved in this juvenile comic strip? You may not have to be the sharpest tool in the box to be an actor but couldn't they recognise schlock when they saw it? Oh well, at least Miss Stanwyck, having dipped a toe in the murky pond of William Castle's productions, decided to avoid the occasionally hysterical film fate of Bette and Joan and stick to television.The dummies used in the chapel scene were more animated than poor old Robert Taylor — never the most exciting of actors here he sometimes seems to be wearing more make-up than Stanwyck while reacting like someone who'd taken a nice sedative just before walking onto the set.

Sadly not available on DVD at time of writing, "The Night Walker" seems to be one of William Castles more neglected films. It tells the tale of a woman named Irene,who is haunted by strange recurring dreams, which she eventually cannot distinguish from reality. Is she going mad or is something more sinister happening?As usual with a Castle film, the production is effectively made, even with the evident low budget, the lighting and photography and performances are all well handled. Barbara Stanwyck makes a good effort in the leading role, and the supporting cast is fine too. The story starts off in a fairly intriguing way with a bizarre four and a half minute prologue about dreams that has some superb kitsch imagery, and there are a few chilling moments as Irene starts to experience her weird dreams. As with a lot of William Castle movies there are just a handful of exceptional scare moments that really stand out...I sometimes wonder if this a fluke when he does this, but he can create some of the most delicious scares, such as the blind hag in "House on Haunted Hill" and the mute woman's hallucinations in "The Tingler". Well there are a couple of shriek moments even in this more humble offering, one down to the appearance of a ghoulish figure in fright make-up, and another, when Irene think she has woken up from a dream, only to realise in terror that she has not, and seems incapable of waking up at all, which is quite a deep concept for the general tone of the movie.Sadly at the half way point, things become less dreamlike and more mechanical as a few truths are revealed and the layers of mystery are stripped away. The last 20 minutes does not equal the first hour at all, which may be part of the reason why few people rate this very highly. Still, its a competent and entertaining piece of work, and definitely worth seeing. What a shame it's impossible to find.