Nightmares Come at Night (1970)

The Worst Film Ever

Such a frustrating disappointment

Pretty Good

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

This feels like it may have been an influence on Fulci's A Lizard in a Woman's Skin. Despite starting off this review with such a positive statement, Nightmares Come at Night is not exactly an undiscovered gem. There's a reason this erotic thriller is hard to find. Here, we have Franco at his most experimental- long, extended dance and strip scenes, gratuitous lesbian sex, constant use of the zoom function that can leave one dizzy, and a plot that is nearly completely incomprehensible. As far as I can gather our main character was working as a stripper when another girl, blonde, seduces and bewitches her. She forces our protagonist to come live with her in her (naturally) lavish mansion, where the girl begins having nightmares of bloodlust and murder. For some reason the blonde girl keeps calling the doctor even though it's pretty obvious she's the one causing the odd happenings. (this is somewhat cleared up later). Next door a random trashy couple is spying on the two girls. This also causes confusion as the neighbor girl looks almost exactly like the protagonist. Naturally infidelity abounds, but it feels more the product of an attempt at creating singe sort of tension than a real part of the story. Nightmares Come at Night is Jess Franco at his most impressionistic, it's highly psychedelic and completely incoherent- and believe me when I tell you that I don't say that lightly, being a huge fan of Franco and Rollin and giallo fanatic. So as you can see I'm very used to the dreamlike, surreal nature of 60's-80's European horrors and erotic thrillers; and even for me this is a conundrum- but a pleasant one nonetheless as long as you aren't too analytical and you can enjoy the visuals.

Nightmares Come at Night isn't one of Jess Franco's most famous movies. And it's not his best either. But it really does deserves more attention than it gets. It's a very entertainment and erotic thriller starring the beautiful Diana Lorys (The Awful Dr. Orloff) and Paul Muller. The plot is about a woman (Anna) who starts having weird and scary nightmares of her killing people. To make things worse, the people in her dreams appear dead the next morning. Is Anna really going insane or she's the victim of a much more sinister plan? As I said before, this is not one of Franco's best films. It has an uneven pace, bad acting and he really waste the talent of actress Soledad Miranda, who appears in a tiny and incidental character. But the movie also has good things going on. The story is very worthy, there's a lot of nudity, there are some scenes that are very hypnotic and the score by Bruno Nicolai is brilliant (one of the best of his career in my opinion). The opening credits are a very nice touch also.Very underrated Franco flick. A 7/10 from me.

"Nightmares Come at Night" is one of the better erotic thrillers in Franco's filmography.**SPOILERS**Disturbed by weird nightmares, Anna de Istria, (Diana Lorys) starts to act crazy, and needs to be calmed down by her roommate Cynthia Robins, (Colette Giacobine) and Dr. Paul Lucas, (Paul Muller) her physician. When she gets to the point of identity crisis, he takes her under his care despite her cries of misunderstanding her and her dreams. Fearful that she will be taken away from Cynthia, as she begins reliving their life together and how the dream's first came together, her dreams start getting more and more violent. With her concept of fantasy and reality slowly slipping, she finally uncovers the real cause of her disturbing visions and takes drastic measures to stop it from happening.The News: This is one of the better films in Franco's career, and does a lot of his tricks very well. Most significantly, there's plenty of opportunity for nudity on display, and this one indulges every chance it has. From the strip-club flashbacks and lesbian cuddling to several different sex scenes and the short scenes where they're lounging in beds or out in the sun, this one takes every chance possible to show off the actresses, and the fact that they should be shown off is a great plus. The hypnotic spell woven around the film is quite apparent, mainly though in the film's best scene, a flashback to her stripper act that is one of the most erotic and spellbinding scenes ever shot. Using a reddish-orange glow that fills the whole screen and a fluid, romantic jazz underscore, the mood is captivating and not a moment is looking away allowed. Even before adding a one of the most seductive strip-acts ever, this is a winning scene, but to then factor that wonderfully seductive and mesmerizing sequence throws it beyond and is one of the highlights, not only of the film but of Franco's entire career as well. The voice-over is yet another bonus, and becomes just another factor in the scenes greatness. The inability to discern between fantasy and reality is nicely used here, giving this a wonderful waking-dream vibe that is hard to really ignore and is also useful in keeping the viewer guessing, as none of what happens conspires into a set time and place, making this a that much more spellbinding. The lighting even helps, creating plenty of memorable images including one of a buttocks rising in the middle of a blackened room, white as the moon in the middle of a clear night sky. The contrast is brilliant, pulling it off without making it seem more important than it really is. However, there are some slight problems that hold this one back. The biggest one is that there's no reason to include the subplot about the neighbors being there. They have no impact on the plot, don't even come into contact with any of the characters, and despite being there to add a body count to the film, it's never known which of the characters does the deed and the official demise isn't on-screen, panning away moments before the actual moment occurs and renders the entire thing useless and unnecessary. The only other part that can cause confusion is the fact that this doesn't really make any sense at all until the end. When it does offer explanations, there's really nothing offered until that point, giving the film the appearance of being just random scenes thrown together with nothing going on. It does have that feel to it, so that can be something to hold this down to some out there.The Final Verdict: An entertaining, erotic film with only a few problems, this is an excellent addition in the Franco cannon and in the Euro-sleaze genre as well. This is recommended viewing for Franco-philes and those who love the more erotic side of things.Rated UR/NC-17: Frequent Full Female Nudity, several Sex Scenes, Mild Violence and Language

I've just received and watched the R1 DVD of NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT (1970). I'm not quite sure what to make of the film on the basis of this one viewing: most of Franco's usual ingredients were there, to be sure – the accent on eroticism, of course, but also his customary virtues in the form of a bizarre and eclectic score and an effortlessly haunting, dream-like atmosphere. Special mention must also go to the stylish credit sequence, which was quite a nice – and unexpected – touch. However, I did feel that something was missing here: perhaps because it was all so hastily put together, the film seemed to be going nowhere most of the time. Maybe it also had something to do with the incongruity of the two female leads: on this and other Forums, I've read a lot of praise for Diana Lorys' performance but, personally, she didn't impress me too much – though I wouldn't call her acting bad, and she can certainly handle herself well in a nude scene – and seemed only to alter between playing agitated (especially in her scenes with Paul Muller, where she must have asked him if she was going crazy a thousand times!) and being in a daze. As for Colette Jack, to me, she didn't manage to put across convincingly either the spell her character is supposed to have over Lorys or the intelligence necessary to organize a jewel heist, let alone the elaborate way in which her accomplices are dispatched (her final confrontation with Muller clearly suggests she was the 'brains' of the outfit)!On the other hand, I was pleased by the contribution of both Muller (one of his few really meaty roles for Franco) and Jack Taylor (his one scene in the film – a very Godardian moment, by the way – is its highlight). To get to the jewel heist subplot, which many feel is out of place, one must remember that without it the film would have no plot whatsoever: since the whole ruse of hypnotizing Lorys is actually to get rid of Taylor (assuming he too is an accomplice, as this is never explained), Soledad Miranda and Andre' Montcall! Still, I would disagree that Miranda is wasted here: with only a few gestures and lines of dialogue in a couple of brief scenes, she manages nonetheless to create a character and, with the aid of her indelible sensuousness, leave quite an impression – I certainly wouldn't want the film to be without her!Regarding the DVD itself, I would like to point out that I too experienced a momentary glitch during the layer-change. Knowing of Media Blasters' notorious reputation through online Forums (this is the only disc I own by them), I don't think I'll bother sending for a replacement as I doubt a repressing has been made at all. What's more, having recently experienced disappointment with the replacements I got from Flicker Alley (JUDEX [1916-17]) and Mondo Macabro (MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN [1960]) – where this same glitch was still present on the extra copies I received from both labels – I'm a bit wary of the prospect, to say the least!As for the DVD transfer, the full-frame print used was rather soft (though this may have been intentional) and displayed occasional damage but it was certainly acceptable, especially when considering the extreme rarity of this item. On the other hand the French-language track, with its literate English subtitles, was very satisfactory when compared to the lifeless newly-dubbed version, clips of which were included in the Franco interview. The latter, then, is one of the most entertaining discussions I've seen featuring the Spanish director; his accent sometimes does get in the way but his recollections of Soledad were certainly articulately put, as well as obviously heartfelt, and the interview never wore out its welcome. The other extras were more basic stuff, though the photo gallery (sections of which are also featured in the interview) was quite a nice addition. In the long run, I would consider the film second-tier Franco: it's as if he was biding his time here waiting, as it were, for the full flowering of Soledad Miranda in order to embark on the next phase of his debauched career