Nightmare (1964)

A 17 year old girl (Jennie Linden, WOMEN IN LOVE) at a girls school is having nightmares about her mother (Isla Cameron) who is in a mental asylum for the murder of her father. When she returns home although she is in the care of a nurse (Moira Redmond), the nightmares intensify. Directed by cinematographer turned director Freddie Francis (TALES FROM THE CRYPT), this movie is split into two parts. The first is about the young girl losing her mind over her nightmare visions. The second focuses the aftermath and the perpetrators who drove her out of her mind. The first one is an obvious set up and at first, I dreaded spending an entire movie on another damsel being driven crazy movie but when the film switches gears in the middle of the movie, it becomes more interesting. The B&W Hammerscope lensing by John Wilcox (THE LAST VALLEY) is quite handsome particularly the exteriors. Its plot may be hackneyed but the "twist" (although obvious) compensates for the film's overall lack of originality. With David Knight, Brenda Bruce, George A. Cooper and Irene Richmond.