This Jess movie may be extremely low-budget and perhaps a combination
of a couple of different films he shot at this time,
but still, one of his better . Franco seemed like he was serious here
making a Psychological Art Drama Horror-Thriller.
He's NOT sleazy here even though there is a lot of nudity here mostly
provided by the lovely Spanish actress Diana Lorys.
Maybe, Jesse had seen "Persona" by Ingmar Bergman and wanted
to make his take on the relationship of two women
living together but with also a crime mystery added to the psychotronic
brewing pot.
Adding to experimental mode of Jesse's dreamlike film
is the great composer Bruno Nicolai with an astounding avant garde
soundtrack. Cult actress Soledad Miranda was featured
on the US DVD cover sleeve even though she only makes a short
appearance as a, never explained properly, spying neighbour. In fact,
this whole film is a mess regarding a coherent story
and i have no idea of what really happened or why. OK, i watched this
film with french original audio and with only german
subtitles, but it seems other people who has seen it properly don't
know what or why things happened.
Even though this films DVD release (the film was thought
to be lost for decades) marketed it as a Soledad Miranda film, it's
the great soulful Spanish actress Diana
Lorys (born in Madrid 1940 as Ana María Cazorla
Vega, and hopefully still alive and
well) that carries this film. She's in it almost all of the time and
she provides much of the nudity.
I watched "Nightmares come at Night" for the first time
some 10-15 years ago when watching the US DVD (see pic below)
and i now wanted to see it again. Why?
Diane Lorys as Claude in 1973 "Los
Ojos azules de la muñeca rota"
I recently re-watched the 1973 Spanish Gialli classic "The Blue
Eyes of the Broken Doll" where Diana Lory's played a great
part as the lover of Paul Naschy's ex-convict and presumed serial
killer, and she really made some impact on me. I just had
to see more of her, and "Nightmares come at Night" is just
one of three films that are easily obtainable on a DVD or Bluray.
Diana Lorys as Anna of Istria in "Nightmares come at Night"
The first time i saw this lovely Spanish B movie actress
was in another Jesús Franco film, in his groundbreaking, for
Spain
1st successful horror film - the 1962 "Gritos en la Noche - The
Awful Dr. Orloff" where she played the ballerina girlfriend
of the investigating policeman. Hopefully more of her Spanish films
will be released with english subtitles, as her Paella
westerns and adventures et al.
The Story of Nighmares come at Night :
I'm not that sure, but i know that two beautiful women
live together in a big mansion, located in ? , and they are 1. The
Brunette - Anna from Istria (Lorys), an ex-stripper
from Zagreb, Croatia and 2. The Blonde - Cynthia
(Colette Giacobine or
Colette Jack) possibly also a stripper, or one in the audience, and
maybe the owner of the Mansion, Villa Cynthia.
They are two friends and/or lovers and they have some
lesbian softcore sex. But Anna is suffering from nightmares and
hallucinations and in recurring dream a man has joined the couple
(Jack Taylor) and she kills him, to awaken with blood
on her hands. Anna is full of anguish and asks her doctor, Dr. Paul
Lucas (Paul Müller) if she has killed a man ?
Anna narrates in french (dubbed by someone) and walks
around in her white negligée, partly in the nude (Praise the
Lord)
and she's very worried about her dreams. Everytime she's dreaming
and a man enters the room joining her and Cynthia in
having sex, she ends up killing him. Is she a killer ? What is going
on ?
Who's the neighbour couple spying on Anna and Cynthia with binoculars
(the beautiful girl played by legendary Franco
actress Soledad Miranda under her alias Susan Korda
1943-1970 ) and why ? Who's the shadow murdering them ?
We never get any explanation, i think ? Watched it with German subs,
but i don't think we ever do ? Jess don't bother with
such small insignificances as a coherent story.
OK, Spoiler coming ....
Apparently Cynthia and the doctor had some scheme
going and they, for some reason, wanted Anna out of the way.
Why ? Cynthia owned the house and what about the jewellery in the
kitchen box ?
Maybe the stripper Anna of Istria really was Cynthia, and Cynthi was
Anna, so The Blonde got hold of the house and the
jewellery belonging to the Brunette ? If so, who inherits the house
?
The old US DVD with film in original 4:3 fullscreen
ratio, english or french mono audio, extra an interview with Jess
and
with Soledad Miranda on the DVD sleeve even though she's hardly in
the film
Where was Howard Vernon in this film, his name appears
in the credits but i can't remember seeing him ? Must've missed it.
Even though this film had a fucked up script and may have been a hotchpotch
of leftover celluloid frames from other film
projects and shot without a budget in a very short time, i do think
Jess managed to make an interesting little arthouse
thriller with dreamlike qualities, and with beautiful actresses Diana
Lorys, who gives a fine soulful performance, Colette
Giacobine and Soledad Miranda (even if in it only for a minute or
two).
German Donau Film presents the film in original 4:3
fullscreen ratio, french audio DD 2.0 with german subtitles only,
and
with a US and German Trailer extra plus an assortment of trailers
for erotic artmovies by Walerian Borowszyk et al.
