Nightmare
Nightmare
NR | 20 August 1956 (USA)
Nightmare Trailers

Clarinetist Stan has a nightmare about killing a man in a mirrored room. But when he wakes up and finds blood marks on himself and a key from the dream, he suspects that it may have truly happened.

Reviews
Interesteg What makes it different from others?
Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
JohnHowardReid Copyright 1956 by Pine-Thomas-Shane Productions. Released through United Artists. New York opening at the Palace: 11 May 1956. U.S. release: June 1956. U.K. release: 4 June 1956. Australian release: 18 January 1957. Sydney opening at the Palace (ran 2 weeks). 89 minutes. Cut to 80 minutes in Australia.SYNOPSIS: New Orleans jazz musician Stan Grayson dreams that he stabs a man to death in a mirrored room and wakes to find scratches, bruises, and other indications that it was not a dream. He relates the incident to his brother-in-law, police detective René Bressard, who assures him it was a dream. The thought that he may be a killer haunts him, as does a strange, exotic tune that runs through his mind. He prowls the jazz bars on Bourbon Street, hoping to find someone who is familiar with the song but with no success. Hoping to cure Stan's melancholia, René invites him to picnic with his sister and girl friend, Gina. A sudden rainstorm forces them into the car, but its windshield wipers are broken and, in an effort to find shelter, Stan directs them to a large, empty mansion, which is the house in his dream.COMMENT: Maxwell Shane's own remake of his Fear in the Night (1947) is still a modestly budgeted affair, though it benefits from Biroc's glossy lighting and a bit of location shooting, plus of course its much stronger cast line-up. In fact, Robinson's performance is only a shade less than his usual punch and Connie Russell (who has two songs) is one of the most attractive heroines we have come across in years. Marian Carr is also effective in her single sequence as a bar pick-up.But the film suffers from padding. We don't mind the songs, but the efforts to build up Robinson's part (which is actually a secondary one) and the attenuation of some of hero Kevin McCarthy's scenes and the footage with the hero's sister make for rather wearisome viewing. Still Gage Clarke has his moments and the story is moderately suspenseful.The direction for the most part is routine though there are one or two glimpses of talent, but the nightmare sequence itself is disappointingly pedestrian.
bmacv In the late 1940s, director Maxwell Shane made a very low budget psychological thriller called Fear in the Dark -- about a man waking from a nightmare that he's murdered a stranger, only to find it to be true. In 1956, Shane decided to remake it as Nightmare, with a name cast (Kevin McCarthy -- Mary's brother, for the record -- as the luckless dreamer, Edward G. Robinson as his brother-in-law the homicide cop). It's a very close remake, not as pointlessly literal as Gus Van Sant's cloning of Psycho, but with little changed except a better and more integrated jazz score. In sum, Nightmare boasts better acting and better production values, all of which serve to point up the basic cheesiness of the plot. The earlier version, looking a lot like a nightmare itself, lends its own low-rent integrity to Cornell Woolrich's bizarre vision.
howdymax Kevin McCarthy, a jazzman from New Orleans, has a nightmare. He dreams he was in a strange room and committed a murder, only to find out the next morning that there are clues he actually did it. Terrified, he goes to his brother-in-law (Edward G Robinson) to ask for help. Edward G doesn't believe him at first, but soon the evidence begins to pile up. The rest is too good to reveal. Kevin McCarthy's performance right on the heels of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is flawless - the terrified victim - again. Eddie G's character as the cynical, hard boiled homicide dick is one of his best. The story riveted me from start to finish and director Maxwell Shane set just the right tone. Watch for the final scenes in the mirrored room. The atmosphere shots of New Orleans in the 50's transports us back to another time. It's a mystery - a drama - a thriller. Do not miss it.
Larry1230 I saw this movie several years ago, and it scared me plenty. It used to run a lot on late night tv, but I haven't seen it in years. I'm surprised AMC doesn't pick it up with its' film noir series.