Nightmares Come At Night

Nightmares Come at Night (1970)

Runtime: 85 LONG minutes

Directed by: Jesus (Jess) Franco

Starring: Diana Lorys, Paul Muller, Jack Taylor, Colette Jack, Soledad Miranda

From: Prodif Ets./Vaduz

^^Insert gif of Christian Bale & Kermit the Frog nodding in agreement at each other^^

Yes, I mainly watched this due to its billing as coming from the tiny country of Liechtenstein-heck if I know if anything was actually filmed in Liechtenstein-and the hilarity of its title. Furthermore, it's somehow the first Jesus (Jess) Franco I've ever seen. While I did not care for this movie, as Franco has almost 200 (!) titles to his credit on Letterboxd, I'll choose something in the future which presumably will be more my speed. Nightmares Come at Night gave me the initial impression that Franco was something who as a director was a horny man who loved naked women & lesbians, but I know he has to be more than that.

This was two unfinished Franco films combined together (rather obviously) into a finished product that was a cure for insomnia. The first had a young brunette woman (Anna) who was seduced by a blonde and they have a toxic relationship; furthermore, the brunette starts having dreams where she's murdering people. A doctor tells Anna those fantasies aren't real but is he trustworthy? Then, there's a totally shoehorned in subplot which comprises of only a few minutes of footage where cult favorite Soledad Miranda and a random dude wish to rob the house of the first couple as they apparently have riches... like I said, it feeling like a natural part of the plot does not occur.

While it has a nice Bruno Nicolai score, too much of this was just dreadfully dull. Anna used to be an exotic dancer in Zagreb (as you do) and her stage show was known for being drawn-out affairs... what a metaphor for the film. I need more than extended scenes of tedium, women making out and clumsy “is it a dream?” logic to entertain me. Franco remade this twice (!) as The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff and Alone Against Terror; perhaps I'd prefer those. The movie was obscure for many years before the print was found and subsequently restored-plenty did and do get more out of this than I did.