Nightmare is a film of two halves, with Jennie Linden as Janet highlighted in the first and David Knight and Moira Redmond as Henry and Grace in the second part. The plot is the same for both halves, the use of fear to get someone to commit murder. Opinions vary but I think the first half is better mainly because the second half doesn't really hold water. How did the Gibbs and Mary Lewis discover what had been done to Janet and who did it? And if what Henry and Grace did was criminal so too was what they did. The ending seemed far fetched.
The acting is good from British stalwarts like Brenda Bruce, George A. Cooper and Moira Redmond and particularly in the first half the suspense and fear are well portrayed. It is shot in lovely black and white and in wide screen that shows how perfect B & W photography was to eerie subjects. There are daytime scenes that just as creepy as the night scenes. A treat to look at throughout the film.
As an entry in Hammer's suspense (as opposed to monster) films it is well worth viewing.
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