Tonight’s Friday Night Movie offering is a product of the famous Hammer Film Studios and was made in 1964. Although billed as a horror movie, it is more akin to a psychological thriller mixed with a crime drama.

Because of the nature of this movie whose plot contains a lot of twists and turns and I don’t to offer any spoilers, I will be more opaque than usual with my description of this film.

The plot centres around a young girl, Janet, aged about 16 or so years old, who is staying at a boarding school. She is plagued by nightmares, phantasms caused by a prior mental trauma, to such an extent that she has to be placed in the schools sickroom in order to avoid her screams disturbing other girls in the dormitory. Janet’s nightmares become so troubling to her and to the school staff that a decision is made to return her back to her home.

Eventually, she is sent home to her family home, a large country estate, that because Janet is below the age of majority is in the custody and control of a man who is both her lawyer and her guardian. After she returns she starts having nightmares again and they start to unhinge Janet to a considerable degree. This mental decline has a tragic conclusion both for Janet and for others.

I found this a really gripping drama and it is was wonderful to find a movie with such a cleverly set out plot and engaging characters, some of whom one warms to and others that one begins to despise. The cinematography in this movie is very well done as is the lighting which adds to the suspense of some of the night time and nightmare scenes. As I said I don’t want to give too much away as there are quite a few twists and turns in this plot. I enjoyed this movie and I hope that you enjoy it too.