Fister’s Sinister Sundays: ‘Nightmares Come at Night’ (1970) Movie Review

Directed by Jesús Franco

Written by Jesús Franco & Josyane Gibert

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

Two exotic dancers embark on a erotic friendship which takes a turn when one of them begins having recurring nightmares of her killing people in which the line between realty and fantasy begins to blur to the most extreme.

You know what you’re in for when the opening credits go full-frontal. Nightmares Come at Night can boldly go head to head with Virgin Witch when it comes to unnecessary nudity, unfortunately, there isn’t much else going on. Poorly paced and suffering from terminal bad acting, this film sticks to its strength: nudity. I’m not sure why, but every woman in the film seemed to be a lesbian, or at least bi-sexual. Anna (Lorys), a nubile sex kitten, is having vivid nightmares involving murdered men. Her roommate/lover, Cynthia, reassured her the dreams are merely that, but something darker lurks under the surface. Conspiring with Anna’s doctor, Cynthia has an agenda of her own. I’m, uh, not sure, why they were doing the terrible things they did, but I wasn’t expecting a Lars von Trier film when Netflix eagerly offered this Sunday afternoon time-killer.

The film does manage to create a couple of cool scenes; whether it was intentional or not – no one is sure. The camerawork and score meet in the middle, occasionally creating a captivating effect between tits and Cinemax-level sex scenes. The plot is a wreck, proving that in the right hands, even a linear story is hard to follow. Really, there’s nothing organically cool about the flick, it does make for some B movie awesomeness. Curious about the state of French beaver from 1970? Your search is over.

[extremely NSFW trailer]