The Night Walker

Perhaps the key to enjoying this movie is to come to it with no expectations, as I did--or to be a fan of William Castle (as I am becoming!). If you know William Castle's work, you know to expect low-budget chills that don't take themselves very seriously. What's surprising about this film is that it's actually fairly sophisticated. The plot has some excellent twists; the chills are more psychological and less gore-dependent than in other Castle films I can think of; and it's just fun to see two great (albeit aging) stars get their teeth into a horror script. Barbara Stanwyck is excellent, and Robert Taylor comes a close second.

Why this little gem isn't available on DVD with (what I consider to be) lesser Castle works baffles me. It's definitely worth seeking out for your next cheesy horror fest.

Say what you want about William Castle but, even without silly gimmicks and avant-garde marketing tricks, this man was able to deliver competent and solid atmosphere-driven horror tales! "The Night Walker" is perfect proof of this statement, because even though the screenplay (by none other than Robert "Pyscho" Bloch") is occasionally too slow-paced and predictable, Castle still managed to turn it into a mysteriously ominous thriller with a handful of authentic fright-moments, hypnotizing music, eerie imagery and strong performances. The voiceover intro is rather dumb and redundant, as it's an exaggeratedly theatrical lecture about the phenomena of dreams and dreaming. Basically, it's just a lot of pseudo-intellectual and pretentious mumbo-jumbo that ends with the nonsensical phrase: "When you dream, you become a night walker". Hence the title, huh? Thank you, Mr. Castle!

Immediately after, however, "The Night Walker" becomes tense and compelling. The wealthy, blind and downright petrifying Howard Trent confronts his wife with his suspicion that she's cheating. Irene confesses, but only in her dreams, because she never leaves the house and Trent is cruel and possessive when it comes to her. When Trent dies in a freaky accident in his laboratory, Irene still isn't care-free. She still dreams of her inexistent (or not?) Prince Charming, but also suffers from nightmares in which Trent looking even more terrifying now since half of his face is burnt, comes back from the dead to kill her. Irene receives help and moral support from Trent's handsome lawyer Barry Morland and her beauty salon employee Joyce, but inevitably her mental state deteriorates further. You don't exactly require a PhD. in criminology to figure out what is going on, but William Castle nevertheless admirably attempts to retain the mystery aspects. He reveals very little until the climax, comes up with a few efficient plot twists and successfully makes you wonder if Barbara Stanwyck's visions are real or imaginary. The make-up/mask worn is by Hayden Rorke is fantastically horrific and the, hands down, best quality of "The Night Walker" is the spellbinding music by Vic Mizzy.

"The Night Walker" is a very strange film which is in some ways a bad film and in others it's quite good. The bad is the story itself. Although it has some great elements, it really doesn't make all that much sense (such as why didn't the lady ever seek out the police??) and it's best you just turn off your brain and enjoy this one.

The film is made by William Castle...so it's not surprising it starts off weirdly. The prologue is indescribly weird...like taking a hit of acid. You just have to see it to believe it. After, the actual story begins. It seems that a nutty old rich blind guy (Hayden Rorke) thinks his wife is cheating on him. Soon after talking to his lawyer about this, the guy burns up in a fire. Despite him being dead, the wife dreams of him and her dreams are incredibly vivid and disturbing. It has her beginning to question her sanity...as do appearances by a pretty young lover who doesn't seem to be real. What is really going on here?

Pairing Barbara Stanwyck and her ex-husband, Robert Taylor, was an interesting choice....and the film is filled with fantastically eerie camerawork and music...which, along with the husband's make-up, really terrify. If only the story were a bit more logical, I would have rated it higher, as the movie (much like Castle's "Strait-Jacket") is highly entertaining and creepy.

Producer/Director William Castle, famed for his low-budget shockers complete with assorted gimmicks, had by now reached his "Star Stage." He had featured Vincent Price in two of his films, and in 1964 really scored a coup when he signed Joan Crawford for "Strait- Jacket." Thanks mostly to her drawing power (she would later do "I Saw What You Did" for Castle) the film was a hit - and her publicity appearances on behalf of it didn't hurt, either. So, for his next project, Castle signed both Barbara Stanwyck and her initially reluctant ex-husband Robert Taylor to headline "The Night Walker" from a script written by "Strait-Jacket's" Robert Bloch (who also penned the book "Psycho").

In this psychological mystery melodrama, Stanwyck plays the wife of a rich, blind scientist (Hayden Rorke) who suspects her of having an affair. He hires a detective (Lloyd Bochner) to determine whether his wife is only dreaming of a lover or actually has one. Shortly thereafter, he is killed in an explosion, and his now very rich widow is plagued with nightmares in which he is pursuing her (when she's not dreaming of her mystery lover, that is). Taylor is her late husband's lawyer whom she turns to for help when her dreams begin to drive her mad. And so goes the plot...

Most critics saw this as another "Horror Hag" movie, in other words, a lurid yarn featuring a Golden Age star, a cycle which began with "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" (with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford) and continued with "Strait-Jacket" (Crawford); "Lady In A Cage" (Olivia De havilland) and Ann Sothern) "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" (Davis, De havilland and Agnes Moorehead) etc. This time around though, the still- beautiful Stanwyck was cast as a victim, rather than a villainess (as most of the veteran actresses ended up playing in these films were) and she generated a good deal of sympathy-(besides being a terrific screamer). The supporting players (Bochner, Judi Meredith, Rochelle Hudson and Marjorie Bennett) are capable and game, the production is well photographed and features a truly creepy score from the great Vic Mizzy ("The Addams Family, "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"). Famed voice-over king Paul Frees (for some reason credited as 'Ted Durant') sets the scene beautifully with a short but effective prologue. What really makes this work, however, are the still-potent talents of Stanwyck and Taylor, both of whom are really better than the material, but give it their all nevertheless. Alas, though profit participant Stanwyck toured with Castle to promote it, "The Night Walker" was a box-office flop, and it would take "Rosemary's Baby" which Castle only produced, to put him back on top. It's still an above-average film of it's type though, and pretty scary to watch alone at night.

I remember watching it when I was a kid and it scared me badly. Revisiting it so many years later, not so much. Maybe it was the Watergate era in the intervening years that makes everybody suspect anybody and everybody else. But I digress.

Barbara Stanwyck, still a handsome woman at 57, plays Irene Trent. She's married to a wealthy maimed blind ....scientist???...Howard Trent, who is over the top jealous and thinks because his wife talks in her sleep about some dream lover she is actually having an affair. They have a confrontation about his suspicions, he tries to strike her with his cane, and she runs into the street. At about that time there is smoke coming from Howard's lab. And yet blind, he goes up into that lab to handle this himself, there is a fiery explosion, and no more Howard.

And I mean literally no more Howard as in no body. The arson squad guy thinks this is not odd and says there was such extreme heat that the body disintegrated, while he stands next to all kinds of electrical equipment that is undamaged. And the fireproof door saved the rest of the house, and yet there is a hole in the floor. Is there a physicist in the house?

So the thing is, Irene starts having vivid dreams, as in a young man who comes to her, even marries her, with each dream ending with a burned Howard appearing. She feels like these "dreams" are actually happening, not just her imagination. What is going on here? Watch and find out.

So many questions and issues. How did Howard and Irene meet and why would she marry him? She seems to completely loathe every aspect of the guy. She had/has her own business that is doing well, was it just his money? This is never explained. The creepy organ music seems to be "Food Glorious Food" from Oliver, four years before the fact. And there are some very large plot holes - I'll let you find them - I still can't explain. And finally a warning - the film's prologue about dreams goes on forever.

And yet, in spite of all of this, I still like it. It is very much an example of "last gasp of the production code" horror. No gore, no "blood feasts", no hippies. Everybody is always dressed like they are going to work. It uses actual suspense - and mannequins! - to scare you. I'd recommend it.