Les cauchemars naissent la nuit (1972)

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.

Director:

Jesús Franco (as Jess Franco)

Writers:

Jesús Franco (screenplay and adaptation), Josyane Gibert (dialogue) (as Josiane Gibert)

Stars:

Diana Lorys, Paul Muller, Jack Taylor

Cast

Credited cast:
Diana Lorys	...	Anna de Istria
Paul Muller	...	Dr. Paul Lucas
Jack Taylor	...	Cynthia's Lover
Colette Giacobine	...	Cynthia Robins (as Colette Jack)
Andrea Montchal	...	The Neighbour (as André Montchall)
Soledad Miranda	...	Neighbour's Girlfriend (as Susan Korda)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Buchholz	...	Cynthia's Lover (voice)
Dorothy Elias-Fahn	...	Cynthia Robins (voice)
Grant George	...	The Neighbour (voice)
Dave Mallow	...	Dr. Paul Lucas (voice)
Cindy Robinson	...	Anna de Istria (voice)
Philece Sampler	...	Neighbour's Girlfriend (voice)

Storyline

In Zagreb, the striper Anna de Istria works in a sleazy cabaret. She is seduced by the blonde Cynthia Robins that invites her to move to her house. Ana is disturbed by nightmares, where she kills a man with a spear, and Cynthia calls Dr. Paul Lucas to treat Ana. Meanwhile, a couple that lives in the house next door spies the movement in Cynthia's house.

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Plot Keywords:

nightmare | dancer | shower | seduction | voice over narration | 

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Taglines:

Haunted by bloody nocturnal visions, Anne fears she is going insane.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Liechtenstein

Language:

French

Release Date:

18 January 1973 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Nightmares Come at Night

Company Credits

Production Co:

Prodif Ets.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is a Mish Mash of two different unfinished Jess Franco movies. One with Paul Muller from 1969, the other with Soledad Miranda from 1970.

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Goofs

When Anna is watching the couple dancing, the woman has a purple top on. Halfway through, it pans to Anna and then back to the couple, where the woman has a skin-color shirt on. Again panning back to Anna and then the couple, the woman has the purple shirt back on.

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Connections

Remade as Night Has a Thousand Desires (1984)

User Reviews

Good erotic thriller by Franco

Nightmares Come at Night isn't one of Jess Franco's most famous movies. And it's not his best either. But it really does deserves more attention than it gets. It's a very entertainment and erotic thriller starring the beautiful Diana Lorys (The Awful Dr. Orloff) and Paul Muller. The plot is about a woman (Anna) who starts having weird and scary nightmares of her killing people. To make things worse, the people in her dreams appear dead the next morning. Is Anna really going insane or she's the victim of a much more sinister plan? As I said before, this is not one of Franco's best films. It has an uneven pace, bad acting and he really waste the talent of actress Soledad Miranda, who appears in a tiny and incidental character. But the movie also has good things going on. The story is very worthy, there's a lot of nudity, there are some scenes that are very hypnotic and the score by Bruno Nicolai is brilliant (one of the best of his career in my opinion). The opening credits are a very nice touch also.

Very underrated Franco flick. A 7/10 from me.