The Night Walker (1964)

Disapointment

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Wealthy widow in Los Angeles dreams of a handsome mystery man who romances her--also of the walking corpse of her blind husband, who may not have perished in an explosion as she was told. Robert Bloch was the writer William Castle wanted to work with most. Bloch, who helped bring new shocks to the screen with his script for "Psycho" in 1960, came up with a fairly straightforward thriller here, one that producer-director Castle then marketed his own way ("Are you afraid of the things that can come out of your dreams...Lust. Murder. Secret Desires?"). However, just because "The Night Walker" is relatively gimmick-free doesn't mean it's a washout. Far from it, as Barbara Stanwyck is very good in the leading role, creating a savvy, quick-thinking businesswoman who is also prone to screaming fits (the latter trait doesn't quite pay off, as Stanwyck just isn't a Scream Queen). Eerie thriller on a low budget has a quietly menacing ambiance that is intriguing. Vic Mizzy contributes one of his finest background scores to the film, and the cast is full of pros, including Robert Taylor, Stanwyck's real-life ex-husband. The kitschy opening about the world of dreams is pure William Castle (and has next-to-nothing in common with the movie that follows), but there are many amazing sequences here to cherish. Good fun! *** from ****

Sadly not available on DVD at time of writing, "The Night Walker" seems to be one of William Castles more neglected films. It tells the tale of a woman named Irene,who is haunted by strange recurring dreams, which she eventually cannot distinguish from reality. Is she going mad or is something more sinister happening?As usual with a Castle film, the production is effectively made, even with the evident low budget, the lighting and photography and performances are all well handled. Barbara Stanwyck makes a good effort in the leading role, and the supporting cast is fine too. The story starts off in a fairly intriguing way with a bizarre four and a half minute prologue about dreams that has some superb kitsch imagery, and there are a few chilling moments as Irene starts to experience her weird dreams. As with a lot of William Castle movies there are just a handful of exceptional scare moments that really stand out...I sometimes wonder if this a fluke when he does this, but he can create some of the most delicious scares, such as the blind hag in "House on Haunted Hill" and the mute woman's hallucinations in "The Tingler". Well there are a couple of shriek moments even in this more humble offering, one down to the appearance of a ghoulish figure in fright make-up, and another, when Irene think she has woken up from a dream, only to realise in terror that she has not, and seems incapable of waking up at all, which is quite a deep concept for the general tone of the movie.Sadly at the half way point, things become less dreamlike and more mechanical as a few truths are revealed and the layers of mystery are stripped away. The last 20 minutes does not equal the first hour at all, which may be part of the reason why few people rate this very highly. Still, its a competent and entertaining piece of work, and definitely worth seeing. What a shame it's impossible to find.

This bargain basement Hitchcock plagiarism (from the author of 'Psycho') stars Barbara Stanwyck as an unhappy widow who fears the ghost of her tragically killed husband is trying to drive her insane. But is she truly haunted, or only hallucinating? And who is that tall, dark and handsome stranger who stalks her dreams night after night? There are more plot holes than you'd care to count before the astonishing resolution, but like any guilty pleasure the film is certainly enjoyable in a ludicrous, low rent sort of way. It's all very stylish and improbable, and thrown together (like all good B-movies) with a brazen disregard for logic. Along the way are (surprisingly) one or two truly frightening moments, and the atmospheric (if not exactly subtle) chiaroscuro visual effects are first rate. Don't miss the portentous introductory narration, explaining the psycho-significance of dream imagery.

William Castle has successfully managed to thrill audiences with low-budget films that manage to creep into our collective psyches and scare us silly. Being the showman that he is, he used a lot of gimmicks and tricks. "The Tingler", "House On Haunted Hill", and others are examples of this unique technique. He knows what scare us. "Night Walker" differs from this format somewhat. There are no gimmicks, no tricks. Just a solid, believable script of a woman tormented by troubling dreams after the death of her husband. Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck add credence to the story by virtue of their considerable "star" power, making a possibly unbelievable story believable. The casting is exceptional, the music is appropriately effective, and the ending is...well, quite surprising.