Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


Fear in the Night (1947)

Director: Maxwell Shane

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

A remarkable thriller about a young man's torture by nightmare when he dreams he committed a murder, and then finds himself in possession of tangible evidence proving that somehow, somewhere, he actually did kill. An adaptation of Cornell Woolrich's story Nightmare, it's a real poverty row quickie produced by the Pine-Thomas team. Admirably acted in a raw-boned way, tricked out with a barrage of cheap but surprisingly effective expressionistic tricks, above all using a subjective narration which orchestrates the hero's terrors with Bressonian intensity, it creates (almost by accident, it would seem) a hauntingly exact visualisation of the dark, seedy world of Woolrich's imagination that made him the patron saint of film noir. Shane remade the film in l956 as Nightmare, with twice the budget and half the effect.

Author: TM

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing