Janet out of the film, the movie loses not only its principal character but itsįigure and subsequent deterioration of Janet’s mental state – the film’s two Is unable to sustain its tension or dramatic momentum. Once Janet is out of the picture Nightmare Sangster’s cinematic mimic simply does not.
Unfortunately, while Robert Bloch and Hitchcock’s shocking Just as Janet Leigh’s embezzling characterĪ mere twenty-minutes into the film, so does Janet from Nightmare. Narrative structure takes an unwelcome turn in its second half. Which is exactly what happens in due course. Roams the hallways, her appearances always preceding an act of staged violence. It’s not helpful to Janet’s mental condition thatĮach night at Hightower she’s visited by a ghostly figure with a scarred face Mother’s insanity might prove to be an inherited trait. The girl is haunted by the thought that her Would be subsequently sent to the local madhouse, the brutal memories of theĮvent have left Janet teetering on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That on the day of her eleventh birthday, Janet witnessed the brutal stabbingĭeath of her father by the hand of her mother. We soon learn the disturbed mental patient Janet encounters in her Grace Maddox (Moira Redmond) appear outwardly friendly… but there’s somethingĪbout the two that arouses one’s suspicions. Property Henry Baxter (David Knight) - as well as a new face at the mansion,
In contrast, her guardian and executor of the Richmond), seem fond of Janet, sympathetic and protective. The school, Miss Mary Lewis (Brenda Bruce) realizes this privileged girl is sufferingĪccompanies her anxious student to Hightower, the tony mansion Janet is toĪt Hightower, particularly John (George A. Scream, scaring the living daylights out of her roommates at Hatcher’s School The girl awakens from her dream with a tortured Linden) enters the cell of a deranged woman who cackles and taunts menacingly. Walking frightened and apprehensive through the empty corridors of an insane Tuesday? From Hammer Films to Hollywood: A Life in the Movies (Midnight Marquee Press,Ģ009), Sangster doesn’t dwell too long on any reminiscences of Nightmare, but offers he found makingįilm (which he also produced) begins with a nightmare sequence, a young woman One of the connecting threads of this quartet of HammerĮfforts were that all scenarios had been dutifully scribed by their “houseĮntertaining autobiography Do You Want it Good or High due to their reimagining of the classic “Universal” monsters, would likewiseīring to the screen four psych-thrillers of similar temperament: Paranoiac and Maniac in 1963, Hysteria In England, Hammer Film Productions, riding The gimmicky producer would rush out theġ961 and, a bit later - and more famously - with Joan Crawford in Straiht- Jacket (1964).
On one side of the pond,Ĭome courtesy of Shlock-horror maestro William Castle. Me – a “mad” rush to cash in on that film’s coattails. This June, give yourself the gift of a piece of trans cinema history.Following the success of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho in 1960-61, there was – forgive digital media, it’s important to remember films like I Want What I Want that would be completely wiped out of history if it were not for internet preservation as the film has been out of print since before many of us reading this were alive. With the constant debates surrounding physical vs. Yes, there are some aspects that haven’t aged well considering it’s nearly fifty years old, but even the decision to have a cis woman (Anne Heywood) play the trans woman lead is groundbreaking considering we’re still putting male actors in bad wigs and calling it “cinema” in 2021. Based on the book of the same name, I Want What I Want is an out of print movie lost to time and it’s a terrible shame because it is one of the most sincere presentations of a trans affirming film ever made. Trans representation in cinema is pretty damn terrible if we’re being honest, but there are a handful that rise above the top and offer a genuinely thoughtful approach to telling a trans story.