The Night Walker (1964)
The Night Walker is a 1964 American psychological horror film directed and produced by William Castle, written by Robert Bloch, and starring Robert Taylor, Judith Meredith, Lloyd Bochner and Barbara Stanwyck in her final film role.
Director – William Castle
Writer – Robert Bloch (screenplay)
Cast –
Robert Taylor as Barry Morland
Barbara Stanwyck as Irene Trent
Judi Meredith as Joyce
Hayden Rorke as Howard Trent
Rochelle Hudson as Hilda
Marjorie Bennett as Manager
Jess Barker as Malone
Tetsu Komai as Gardener
Lloyd Bochner as The Dream
Watch “The Night Walker” (1964)
Plot
Irene Trent is unhappily married to a blind, pathologically possessive millionaire inventor, Howard. Howard and Irene’s palatial mansion is packed with an endless assortment of cuckoo clocks, all in perfect synchronization, and Howard tape records all conversations in the house for later reference, hoping to catch Irene plotting an illicit liaison. Irene lives in a constant state of dread due to Howard’s jealousy. Yet despite Howard’s continual accusations of infidelity, Irene remains faithful to Howard, albeit with nightly recurrent dreams of a fantasy lover and an attraction to Howard’s attorney, Barry Morland.
Howard spends most of his time working in his upstairs laboratory on a variety of projects, the nature of which he refuses to divulge to anyone. As tensions mount, Irene feels trapped in a loveless, lonely relationship. But suddenly, everything changes: Howard is killed by an explosion in the laboratory, and Irene is set to inherit the house along with Howard’s entire fortune. However, Barry informs Irene that the estate must first go through a lengthy probate process.
The laboratory itself, a charred wreck, is secured from the rest of the house by a padlock so that no one may enter it. Irene subsequently has a nightmare in which a disfigured Howard stalks her through the house. The event frightens Irene enough that she decides to move out of the house, and return to the back-room apartment of the beauty shop she owns, which she operated prior to marrying Howard. There, she finds a confidant in Joyce, a newly hired beautician. Almost immediately, Irene’s dreams begin again, with increasing intensity, until they take the form of an “ideal” man—known only as “The Dream”.
Night after night, “The Dream” appears before Irene, whisking her away, initially to two different apartment locales, where they engage in harmless trysts over champagne. During one instance, however, Irene is escorted to a bizarre wedding ceremony, in which she “marries” “The Dream” in front of a group of wax figure witnesses. Irene recognizes the chapel as the same one in which she and Howard were married. Questioning her sanity, Irene visits the now-abandoned chapel with Barry. A groundskeeper allows them inside, and Irene is shocked to find the wedding ring from her dream lying on the floor. As Irene and Barry depart the chapel, “The Dream” emerges from the shadows, watching them as they exit. Barry subsequently informs Irene that, prior to Howard’s death, Howard had enlisted a private detective named George Fuller to stalk her. Later, while visiting the empty Trent home alone, Barry finds several wax mannequins hidden in the laboratory.
When Irene returns to the beauty shop, Joyce tells her that a mysterious man stopped by, and asked that Joyce relay the message: “pleasant dreams.” Joyce is subsequently stabbed to death in the salon by a man who resembles a disfigured Howard. Barry arrives at the salon moments later and claims to Irene that Howard also attacked him. Irene and Barry drive to Howard’s estate, and Irene hears gunfire erupt when Barry enters the house. Irene rushes inside, and, in the wrecked laboratory, is confronted by what appears to be a disfigured Howard—however, he removes a prosthetic mask, revealing himself to in fact be Barry. Barry admits to having impersonated Howard, as well as for causing the explosion that killed him—he also tells Irene he made himself the primary beneficiary to Howard’s will.
Barry attempts to kill Irene in laboratory, but is shot and wounded by “The Dream”, who also appears. “The Dream” reveals himself to be George Fuller, the detective who had been following Irene, and awakening her at night. He informs her that Joyce was in fact his wife. Barry, though injured, proceeds to attack George, and the two men fall to their deaths through a gaping hole in the laboratory floor.