Nightmare (1964)

Starring David Knight, Moira Redmond, Jennie Linden, Brenda Bruce, George A. Cooper
Directed by Freddie Francis
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After being shaken by dreams of her mother, imprisoned in an asylum for insanity and murder, a young girl returns home from her boarding school, where she's haunted by new dreams of violence.

Another of the psychological thrillers writer/producer Jimmy Sangster made for Hammer Films in the 1960s, the picture certainly looks great, with shadowy photography from John Wilcox well suited to the dark story.  Instead of populating the film with familiar Hammer regulars, the cast was largely unknown to me, but were quite professional, and I thought acquitted themselves well for the most part.  Linden, as the young girl who fears she may be inheriting her mother's insanity, was believable to me, whether screaming in anguished terror, or questioning whether insanity can explain her experiences.  Redmond, very good as a supportive nurse comforting Linden's character in the early going, has the difficult task of taking her character in the complete opposite direction later in the film, and think she overplays it a bit.  The film's finale is also rather drawn out after we experience what we thought was to be the picture's climax, and could have been edited down or more tightly paced.  I'd say the film is competently assembled and directed, but could have benefitted from a more established actor or actress in the cast, as well as tightening up of the finale.