I was not expecting a lighthearted screwball-esque comedy when I popped in A Walking Nightmare, but sometimes the budget set can surprise you. There are *some* horror elements here (as the title would imply), but it's far more of a comedy/mystery than a horror film. But the good news? It's pretty enjoyable. If you were on a steady diet of wisecracking private investigator films, I'd imagine A Walking Nightmare would be pretty middle of the road. But for me, the fun, fast talking approach was a nice change of pace.
The film opens with newspaper headlines (naturally), telling us of the disappearance of prominent banker Walter Craig. The Craig family is rife with in-fighting, as Walter's current wife and his daughter from his first marriage do not get along. There are a couple of other interesting characters in the Craig household, including an old lady obsessed with cults and the supernatural, and a very Lurch-ish creepy butler. Eventually, they decide to call upon former police investigator Nick Trayne (James Dunn) - "the best in the business" - to see if he can get to the bottom of the Walter's disappearance. Trayne hits it off with Billie Hilton (Joan Woodbury) - a woman who works for Walter, and they pair up and begin their search. But Walter mysteriously appears in the house on the very night Trayne shows up! The catch? He has a traumatic brain injury, and is more or less in a coma. (And he will be for a year... although how the doctor diagnoses that is a mystery.) Trayne and Billie must work together to find out who put Walter into his current state!
The main thing that stuck out about A Walking Nightmare was its very fast pace. It's one of those movies where people talk a mile a minute, and as soon as a scene is over it just jumps to the next scene. It's a short film (just over an hour), but they could have added an extra 10-20 minutes if they just let things breathe a bit. But it's a perfect length for what it is - if they did add time to the film you probably would feel a bit bored, as there isn't an awful lot to the story.
The mystery isn't much to sink your teeth into, but it's sort of beside the point anyways. The main draw here is Dunn as Nick Trayne, and his back and forth banter with Woodbury as Bille. Apparently, Dunn is a former vaudevillian, and it shows here with his speedy line-delivery and corny jokes. But Woodbury keeps up with him, and the two are really quite enjoyable as a will-they-or-won't-they couple. There isn't much physical comedy to speak of, but a lot of their dialogue could easily play as a vaudeville-type act.
The horror aspect comes into play as the comatose Walter seems to be under someones control as a sort of old-school zombie. It is a little scary (basically the way it's played made me think of a patient after getting a lobotomy, which will always just freak me out) but it's never played for big scares. There is a scene later in the movie where Trayne and Billie are searching in a dark house - it seems like it could be pretty creepy, but the transfer on the 50 Tales of Terror box set leaves a lot to be desired... unfortunately, you can only see what's going on about half the time. You still get to hear the jokes though - and there are some pretty good ones.
Again, your enjoyment of A Walking Nightmare will really depend on how much you like these old vaudeville-inspired comedies. It's really the only draw here, as the mystery and horror elements are not really a focal point of the film. But I found myself smiling for most of the (short) runtime.
I would recommend this film.
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