Nightmares
Director: Joseph Sargent
Cast: Cristina Raines, Emilio Estevez, Lance Henriksen
Shout! Factory
December 22, 2015
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
I love horror movie anthologies. The good, the bad, and even sometimes the oh so ugly (except you, Creepshow 3, you can just go straight to hell), but I digress. Nightmares from 1983 was a staple of my childhood. If I saw it one time on cable TV, I saw it a hundred times. So yeah, little kid me loved this more often silly than scary flick, but after not seeing it for decades, how will the now adult me like it? Well put on your PJs, grab a cup of sleepy time tea, forget about Elm Street, we’re off to have some Nightmares.
There is no wraparound bit in this antho, it jumps right into things with a story that will seem very familiar to anyone that knows anything about urban legends, or the 1998 slasher flick, Urban Legends. That doesn’t mean that it’s not done well, and it was done here first. It also has the very capable Cristina Raines as the star and William Sanderson in an uncredited and creepy little role. While a bit too familiar now, it’s still a good segment.
The next mini-movie is pure 80s cheesiness and I love it for that. A young Emilio Estevez plays a teen too addicted to beating a local arcade game called The Bishop of Battle. There’s not much more to this one than that, and it pretty much goes where you expect it to, but it is a whole lot of fun.
The following terror tale is perhaps the best of the lot. It’s pretty much a one man show staring genre legend Lance Henriksen as a priest with a crisis of faith. The good father decides to leave his desert-set church, but in the long drive out of town, he runs into a black Satanic pickup truck looking to punish him for his lack of faith. This is one of the killer car films that everyone seems to forget and that’s a shame as it is pretty darn good, albeit short.
Sadly, Nightmares does not save the best for last, as the fourth and final story is easily the weakest, despite having Veronica Cartwright and Richard Masur in it. Both actors deliver capable, if at times over the top performances, but the tale of a giant supernatural rat is just kind of hokey, and the very dated special effects don’t do it any favors.
So there, four tiny tastes of terror where only one was mostly unpalatable. How about the extras and special stuff on the new Blu-ray release from Scream Factory? Well there’s not a whole lot, but for a nearly forgotten flight flick, any amount of love show here is greatly appreciated. First and foremost, the HD transfer looks great, and while the giant rat in the final story still looks crappy, the animation in Emilio Estevez’s segment looks much better than I expected it to do. As for the extras, there is an audio commentary with executive producer Andrew Mirisch and actress Cristina Rains. Additionally there is a theatrical trailer and a pair of radio spots. So not a lot to crow about, but neither is it barebones.
Nightmares is as 80s as neon legwarmers, New Coke, and Rubik’s Cubes, and I love it for that. If you like anthology flicks then I’m betting you’ll dig Nightmares. I easily recommend it, and it is available for sale December 22, just in time for a nightmarish Christmas.
