Nightmare Man

I have been looking forward to Nightmare Man ever since June of 2006, when I had the opportunity to meet Tiffany Shepis at Flashback Weekend in Chicago. She was honestly excited about it, and I found her enthusiasm infectious enough to check out this movie as one of the 8 Films to Die For.

She was right. I really enjoyed this movie. That is not to say that it is, well, really good. At it's core, this film is your classic "boobs and blood" b-movie. You have to go in accepting this. The script is flimsy at times, the dialog is openly bad at times, the characters act accordingly most of the time (few moments you'll ask yourself "is that REALLY the most reasonable reaction" but those moments are uncommon) but overall...I really liked it. What really makes the movie work is Kanefsky's ability to put the viewer in the scene. I haven't seen many films that capture the surroundings better than this one does. The scene at the edge of the road is phenomenal. I can tell you where every tree is in relation to the car. I could feel how far it was from the trunk of the car to the trunk of the really big tree off the rear passenger window. And I knew there wasn't much room for Ellen to move if (when) she needed to. The suspense created is fantastic, and that alone carries this movie. I will be seeking out Kanefsky's other films for that alone.

The acting is much better than I expected, Blythe Metz is a bit inconsistent, but when she's on she's really good. Tiffany Shepis does a good job, but the writing for her character is...confusing at best. Her reactions are not what you might expect to the events that unfold around her. Of the women in the movie, Hanna Putnam puts in the best performance, I hope to see her get some roles with more exposure. The male actors are not as impressive as this is really a movie that highlights the women for more than the obvious reasons. James Ferris is the best of the male actors, but I did like Jack Sway as Ed and Luciano Szafir with the exception of his accent getting in the way a little.

Overall, I do recommend this movie for those that like low-budget horror. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I hope you do to.

Not as wacky/off-kilter as some of his other stuff, but a decent low budget slasher/demon/cabin in the woods tale. I liked that the kid had a There's Nothing Out There t-shirt -- That's self-referential, to a self-referential movie, before there was such a thing as a self-referential horror movie (Have I lost you? I'm referring to There's Nothing Out There, 1991). I got a headache thinking about it. What is it with people complaining about sex and nudity in a B-horror movie? Tiffany Shepis is in this one. She's going to get naked. It's a given. Sheesh, how PC do you have to be to complain about sexual content in a genre flick?

Not that I am saying this movie was all bad, but that was the highlight and if the sexy talk is the highlight of a horror movie then it is not much of a horror film in the end. The story has this woman who seems to be having a bit of trouble on the marital front. Her solution to the problems seems to be to order some love god mask, they instead seem to send her the evil demon love god mask and throughout the movie you wander if this manifest ion is real or not. She is being driven to the mental institution by her husband they break down and she is seemingly stalked and attacked by this person or thing while her husband is getting gas. Meanwhile, somewhere in the woods there is a house with two couples. Two very cute girls who are friends and their boyfriends. They play truth or dare and then the crazy...or not, girl ends up in their care. Well lets just say there is somebody out there trying to get at her as he quickly steals a crossbow and handles the one guy while he is being mooned. However, you still don't know if it is the mysterious nightmare man the girl goes on about or something else. The husband is heading for the cabin though and soon afterward so are the police. This movie had potential as do most horror movies and like so many they just miss some stuff. On the plus side you get to see a couple of good kills, some good nudity, and the end was rather good too. However, I was kind of hoping for something more in the lines of say an Evil Dead movie rather than a typical slasher film with a twist here and there. So far out of the three Afterdark movies in this new batch this is the strongest, sadly though compared to the last batch this one would be tied with Penny Dreadful as the weakest in my eyes.

A woman is haunted by a "nightmare man" who fills her dreams with terror. When her medication runs out, Nightmare Man seemingly escapes her subconscious and enters the physical world. Hiding out in a secluded cottage (along with Tiffany Shepis and friends), she tries to stop the monster, but carnage ensues... can the beast be stopped without hurting the woman who carries him?

I really wanted to see this film for the Tiffany Shepis acting (and nudity) as well as the Rolfe Kanefsky writing and directing. Full disclosure: as part of my work as a reviewer, I have talked with both Tiffany and Rolfe and continue to exchange mail with Rolfe on occasion. So I'm a little biased, and I was more than eager to see this film (which in all honesty should have been released over a year ago).

What we have here is Kanefsky's trademarks. Good-looking girls in various stages of undress, holding rather large weapons (in this case a rifle and a crossbow). There's some sexual suggestive situations ("erotic truth or dare") and a killer demon on the loose. Unlike "The Hazing" with the excessive "Evil Dead" references, this one seems largely unique. I've heard it compared to "The Exorcist" (which is an amazing stretch), and there is one subtle and one not to subtle reference to Kanefsky's earlier film "There's Nothing Out There".

What is bothersome about Rolfe's movies is how he has big ideas but small budgets. His writing is much better than the average horror writer's and his directing is quite exquisite (as my friend Hannah keenly pointed out, he has that 1980s sense of where to put the camera while chasing a girl through the woods). And his special effects and gore are pretty decent. Even the acting is above average (Shepis in particular, but no one here was lacking -- which is more than I can say about other, "bigger" films).

This comes off as bothersome because if you're a film snob or don't have the patience for lower budget films, you'll be really turned off my the film quality. I don't know film grades (35mm? Super 8? These terms are familiar to me but unclear at the same time), so I can't say what he uses, but it does give the air of less than the Hollywood standard. Which, in turn, screams "amateur" to some people, despite Rolfe being quite the veteran of film and horror in particular. His "Hazing" makes him well-known in the cult circles -- he's without a doubt the biggest director in the 2007 After Dark Horrorfest lineup.

So anyway, the film is enjoyable if you don't mind that. Good death scenes, plenty of dry humor, some butts and breasts for the guys to enjoy. Blood, blood, blood (and even a little gore and pieces of dangling flesh). The pacing is good. I found some parts too slow or too long, but Hannah says the suspense was really well done compared to films her and I have seen lately, so I suppose it depends what pace you're ready for. Maybe I needed a beer (Regal Cinemas is lacking in the booze department).

Of the four films I've seen so far this year, I'm ranking "Nightmare Man" my second favorite (behind "Tooth and Nail"). It's worth seeing in the theater if you can get there, or otherwise I sincerely hope you make it a top renting priority when it comes out. Throw on a few special features on the DVD and this may even be worth owning (a commentary track, Rolfe? Could you do that for us?). But yeah, I give this one two thumbs up (assuming Hannah allows me to borrow her thumb).

I have to say, I have never walked out of a movie before. I've seen some pretty crap movies, too, but I stick around and watch them, and then laugh later.

I can only say that this movie was so horrible (perhaps the reason it made it into the Horrorfest line up, because it was so terrible as to be horrifying?), that I was insulted by it. Heralding back to the days of cheesy 80's horror, this was by far even worse than those amusing flicks.

Bad acting, horrible effects and makeup, terrible filming, irritating music...did I mention the bad acting? There's a place for movies like this...it's called Blockbuster, where you spend $3 to go home and be disappointed. My wife and I spent over $20 on this one movie to end up walking out, it was atrocious.

To the people in charge of selecting the Horrorfest lineup...please bother to pick something a bit more worth our time and money. More selections like this in the future will only land you crappy reviews and less ticket sales. Try living up to at least SOME kind of standards.

To those of you that got through the entire movie, bravo! You have more stamina than I...we seriously had to leave, or I might have hurt myself laughing.