User reviews

The idyllic existence of Fairview advertising executive Michael Muhney is upset by bad dreams and disturbing visions. He's unknowingly experiencing a reality-check in a bracing post-apocalyptic Matrix riff from Australia (which explains the unfamiliar cast). A faceless corporation called Arora has wallpapered-over the real world with pacifying signals sent direct to the brain: this is a world where you can buy a new car every day at 1950s prices and your unflaggingly cheerful parents talk in reassuring platitudes, a place where Kurt Cobain sings children's songs and Marilyn Monroe makes movies with Leonardo DiCaprio. Mixing paint-box colours with grimy black-and-white, director Michael Pattinson conjures up a delusional universe that repels and attracts in equal measure. This curious picture lifts good ideas from impeccable sources: the too-perfect nostalgic small-town setting of Pleasantville, the sealed perimeters of The Thirteenth Floor, the out-of-wack office of The Truman Show, the on-screen catalogue tags of Fight Club, the paintings of Rene Magritte. Even though it's consistently engaging, like so many Outer Limits-style tales, the more it's explained, the less interesting it becomes. This could be because the dialogue sounds as though it's been lifted wholesale from comic-book speech-bubbles. Even so, the conflicting ideas gnaw: Socrates' assertion that the unexamined life is not worth living is all very well, but would we want to know the truth if the truth is unbearable?

Virtual Nightmare is one of those films you catch on cable television by accident. I was one of the lucky people who did just that, over the Christmas period in 2002.

This was one of those films that did well to show the acting talents of virtual nobodies. The only criticism I have of the film is the ending, which I felt was a little unsatisfactory. That said, Virtual Nightmare does give food for thought, and the last film that made me think in this kind of way was "Cube", which was a completely different genre, but still made me feel "claustrophobic".

Nevertheless, this is one film that should be seen. It highlights the rot of consumerism and globalisation, and how we are all blind to it.

On viewing Virtual Nightmare numerous other films came to mind. Total Recall, The Stepford Wives, The Wizard of Oz and also The Matrix. Despite this, the film did not seem that derivative and for me exists in its own right as an original.

The premise underlying the film was more believable to me than The Matrix, which I could not take seriously. The fact that there were no really big names in the film added to the charm and I was not focused on a Bruce being Bruce, or Arnie being Arnie. I could concentrate on the film itself rather than the star.

There were a few surprises along the way and I never lost interest for a minute. Though having said that there were some gaps in the plot and the ending was ultimately a little unsatisfactory, in the same way that Total Recall was. It was not quite up to the high standard of what had gone before.

The film seemed to convey to me the dangers of over eager consumerism and small-minded indifference to anything beyond our own doorstep. I would certainly watch it a second time in the near future and maybe again sometime in the distant future, but for me it is not a film to watch over and over again. Highly enjoyable though and evidence that you do not need a huge budget or a big name to create something worthwhile.

I loved the Matrix, too, but Virtual Nightmare is a totally different type of sci-fi movie. It's the kind with "unknown" actors, average special effects, and little if any bloodshed, that relies primarily on a story that is equal parts technological extrapolation and social satire. It's simple, but smart. But not too smart--it doesn't think it's better than you.

I probably would never have seen it, except I felt like setting my VCR to tape something, and it happened to be in the listings. Even then, I was debating whether I really wanted to waste my time watching a movie I had never heard of, so I happened to check IMDb, and I saw I bunch of people in England liked it, so I watched it, and it was very enjoyable. Thanks England!

No, this isn't "Robocop" and by "arresting" we mean it held our attention when so many made-for-TV sci-fi efforts send us scurrying for the remote. The world-as-virtual-reality theme isn't brand new, tho' this film beats the Matrix pictures to the idea by several years. What impressed us was the way that idea is executed, in that residents of a small, desert community only see the pretty, neat little town around them, when it's just an illusion, broadcast to the populace by a local transmitting station. One day a successful young exec starts noticing cracks in the virtual facade and begins to discover what is real and what isn't with the help of a plucky librarian. The reality, when they find it, comes as a shock to protagonists and viewers.

There are really 2 virtual realities in this world: the pretty facade most see and a horribly grubby one deliberately beamed to those jaded souls who seem to think things are supposed to look that way. The "real world," when it's finally revealed, seems half way between the two illusions, in that everything seems to be beige, pre-fab and of unimaginable blandness. We weren't sure if all the virtual realities made sense even in the context of the story, like when the hero first notices his little town isn't what it seems, he sees the horribly grubby "reality" instead of the merely bland one the ending reveals to be the truth, but all in all, for sci-fi fans, this film is entertaining and worth a look.

VIRTUAL NIGHTMARE is a pretty interesting, low budget TV movie heavily indebted to the likes of TOTAL RECALL, THE TRUMAN SHOW, and inevitably, THE MATRIX. It tells the story of an ordinary guy, a young professional, who begins to notice unusual 'glitches' in his everyday life - glitches that eventually convince him he's living a lie...

The concept of people living in a fantasy, virtual reality-style world is a familiar one, but it's the execution that makes VIRTUAL NIGHTMARE so engaging. Sure, the year 2000 special effects are dated, but scenes where the protagonist views 'tagged' items of furniture and the like are decent and well-handled. The acting is the worst thing about this, but it's not really important when the concept is the most interesting part of it. Ignore the low-rent antics and the frequent cheesiness of the narrative; focus instead on an engaging and unique little tale, one that's well told.

I saw this picture and enjoyed it, but I kept comparing it to the SF book I read in the 60's by Raymond Z. Galun(The Eden Cycle). It seemed to be flat compared to that book, but then any movie(especially a made for TV one) is that way. I thought they did a good job of telling the story and keeping our interest with minimal special effects. I agree with a previous comment that the movie was cut short and that the ending should have been more developed, but put that down to being a made-for-TV movie. This is not the most extreme use virtual reality in SF. There was a trilogy I read relatively about a man in the year 30,000 or so where many things were virtual, everyone knew it and liked it that way because it added color and beauty with little effort. People thought of it as customizing everyday reality and did other things like it such as creating virtual friends, copying real ones and traveling through telepresence. They had computers smarter than people, no aging, immortality, but no FTL travel.

I saw this on cable awhile back when I had absolutely nothing else to to do. For a low-budget TV movie, this one is interesting, thought provoking, and over-all good.

The plot is along the lines of books (and their movie adaptations) 1984 or BRAVE NEW WORLD, with some key ingenious changes that make the film unique and interesting. It is sometime later in the 2000's, and the world is perfect and sugar-coated - or at least seemingly perfect. There are some strange things in this perfect. People can buy "brand new" cars (most of them from the '50s and '60s) and the music used is mostly from the '50s. On top of this retro world there's modern appliances such as a wide-screen TV's, and the main character, Dale Hunter, is a advertising agent working on a new project, Arora (purposefully mispelled). But when Dale starts seeing strange things, like numbers and labels written over everything, he begins to suspect something is wrong. He and a librarian, Natalie (who also shares the opinion that something is wrong), try to uncover the truth behind their perfect world.

None of the actors seem to be very well known, but they show how talented they can be in this movie. The plot is well developed (though in the middle of the film, it got a little confusing). And the special effects are good, especially for a movie with such a low budget. The only problem I have with the movie is the ending. It seemed rushed and unrealistic. For the rollercoaster ride the movie was with so many twists and mind-challenging ideas, the ending seemed a little unsatisfactory.

Great movie, and one of the best TV movies that I've seen. If you can catch this movie on TV, I recommend that you watch it. It's an entertaining and interesting movie. Something that a lot of similar films, with even higher budgets and bigger stars, fail to achieve.

Rating: 8/10

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this flick. Being a made-for-TV movie, the special effects and production values aren't all that great, but the plot is interesting and even clever at times. I was genuinely surprised by some of its twists. One of the highlights of the film is Tasma Walton as Wendy; she provides an odd mix of crankiness and warmth that really made me like her character.

You really can't compare the movie to the Matrix, which it resembles at a superficial level, and if you expect that sort of movie you'll be disappointed (this was made-for-TV, after all). It has more in common with eXistenZ.

So check it out, it's surprisingly enjoyable.

I liked this movie. I'll even admit that I watched it twice back to back just to take it all in. There's no top Hollywood named stars, no big explosions, no over the top special effects, just a neat little story line that keeps a person interested, and maybe even guessing a little bit.

I enjoyed how they mixed the flavor of the 1950s with the technology of the 2000s. The underlying message seeming to be that that's how people in the future would create their own reality if they could. Car enthusiasts will love their concept of car buying. I don't want to explain too much about the movie's plot line in fear of taking some of the fun of discovery out of it. Suffice to say, if you like the idea of the possibilities of virtual reality, the wackiness of the 1950's stereotypes, and your sci-fi lite, give this movie a try.

Last note. There were a few plot holes in my opinion but nothing major, and nothing I couldn't come up with an explanation for on my own. My only real complaint is that I had to watch this movie on a tape of commercial television because it doesn't appear to be available on DVD. I'd buy a copy if it were. It's a keeper.

Got to agree with other reviews for this movie, with a bigger budget and a few star actors and this could've been a hit with a theatrical release.

I actually found the story much better than the Matrix I also found it odd that both this movie and the Matrix were filmed in Australia with only a year or so between them on the release date with the Matrix being released the year before in 99 but also with some sequences filmed in the USA.

The similarities between the two are quite obvious, minus the big budget effects of course, it does make one wonder if they were both inspired by the same material.

All in all Virtual Nightmare is well worth a watch, shame it didn't get a sequel that explored what the protagonists found in the wilderness.

I'm one of the folks completely underwhelmed by the Matrix series' "Let's bankrupt-the-Studio!" mindset toward oppressively massive SFX. I like movies that make you think and which DO NOT rely on massive amounts of gunplay and car wrecks.

Virtual Nightmare, like its true inspiration, THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR, is such a film.

This film might not have the special effects and big name actors that it's better know counterpart has, but it has a far more intricate plot. The juxtaposition of technologies and lifestyles is effective and sits slightly uncomfortable on the viewer, creating an unease and tension all of it's own. It is very well directed and acted, and the storyline with it's numerous twists within twists keeps the viewer enthralled right from the start, and holds you there to the very end.

If you haven't seen it, watch it now.

On a Sunday night, I was surprised to see a film that held my imagination longer then a few minutes. Virtual Nightmare may have stolen ideas from many other films, i.e. matrix, and even the thirteenth floor to name just a few.

If your are looking for another film, I would recommend "The Thirteenth Floor", a similar story line involving computers and virtual worlds within worlds.

A great little film.

Vampires68

The Congress (2013) claims to be inspired by Stanislaw Lem's novel, but this movie is much closer and is a much better movie. You should also watch The Thirteenth Floor (1999) and Star Trek Voyager S02E03 Projections.

The movie was fun to watch and get carried away in a science-fictional story. The lead actor was convincing and enjoyable to watch. Some of the scenes were very well done, with set decoration included. I wish that I could have seen the movie on a big-screen, with a Bruckheimer-type budget to follow. It was a nice way to spend my evening, though. Good entertainment.

"Virtual Nightmare" is a science fiction film about real people and what the future might actually hold for us.

Do not compare this film to the "Matrix", which is nothing more than a superhero comic book for kids with big egos. Like "Star Wars" before it, "Matrix" became a huge commercial success but, like most science fiction films that border on fantasy, it is a pretty mindless action/adventure made for entertainment only.

"Virtual Nightmare" is true science fiction that gives you something real to think about at the end. It is also a good story. Of course, intellect is required to enjoy this film -- something that is sadly missing from today's superficiality-pandering, consumption-driven society.

Highly recommended.