Richard Kern's My Nightmare is a frightening short film about trying to realize the desires man has long internalized, be it about women, sex, or pleasure. In this film, shots of a man (Kern himself) lying on a bed masturbating to the thoughts of a woman (Susan McNamara) stripping and performing a wide variety of fetishes with him are juxtaposed together, creating a very vivid masturbatory fantasy before the woman finally enters the man's life.
Kern uses canted angles quite frequently during My Nightmare, which help provide for a pleasantly uneasy effect, making us question if we're supposed to be uncomfortable or aroused during these particular scenes. As always, Kern knows no boundaries, fully allowing both the male and female bodies to be explored by one another and themselves for the six minute duration of this short. It's so raw and scuzzy that the limits it pushes are the most attractive thing about it.
When the woman finally meets the man at his front door, we see all the spark and flutter of this relationship drop down a few notches. What was once very lively, spontaneous, and sexual becomes a very rote and perfunctory modeling shoot for McNamara's character by the Kern character. My Nightmare details the sharp contrast between the beauty of imagination and the drollness of reality. It's one of the many things juxtaposed here that shouldn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Starring: Richard Kern and Susan McNamara. Directed by: Richard Kern.
