Nightmares

Anthology horror film with one truly memorable segment and three other decent ones. The first story is a take on a very familiar urban legend. Christina Raines plays a smoker who goes to pick up some cancer sticks, despite reports of an escaped maniac being loose in the area. This segment also features Larry minus his brother Darryl and his other brother Darryl. It's an enjoyable enough story.

The second story is the one this movie is probably best remembered for. Emilio Estevez plays a young jerk who desperately wants to beat an arcade game called The Bishop of Battle to prove he's the best. We get some awesome cheesy 80s computer effects in this one. I like this story a lot and it's easily my favorite of the whole movie.

The third story is a weird one with Lance Henriksen as a priest who has lost his faith. On a road trip to think things over he's attacked by a demonic pickup truck. I have no clue what the point of this story is but it's a fun watch if you like movies like Duel and The Car. A little too short though.

The final story is about a family terrorized by a giant rat. It's better than it sounds but it's probably my least favorite segment of the film. Gotta love that hokey ending.

This movie reportedly began as a TV pilot. It definitely feels like it was made for TV. It's entertaining, don't get me wrong. None of the segments is bad. But there is a feeling that more could have been done with most of the segments if this had been a proper theatrical film all along.

As is the case with most horror anthologies, Nightmares too serves you stories of varying quality - some good, some okay, some rather boring. Nightmares is watchable - if you like the art of horrors rooted in the 80s. For sure nothing essential but good enough to waste some time. Exact rate: 4.5.

Thanks to good writing and excellent casting choices, this is (imho) the best of the "horror serial" movies popularized in the 1980's by films like "Creepshow." Some genuinely creepy moments and quality acting make for an excellent ride, although the first of the four stories is basically a throwaway. The special effects could be better, but this was the early 80's after all. Watch it at night after 1AM for best effect.

8/10

Directed by Joseph Sargent, it's split into 4 unconnected stories: 1) "Terror in Topanga" offers up that old chestnut about a dark night and an escaped killer on the prowl. Featuring Christina Raines and William Sanderson. 2) "The Bishop of Battle" stars Emilio Estevez as a video game expert determined to get to the final level on a new arcade game. Careful what you wish for! Also with Moon Unit Zappa. 3) "The Benediction" is a Duel take-off with Lance Henriksen as a priest who has lost his faith and may have run into the devil in the form of a menacing black truck on the highway. 4) "Night of the Rat" features a suburban family terrorized by, you guessed it, rats. With Richard Masur and Veronica Cartwright.

The effects are chintzy (including some very early computer effects), and a lot of it is one-note. But there's a camp charm to it, and it makes good viewing for those in the mood for some cheesy but not ghastly frights. Featuring some early 80's punk music by the likes of X, Black Flag, and Fear.

For those not afraid of cheapo 80's television horror comes Nightmares. Essentially this was the remainder of the filmed episodes of Universals anthology series "The Darkroom", you know, the short lived one that was on ABC in the early eighties, had James Coburn as the host. Oh well, I tried. Anywho, the 4 story movie was very "un-scary" to most, but entertaining enough to sit through if you enjoy speculative fiction type stories. Of course the staple memory from this movie is the segment with E.Esteves called "The Bishop of Battle". After TRON failed to bag box office reciepts in the upper millions, I guess Universal thought they could do better with a video game nightmare story replete with computer graphics. Must have worked for this film as mentioning this segment, jars memories even in this day. Trivia bit: Eighties icon Moon Unit Zappa makes a guest appearance in the film, see if you can spot her.