| View Larger Image | Nightmares | DVDStarring: Cristina Raines, Joe Lambie, Anthony James, Clare Nono, Raleigh Bond
Directed By: Joseph Sargent
| List Price: | $14.98 | |
| | Binding: | DVD | | Rating: |  | | Run Time: | 99 minutes | | Format: | Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, NTSC | | Studio: | Starz / Anchor Bay | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Aspect Ratio: | 1.33:1 | | Release Date: | August 24, 1999 | | Sales Rank: | 52,352nd |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Amazon.com
Fans of the Tales from the Crypt series and The Twilight Zone should appreciate this early-Eighties anthology of horror tales. "Terror in Topanga" is the tale of a woman terrorized by a maniac when she just has to make a trip to the store for some cigarettes. "The Bishop of Battle" is notable for a very young Emilio Estevez as a teen whose obsession with video games gets the better of him. There's a definite nostalgia factor as he hustles other kids for money on the Paleozoic-era arcade games (listening to punk rock like Black Flag and Fear on an early-model Walkman the whole time). Perhaps the strongest segment involves B-movie stalwart Lance Henriksen as a priest who gives up the clergy and leaves his parish. While traveling across the desert, the hapless padre is pursued by a mysterious black Chevrolet pickup that systematically demolishes his car (shades of Spielberg's Duel). "Night of the Rat," rounding out the quartet, is just that; the story of a family who has a problem with a really big rat. While this little collection of tales tends to telegraph its punchlines well in advance, it still offers up a satisfying chill or two by way of its pacing and suspense, and with a bit more gore than the usual made-for-cable fare. --Jerry Renshaw |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 14 reviews)
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Nightmares Movie Review from The Massie Twins by thejoelmeister (www.GoneWithTheTwins.com)  3 Stars
November 01, 2008
Though individually modest compared to the bloody affairs of horror movies these days, the sum of their parts provides a uniquely entertaining and accurate sampling of horror films of the early `80s. With four short stories addressing different areas of terror, from serial killers to giant rats, Joseph Sargent's Nightmares showcases a nostalgic spattering of the genre and an amusing range of highs and lows in substance and style.
Chapter one (Terror in Topanga) sets an appropriately foreboding mood as a maniacal serial killer is loosed upon the small town of Topanga. Recalling urban legends and classic slashers, the deranged William Henry Glazer is out on a killing spree and young Lisa (Cristina Raines) decides a pack of cigarettes is worth risking her life for. Spouting the now cliché horror film line "I'll be right back," Lisa proceeds to embark on a drive alone at night and winds up in a deadly predicament. A wise segment to open the film with, Terror in Topanga ably represents the sub-genre of slasher flicks with a pervasive atmosphere of paranoia and isolation.
The second chapter (The Bishop of Battle) is perhaps the most famous and features a young Emilio Estevez as J.J. Cooney, a video game hustler determined to take on the arcade game Bishop and reach the elusive Level 13. Sporting cheesy `80s special effects and a sinister green head for a villain, The Bishop of Battle cleverly plays off of obsessions and the fear of technological takeover. A virtual reality invasion of the real world and a convincing performance from Estevez make this the most engaging chapter.
Easily the weakest in both story and thrills, chapter three (Benediction) finds Lance Henriksen as a priest who loses his faith after a tragic event. Told with a multitude of traumatic dreams and sullen flashbacks, Benediction plays out like a weaker version of 1977's The Car, only this time the devil's choice of transport is a large black truck. Henriksen is capable as always, but the terror is light and short-lived - even for a short film.
Chapter four returns to good form in Night of the Rat, a killer rodent story revolving around the consequences of messing with Mother Nature and the task of confronting your own fears. The suspenseful buildup is by far its greatest asset, as a climax featuring disappointing special effects and laughable solutions leaves much to be desired.
Paranoia, obsession, faith, and obstinance all merge with entertaining examples of the horror genre's many facets to produce an effective representation of the thrillers of the time. By today's standards you'll likely be spared any real nightmares as a result of viewing this `80s gem, but it's still worth the visit to a period of innovation over gory visuals.
- Joel Massie
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NIGHTMARES IS A UNTIQUE HORROR FLICK!!!!!!!! by sexylove (NEVADA)  5 Stars
September 20, 2005
Nightmares is a great horror story flick and each story is different and untique and has a great cast to go along with it!!!! If you a fan of Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Darkside and Twilight Zone then you should check this movie out!!!!!! You have a maniac after this woman which is on her way to get some smokes and then you have a kid that loves video games and the game takes over his life and last,but not least a giant sized rat that is terrorizes this family!!!!! I love my 80's horror flicks and this one is no different and its a must watch movie so go out and rent it tonight!!!!!!
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May your nightmares take you... by Draconis Blackthorne (The Haunted Noctuary) 3 Stars
January 17, 2005
This presentation contains 4 chapters of shadowmantic horror. Immediately, we course through a darkened landscape cracking with magma, as if Hell is bursting up from beneath. We are met with two glowing red eyes staring deep into the soul. A splendid introduction.
Chapter One: Maniac.
A small suburban town is terrorized by a maniac lurking in the woods, preying upon unsuspecting girls. He has already struck twice, yet besides this nefarious news, a young woman ventures forth into the night to purchase cigarettes, a compulsion she cannot purge. To her annoyance and fear, she runs low on gas on the way back, and pulls into an isolated station, wherte she is met by a qiet attendant, who serves as her savior when the said deranged lunatic appears from the back seat. There is a delightful twist, as one assumes the violator to be the gaspumper, only to become her savior in the end, when the true maniac attacks.
Chapter Two: Videogames.
A crafty teenager proficient at the playing of videogames uses the Art of Deception to gain some well-earned money from a cavalcade of gangscum who initially saw him as prey - but it turns out that it was he who was the hunter, who then makes a hasty retreat back to his own environment from the delapidated garbage low town.
He becomes obsessed with a particular game, and is determined to defeat the alien personage displayed therein. His obsession leads him to excel the levels of electronic battle, until he finally reaches the previously seemingly unobtainable 13th level which became a crossover from the 2nd dimension into the 3rd. He must also do physical battle with the various nemesi therein, until final victory laboriously obtained, only now, he becomes the guide to others seeking the mysterious 13th level......
Chapter Three: The Benediction.
Of the four chapters, this is this writer's favorite. A priest {who will be recognized as the actor from 'Millenium'}, stressed by the various funerary occurrences taking place in his parish, just becomes sick and tired of it all, and decides to leave his church somewhere out in he desert. He packs his bags, and embarks upon a journey that willlead him into a confrontation with The Devil Himself, who persues him sadistically within a sinister black car, complete with tinted windows and an inverse cross hanging from the review mirror. Nice touch.
Chapter Four: Night of The Rat.
A well-to-do couple experience the toils of vermin infestation so saturated, that they know no peace. It eventually is revealed that this particular breed of rat is surnamed "The Devil Rat", and it takes the wise efforts of a seasoned kind-hearted occultist to alleviate the problem, but not without a tragic end.
Nightmares is an enjoyable film in regeur of Creepshow, with one horror leading to another. The storyteller is the dark subconcious, and the bonfire is the flame of fear. Recommended entertainment.
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Rat as big as Shaq by Brian Shaw (Orlando, FL USA)  4 Stars
September 09, 2003
Finally I found the title of this flick!! I was like, 6 or something when I first watched this, and forgot the name for 20 years until tonight!!!! The movies that stand out is the video game one, the one where the Estevez dude turns to a monochrome dude trapped in the game, and then of course the last one, with the rat, as big as Shaq!!!! Now that is scary!!!!! This is a dandy 80's flick!!!
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don't lose your faith by william m.goodwin (L.A.) 3 Stars
June 05, 2002
Nightmares has 4 vignettes:1.) a nasty video game that consumes JJ (Emilio Estevez)2.) a psychopathic killer that almost gets smoker(Christina Raines)3.) A Satanic black Chevy truck trying to kill a faithless priest(Lance Henrickson)and 4.) a dumb story of Giant Rodent ... at a dopey husband( I forget his name)an enjoyable movie nontheless
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