Unlike many an anthology movie, Nightmares has no wraparound story to link each chapter, the film consisting of four unconnected supernatural tales ranging from the genuinely suspenseful to the rather routine.
Tale number one, Terror in Topanga, is easily the most intense of the group. Based on a popular urban legend about an escaped inmate from a lunatic asylum and a housewife (Cristina Raines) who unwisely leaves her home to purchase cigarettes, you'll probably know how this one is going to end way before you get there, but with sharp direction, a great central performance, and even a little gore, the familiarity of the material matters not—it's a great way to kick off proceedings.
Chapter two is The Battle of Bishop, the tamest of the four stories, which stars Emilio Estevez as teenager J.J. Cooney, who is obsessed with reaching level 13 of a particularly challenging arcade machine. Breaking into the arcade after closing time to play the game, he finally finds out what finishing The Battle of Bishop involves. Like an episode of Amazing Stories, this one isn't in the least bit scary but does deliver a likable turn from Estevez and some fairly decent computer graphics for the day.
The penultimate story is The Benediction, which stars Lance Henriksen as father MacLeod, a priest who has lost his faith. Leaving his parish, McLeod drives into the desert where he is repeatedly attacked by a mysterious black truck with tinted windows. Like a cross between Spielberg's Duel and '70s film The Car, this one offers up some reasonably exciting scenes of vehicular action (including the impressive sight of the truck bursting out of the ground), and its always great to see Henriksen on screen.
Last of the four tales is Night of the Rat, in which a family find themselves terrorised by a giant devil rat that invades their home. This one builds the tension nicely only to spoil it in the closing moments with some cheesy special effects using a real rat made to look oversized. Veronica Cartwright is great as the terrified mother, but she really deserves better than this.
Tale number one, Terror in Topanga, is easily the most intense of the group. Based on a popular urban legend about an escaped inmate from a lunatic asylum and a housewife (Cristina Raines) who unwisely leaves her home to purchase cigarettes, you'll probably know how this one is going to end way before you get there, but with sharp direction, a great central performance, and even a little gore, the familiarity of the material matters not—it's a great way to kick off proceedings.
Chapter two is The Battle of Bishop, the tamest of the four stories, which stars Emilio Estevez as teenager J.J. Cooney, who is obsessed with reaching level 13 of a particularly challenging arcade machine. Breaking into the arcade after closing time to play the game, he finally finds out what finishing The Battle of Bishop involves. Like an episode of Amazing Stories, this one isn't in the least bit scary but does deliver a likable turn from Estevez and some fairly decent computer graphics for the day.
The penultimate story is The Benediction, which stars Lance Henriksen as father MacLeod, a priest who has lost his faith. Leaving his parish, McLeod drives into the desert where he is repeatedly attacked by a mysterious black truck with tinted windows. Like a cross between Spielberg's Duel and '70s film The Car, this one offers up some reasonably exciting scenes of vehicular action (including the impressive sight of the truck bursting out of the ground), and its always great to see Henriksen on screen.
Last of the four tales is Night of the Rat, in which a family find themselves terrorised by a giant devil rat that invades their home. This one builds the tension nicely only to spoil it in the closing moments with some cheesy special effects using a real rat made to look oversized. Veronica Cartwright is great as the terrified mother, but she really deserves better than this.