Despite its deceptively generic title, NIGHTMARE is anything but a generic horror film. In fact, this is the horror film that fans who claim to be sick of Hollywood re-selling them the same old stories over and over again should be clamoring for.But first, a caveat.
Writer/director Dylan Bank name-drops David Lynch early in the film, and Lynch's influence is obvious as the film careens from one plot twist to the next. Any fan of surreal storytelling and endings that defiantly refuse to wrap-up the film's events for the audience is in for a treat.
If this is not the type of film you enjoy, then this film is not for you.
The appeal of this film has less to do with the plot than with the experience of following the protagonist's diorienting descent into madness.
Jason Scott Campbell stars as an unnamed film student (listed as 'The Director' in the closing credits). He meets an acting student named Natalya (played by Nicole Roderick) at a party, and they end up sleeping together. When they wake up, they find a video camera pointed at the bed. Instead of the "home movie" they expect to see, they find what appears to be a snuff film, with the two of them starring as the killers.
Besides their certainty that what they've watched couldn't have happened, they can't find any evidence of the bloodbath they appear to have been starring in.
Desperate for an idea, he pitches this same inexplicable scenario to his film class. When his pitch is accepted, he's forced to re-create the scenes on the videotapes he finds whenever and wherever he wakes up, often after yet another bizarre nightmare.
The lines between dream, film and reality blur more and more as the film progresses, with brave performaces from a cast seemingly as unafraid of nudity as they are of violence and bloodshed.
Despite what I believe to be a modestly budgeted first effort, I feel that if David Lynch made AMERICAN PSYCHO about a film student instead of an investment banker, you'd probably get a film similar to Dylan Bank's NIGHTMARE.
Nightmare is currently available on demand though most local cable providers, and should be available soon on DVD from IFC Films.
Comments (3)
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|2009-05-01 21:29:03 Erin
Waking up to find you made a film you don't remember is very Lynch. I don't know if most people count Lynch as horror, but Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive and Fire Walk With Me all scared the crap out of me, so I look forward to this. I had not heard of it, so thanks for reviewing it.
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|2009-03-31 21:19:59 Gothdad
This review whets my appetite for something a little more brain bending. It most definitely sounds like My Kind Of Movie... I will be seeking it out!
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|2009-03-31 21:00:09 Sandra Locke
I rented this movie On Demand without having heard anything about it before and I have to say it was worth the money. I didn't expect any of the twists and turns of the plot which for me is saying alot since usually movies like this are by the numbers. This is a really crazy all out film!!!
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