Some amusing visual effects make this otherwise somewhat unrefined feature watchable. The story concerns a sculptor who, weary of political and personal wrangling, has a nightmare in which everything comes together. The visual effects are amusing for their look at contemporary attitudes towards a few of the politicians of the era, some of whom are still remembered by those familiar with history. The rest of it does not come across so well, although there was probably enough material to make a somewhat better film.
It can be interesting to look at the ways that various camera tricks were used in the early years of cinema. Just looking at some of the Biograph shorts from the first decade of the 20th century, you can find experimentation with several kinds of visual tricks and with various ways of inserting them into a movie. Here in "The Sculptor's Nightmare", the camera effects are easily the best part of the film, and they are done reasonably well. The rest of the film was done in a seemingly haphazard manner that suggests that the visual effects were the only purpose for making the movie.
In some other features in the same era, the special visual effects are worked into a story more naturally. For example, "The Tired Tailor's Dream", from the previous year, is similar to this one in some respects, but it has a somewhat more carefully-developed story, and one that also more smoothly leads into the special effects. In that particular picture, the visual tricks are also done exceptionally well for the era.
In still other features, like "Mr. Hurry-Up" (also of the previous year), the camera tricks are really just a tack-on to a story that is only thinly related to them, and in that particular feature, although they work all right, they are rather goofy and do not always look smooth. You can see parallels to all of these in various films of the past decade, especially with special visual effects having become so faddish in recent years.
In itself, "The Sculptor's Nightmare" is perhaps about average for its time.
The visuals work well enough, but aside from that and the brief look at the political figures of the era, most of it is rather undistinguished. It does have a couple of other funny moments, but much of it is action for action's sake, and with a more refined technique it might have worked a little better.