Nightmares (1983)

Anthology of four horror tales with a supernatural twist based on urban legends.

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Christopher Crowe, Jeffrey Bloom

Stars:

Cristina Raines, Joe Lambie, Anthony James

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cristina Raines	...	Lisa the Wife (segment "Terror in Topanga")
Joe Lambie	...	Phil the Husband (segment "Terror in Topanga")
Anthony James	...	Store Clerk (segment "Terror in Topanga")
Clare Torao	...	Mori the Newswoman (segment "Terror in Topanga") (as Clare Nono)
Raleigh Bond	...	Norman, a Neighbor (segment "Terror in Topanga")
Robert Phelps	...	Newsman (segment "Terror in Topanga")
Dixie Lynn Royce	...	Little Girl (segment "Terror in Topanga")
Lee Ving	...	William Henry Glazier (segment "Terror in Topanga") (as Lee James Jude)
Emilio Estevez	...	J.J. Cooney (segment "The Bishop of Battle")
Mariclare Costello	...	Adele Cooney (segment "The Bishop of Battle")
Louis Giambalvo	...	Jerry Cooney (segment "The Bishop of Battle")
Moon Unit Zappa	...	Pamela (segment "The Bishop of Battle") (as Moon Zappa)
Billy Jayne	...	Zock Maxwell (segment "The Bishop of Battle") (as Billy Jacoby)
Joshua Grenrock	...	Willie (segment "The Bishop of Battle")
Gary Carlos Cervantes	...	Mazenza (segment "The Bishop of Battle") (as Gary Cervantes)

Storyline

A collection of short stories. In one a woman who leaves her house late at night to drive to the store while a killer is loose encounters some problems. In the second an arcade whiz kid's obsession with a game leads to deadly consequences. In the third a small town priest loses his faith and decides to leave town, but in the desert is stalked by a mysterious black pick-up truck. In the final story, a family's problem with a rat is larger than they think.

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Plot Keywords:

anthology | close up of eyes | close up of eye | close up of lips | close up of mouth | 

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Taglines:

Each summer one film opens that you've never heard of... and that you'll never forget.

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 September 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Terror in Topanga

Filming Locations:

The Rock Store - 30354 Mulholland Highway, Cornell, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$590,616, 5 September 1983, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$6,670,680

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The recurring line of dialogue said by Bishop (voiced by actor James Tolkan) heard in "The Bishop of Battle" segment was: "Greetings, Earthling. I am the Bishop of Battle, master of all I survey. I have thirteen progressively harder levels. Try me if you dare."

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Goofs

Presumably as the Bishop of Battle game progresses, the view/angle of each level changes to make it more difficult for the player. We see this the first time JJ plays the game as level 12 is at a lower angle and shows less of the overall play arena than level 11 had. However, the second time JJ gets to level 12, the angle is now almost a first person shooter, with the player's view being from the ground rather than an aerial view showing their player character.

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Quotes

Zock Maxwell (segment "The Bishop of Battle"): JJ. Don't you get it? Thirteenth level doesn't even exist. It's just a scam to get suckers to spend their money.
J.J. Cooney (segment "The Bishop of Battle"): It exists. I heard some kid out in Jersey made it twice.

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Connections

Referenced in Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era (2011)

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Soundtracks

I Got Power
(uncredited)
Performed by Negative Trend

User Reviews

A Great Opening Segment, The Rest Are Kind Of Boring

Nightmares (1983)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

'Terror in Topanga' has a crazy killer escaping prison but housewife Lisa (Cristina Raines) needs cigarettes so she decides to go out. Of course, you know what happens. In 'The Bishop of Battle' a teenager (Emilio Estevez) obsessed with getting to the thirteenth level of a video games gets more than he bargained for. 'The Benediction' has a Priest (Lance Henriksen) walking away from his faith and on a journey through the desert he runs into a mysterious black truck. 'Night of the Rat' has parents (Richard Masur, Veronica Cartwright) trying to protect their daughter and home from a giant rat.

As with any anthology film, NIGHTMARES is a mixed bag but overall it's worth watching if you're a fan of this type of film. With that said, there's no question that the best film is the first one. It's based off a fairly popular urban legend and I must admit that I found it to be quite creepy at times. Director Joseph Sargent really does a great job on this number and we've got a terrific performance from Raines that helps sell it. The entire sequence is the shortest of the lot but it really hammers home the tension and the twist is quite effective as well.

The following three stories aren't nearly as good and all of them are rather disappointing in their own way. I'd argue that the third one was the next best as Henriksen at least delivers a nice performance but the religious overtones never really work and what we're left with is a cheap copy of DUEL. The second story with the teenager playing video games probably belonged in a different movie. It's not creepy enough to fit with the rest of the film and I'd argue it would have been better in something else. It's just too bright and the special effects just don't ring a horror film.

The fourth and final story is without question the weakest and it's too bad because both Masur and Cartwright give very good performances. This type of story had already been done in several other films including stuff like THE FOOD OF THE GODS. The story runs way too long and I'd argue that the ending is more silly than anything else. In fact, I'd argue that stories two through four all ran way too long and none of them could compare to the first so that made them even more of a letdown.