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:

Night of the Rat

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 names of the film's four segments are [in chapter order of appearance]: Chapter One - "Terror in Topanga" ; Chapter Two - "The Bishop of Battle" ; Chapter Three - "The Benediction" ; and Chapter Four - "Night of the Rat".

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Goofs

Episode: Bishop of Battle When J. J. Cooney starts playing the head arcade game, a scene shows his score raising from 380 to 470 points. As he progresses in the game, another scene shows his score raising from 1740 to 1830 points. However, when J. J. reaches level 13, the scene shows his score at just 100 points. A few scenes later, we can see his (presumably normal) score raising from 10390 to 10510 points. At this point, however, the highest score of 89462 points looks quite hard to be beaten.

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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

References El hijo del palenque (1979)

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Soundtracks

Let's Have a War
(uncredited)
Performed by Fear

User Reviews

Four horror tales to fright and delight you!

Not the best anthology movie made, but it was somewhat good. I liked "Creepshow" and "Cat's Eye" better, but this one is on par with "Twilight Zone: the Movie". There are other anthology movies that this one is a lot better than. For one it has a good number of stories, though in the end they are a little like episodes of the show "Tales from the Darkside". The first one is based on an urban myth as a woman goes out for cigarettes on a night some crazed mental patient is on the loose. I can't really say much more or I will end up ruining the ending (which you will know if you ever heard the myth like I have). The next story is the best one in my book, mainly because I play a lot of video games. It features a young Emilo Estevez as this really good game player. He is obsessed with this one game called "The Bishop of Battle". He wants to get to this level that no one has ever gotten too, and one night he breaks into the arcade and he makes it to the level and let's just say he is in for a surprise at what the mystery level contains. The third story is about a priest who has lost his faith. He is driving in the desert where he is confronted by a mysterious truck with tinted windows. They do a cat and mouse routine through the desert terrain. Finally, we have the story of a couple who have a small rat problem. This anthology movie is not going to blow you away, but the tales are good enough to be rather entertaining.