6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 1.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.4 |
Anthology of four horror tales with a supernatural twist based on urban legends. First, a routine trip to the market becomes a night of terror when a young housewife is stalked by an escaped psychopath. Then, a teenage arcade whiz meets his match when the ultimate video game turns lethal. Next, a priest questions his faith in God only to encounter demonic evil on a lonely desert road. Finally, a suburban family finds that their household rat problem is much bigger than humanly possible.
Starring: Cristina Raines, Anthony James (I), William Sanderson, Emilio Estevez, Louis GiambalvoHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series no doubt set the standard for anthology series which at least occasionally trafficked in horror tropes (even if the Serling enterprise tended to exploit plots more in the fantasy or science fiction realms), but it certainly wasn’t the only show of its ilk. Other anthology outings (some produced in the wake of The Twilight Zone’s success) included One Step Beyond, Thriller (hosted by the inimitable Boris Karloff) and The Outer Limits. When Serling returned to series television a few years after The Twilight Zone entered its own twilight zone, he did so with Night Gallery, another anthology series which upped the ante in a certain way by also being a portmanteau, often filling its (initial) hour long timeslot with more than one tale of intrigue. Night Gallery never had quite the impact that Serling’s initial anthology series did, but it may have paved the way for later and at least tangentially similar outings like the little remembered Darkroom, a James Coburn hosted affair that barely managed to scrape out half a season (if even that) from late November 1981 to early January 1982, and which, like Night Gallery, tended to offer more than one story per episode. According to some evidently spurious reports, there are online sources claiming Nightmares ostensibly began life as a quartet of stories initially planned to air on Darkroom, but the supposed episodes’ intensity not to mention the quick cancellation of the series caused Universal to “repackage” the content as a feature film portmanteau which came out in September of 1983. (The commentary on this Blu-ray counters this particular assertion, while at the same time confirming that at least one of the stories was originally planned for Darkroom.) Perhaps because of the fact that at least some element of Nightmares owes its existence to a television genesis, there’s a distinctly lo-fi ambience at play throughout each of the vignettes, with very little in the “twist” department, an element that used to inform so many of The Twilight Zone’s best episodes. Instead, there are some passing chills here and there in what is a generally middling effort.
Nightmares is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.78:1
and 1.33:1 (an initial menu selection allows the viewer to choose which version they want to see). This is a fairly uninspiring high definition
presentation, one hobbled by an overall softness combined with pretty anemic colors and saturation, and some equally anemic contrast that
deprives at least some scenes of much detail. That said, the overall look here is commendably organic, with a generally natural looking grain field
that only occasionally succumbs to some compression anomalies. Some of the film's visual effects have not aged particularly well and their high
definition presentation only tends to point out some of the shoddiness involved.
Note: I've included a few reference screenshots of the 1.33:1 version to compare with the 1.78:1 version.
Nightmares's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track isn't especially forceful, but adequately supports the film's dialogue and occasional sound effects. Fidelity is fine, though the track sounds a bit boxy at times and doesn't have an extremely fulsome low end.
My hunch is those who grew up with Nightmares on either broadcast or cable television may have fonder memories of this project than a clear eyed contemporary viewing may support. This is a perfectly adequate portmanteau, but it's one which never really rises to any undue heights in either storytelling or execution. Both video quality and audio quality are acceptable but far from reference quality for those considering a purchase. The audio commentary is actually quite interesting and informative and may add some added value for fans of the film.
2018
Collector's Edition
1981
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1981
The Offspring
1987
2019
1982
The Burning / Op de Drempel van de Gruwel / La casa del terror / Pyromaniac / Maniac 2: Non andare in casa / Nie chodz do tego domu / Das Haus der lebenden Leichen
1980
Welcome to Spring Break / Kino Cult #9
1989
1981
1988
2019
2018
1971
2016
1969
1989
1987
1986
2013
2011