Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Nightmares Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 24, 2015

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.

There’s perhaps no clearer indication of Nightmares’s production era than the fact that its first story revolves around a woman jonesin’ for a pack of cigarettes (and in fact, this may seem even a little odd for a film from the early 1980s, well after cigarettes had ceased to be the “glamour” objects they had been in film and on television for prior generations). Lisa (Cristina Raines, The Sentinel) defies her husband’s strict instructions to stay put and sneaks out to get some nicotine cylinders, but then discovers she’s low on gas. In the meantime, a news report on television has detailed that a marauding serial killer is on the loose. When Lisa stops at an isolated gas station and is confronted by a spooky seeming attendant (the always memorable William Sanderson), she starts to suspect she may have wandered into the killer’s lair. This particular story has a certain mood, but its ham handed presentation (which gives away a central plot point too early, thereby defeating a putative “twist”) tends to suck some of the horror mojo out of the proceedings.

A different kind of a jonesin’ informs the second tale in Nightmares. In this particular instance, a teenaged kid named J.J. Cooney (Emilio Estevez) is obsessed with a video arcade game called The Bishop of Battle. J.J. spends every spare moment at the arcade, to the point that his schoolwork has been suffering and his parents (much like Lisa’s husband in the first segment) forbid him to venture from his home. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (and/or a graduate of the Syd Field school of screenwriting) to know that J.J. defies that prohibition, ending up in the arcade after hours, when all hell breaks loose. This is an engaging enough story, but it’s completely predictable, down to the little “sting” at the end.

The third story is in some ways the most derivative of the quartet, essentially simply rehashing a “marauding evil vehicle” conceit that obviously echoes such efforts as Duel or The Car. But with Lance Henriksen on hand as an angst ridden priest, there’s at least some performance acumen at play, though it serves a story that is not very well developed or which in fact ends up making much sense. This particular vignette seems to want to make a statement about the power of belief, and in fact if one wanted to make a case for a through line in these stories, this one might be considered to focus on Henriksen's character jonesin' for faith. But when this potent subject is couched in such a patently silly context, the overall impact is at least partially diluted.

Probably the silliest of the four tales is saved for last, as a suburban couple named Steven (Richard Masur) and Claire (Veronica Cartwright), along with their adorable daughter Brooke (Bridgette Andersen), slowly become aware that they’re not the only life form cohabitating in their supposedly happy home. Claire is convinced the domicile is filled with rats, while Steven, typical procrastinating husband that he is, assures his wife that the sounds she’s hearing behind the walls are all in her head, or if they are real, he'll be able to deal with whatever the problem is. Yeah, right. The denouement of this particular vignette is almost laugh out loud hilarious, and not in an intentional way, but Masur and especially Cartwright do decent work as traumatized parents.

Nightmares Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Nightmares Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Trailer (1080i; 1:44)


• Radio Spots (1:35)


• Audio Commentary with Executive Producer Andrew Mirisch and Actress Cristina Raines is hosted by Shaun Chang and gets into some of the contested genesis of the film among other subjects.

Nightmares Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.