DVD
REVIEW:
NIGHTMARE MAN
(AFTER DARK
HORROR FEST)
03/16/08
SYNOPSIS: An
Official Selection of the 2006 Los Angeles Shriekfest,
Nightmare Man received critical praise during its theatrical
run. The film was declared “a demonic brain-bender” (Fangoria
Magazine), a “brilliant gem of independent horror...a cross
between Evil Dead and a Halloween episode of “The O.C.”
(Jane Magazine) and “a solid whirlwind of a horror movie...a
winner (Film Threat). After receiving a mysterious mask,
Ellen Morris believes she was attacked by an evil being she
calls ‘Nightmare Man’. Her husband thinks she’s crazy. On
their way to the mental hospital, they have car trouble.
While her husband leaves to get help, Ellen is left alone in
the car. When ‘Nightmare Man’ appears, Ellen escapes into
the woods, unsure whether she is hallucinating or not. She
stumbles upon a cabin filled with friends who unknowingly
become prey the moment Ellen steps inside.
REVIEW: The
Nightmare Man is one of those movies that has an interesting
and attractive opening scene, and sound wise will put the
audience in the mood for a great movie , but as the movie
begins to move forward it starts losing its pace ending up
in just another mediocre horror movie. For a fan of the
horror genre, the movie made me feel nostalgic, it reminded
me to those classic movies from the 1980s I grew up watching
over and over such as Friday the 13ths and The Nightmare in
Elm Street. It looks just like that. Unfortunately, it did
not managed to evoke the same feeling as these old ones
triggered back when I was a kid. I was surprised that this
movie was shown in the After Dark Horror Fest, since it is
one of those horror movies that with the passing of the
minutes will make the audience rather laugh than scream.
The problem with this movie does not resides in its acting,
special effects or director, since I think all of them did a
great job. Actually, the movie has all the ingredients for a
great horror movie: a killer, an evil entity, gore, and sexy
victims and scenes. The problem is the way the story is
shown; it is full with clichés and predictable situations
(i.e.: the car runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere, the
sexy girl running through the woods, and some young couples
playing erotic truth and dare in a lonely cabin ,etc ) that
appeals more to a laugh rather than to a scream. I recommend
this movie to fans of the genre who want to remember or are
yet not tired of those 1980s horror movies, or to fans of
those 1980’s teen comedies like Weird Science.
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English
5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English /Spanish
BONUS FEATURES:
The DVD Comes with Six Special features, with some of
them mildly funny and original, and with its typical
material found in any DVD
Commentary with director Rolfe Kanefsky, actor Tiffany
Shepis, and producer Esther Goodstain
Flubbing a Nightmare (Gag Reel): about seven minutes
of mistakes made during the filming of the movie, nothing
funny or worth watching (7:06)
Extended Scenes: 5 different scenes extended either
with meaningless dialogue or additional skin showing(16:19)
Still Gallery: Different pictures taken during the
film of the movie (5:01)
Tiffanies behind the scenes: Tiffany Shepies going around
talking with the cast and staff about the movie and many
experiences the members have during the filming of the
movie. (17:21)
Creating the nightmare: The making of: the classic
“making of” feature it is somehow funny (21:31)
Miss Horror Fest 2007 contest Webisodes: it is
basically a 6 episode reality show like America‘s Top model,
but with some crazy ladies and a more surprising ending than
the movie, I think is hilarious and better than watching the
movie(19:20)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
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Review By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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