Nightmare (1981) 21st Century Film Corporation/Horror RT: 97 minutes No MPAA Rating (strong graphic violence and extreme gore, nudity, strong sexual content, disturbing images/behavior, language, drug use) Director: Romano Scavolini Screenplay: Romano Scavolini Music: Jack Eric Williams Cinematography: Gianni Fiore Release date: October 23, 1981 (US) Cast: Baird Stafford, Sharon Smith, C.J. Cooke, Mik Cribben, Danny Ronan, John Watkins, William Milling, Scott Praetorius, William Kirksey, Christina Keefe, Tammy Patterson, Kim Patterson, Kathleen Ferguson, William Paul, Tommy Bouvier, Candy Marchese, Geoffrey Marchese. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ****
Yes, you’re reading it right; I’m giving Nightmare a four-star rating. I know, it’s a low-budget slasher movie with terrible acting, a loopy script and goofy dialogue. It also features awesome gore effects. It’s a splatter movie right to its core! Although writer-director Romano Scavolini makes a stab at psychological horror, it doesn’t hide the true purpose of Nightmare. It exists for no other reason than to throw gallons of blood and gore at the audience. I see nothing wrong with that, do you?
The killer in Nightmare is a former mental patient named George Tatum (Stafford) who’s undergone an experimental process designed to cure him of his psychosis. It’s part of a secret government program, but never mind that. The movie certainly doesn’t. George, who experiences vivid hallucinations of a child murdering a couple with an axe while they’re having kinky sex, is released from the hospital only to have an instant relapse after visiting a peep show in Times Square. He jumps into his car and embarks on a road trip to Daytona Beach, FL for a reason you’ll likely guess long before it’s revealed by the screenplay.
As George makes his way to his destination, we meet a clearly disturbed young boy named C.J. with a penchant for wild stories and morbid practical jokes. His mother Susan (Smith) is at wit’s end. Her boyfriend Bob (Cribben) tries to talk sense into him to no avail. His teenage babysitter (Ronan) quits after the boy goes too far with one of his pranks. Because he cries wolf once too often, nobody believes C.J. when he tries to tell them about the strange man- i.e. George- that’s been following him. Meanwhile, George’s doctors try to pinpoint where he is. He’s too important to their work; he’s their first success and if the treatment doesn’t take…. well, it would be bad for them.
Although the makeup effects in Nightmare are often credited to Tom Savini (Friday the 13th), they’re actually the work of other special effects artists. Savini contends he merely gave them advice over the phone. Either way, they’re GREAT! George’s visions of the double axe murder are shown often and in full gory close-up. Blood spurts and squirts from his other victims. This one more than earns its “No One Under 17 Admitted” classification. Yeah, like most theaters even enforced that policy.
I could comment on the acting in Nightmare, but what would be the point? It’s not great or even particularly good. Character development isn’t high on Scavolini’s list of priorities. The closest it comes is explaining that George’s abhorrent behavior is the result of childhood trauma. His attempt to add a note of realism to a slasher flick is undermined by the utter senselessness of a potentially dangerous mental patient being released with minimal supervision after undergoing an untested procedure. Shouldn’t there be a period of close observation first? It’s all academic anyway. As far as I know, there is no cure for psychosis, not in ’81 and not now. You know what, who cares about any of that? The audience for which Nightmare is clearly intended certainly doesn’t. They’re there to witness a bloodbath and Scavolini gives them one.
I could ask several questions about the characters’ behavior in Nightmare. For example, is everybody so dense that they don’t see Susan is a bad parent? She’s neglectful of her three young children. Instead of being there when they get home from school, she’s screwing Bob on his boat. Upon realizing C.J. has serious issues, she should be thinking about taking him to a child psychologist. Instead, she yells at him and confines him to his room while the rest of them go out to dinner. That’s not the way to solve the problem, lady.
Admittedly, Nightmare is as far from an art film as any movie can get, but who says that every movie has to be a work of art? I’d say it’s its own kind of art. As you all know, I have a weakness for splatter flicks. I just love a good gory movie. The more blood, the bigger the body count, the better. It’s what splatter is all about. On top of that, you have both a psychotic killer AND a child who might grow up to be a psychotic killer. In addition, the whole dated nature of the movie adds a level of fun. Check out the ancient computers the doctors use to locate George. On a local level, a station ID for the long-defunct radio station Easy 101 (they specialized in Muzak or “elevator music”) is heard as George drives through Philadelphia. It brings back memories of being in my then-girlfriend JB’s parents’ car when they picked us up someplace.
Shall we circle back to my four-star rating for this movie? While Nightmare definitely has its flaws, it delivers on its promise of a bloodbath. It’s one of the goriest movies I’ve ever seen. PLUS, it’s old school fake blood NOT that CGI crap. For a confirmed gorehound like me, Nightmare is pure nirvana. I’d say it earns all four stars.
