Nightmare Cinema Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror
content warning: gore, foul language, surgical footage, violence against women, religious content, death by suicide, violence against children, sexual content, gun violence
Nightmare Cinema is a horror anthology film about an abandoned movie theatre. People are lured in by their own name appearing on the marquee and given a ticket. They walk inside and watch their worst nightmare play out in front of them, starring them. It’s a great concept for a horror anthology and one that could easily become a series if the cost can be justified.
The framing device, “The Projectionist,” is written and directed by Mick Garris. The Projectionist is the man running the mysterious theater. He collects these stories of people’s nightmares as they play out from their imagination and let’s the stars of the stories choose their own fate. It’s the kind of framing device that Amicus used successful for decades and it still works today.
“The Thing in the Woods” is written and directed by Alejandro Brugues. Samantha is being chased by something in the woods. She’s covered in blood and just keeps getting injured in gruesome ways. Her attacker is a classic slow walk slasher, somehow able to catch up no matter what.
This segment is the third act of a slasher film. It throws you right in the action and does its own spin on the greatest hits of the genre. The biggest drawback here is this short aims for some comedic moments that just don’t come across as particularly funny. The twist about halfway through is spectacular and definitely elevates the short.
“Mirari” is directed by Joe Dante and written by Richard Christian Matheson. Anna is about to meet her boyfriend David’s mother for the first time. She’s worried about the scar on her face, but David’s mother already has a plan for that: offering to cover plastic surgery to fix Anna’s scars for good.
This segment is a far more personal kind of horror story. There’s just enough variance in the backstory to make that trapped in a hospital story feel fresh. Anna’s fear seems to be losing who she is to fit in with her fiancé, while David’s fear seems to be falling short of perfection. It creates some interesting tension as the short switches between their perspectives to spin the scares in new direction.
“Mashit” is directed by Ryuhei Kitamura and written by Sandra Becerril. Father Benedict is brought into a religious horror film where students at his Catholic school are falling victim to some kind of demonic force. Everyone is suffering after witnessing a student’s death by suicide and things only get worse from there.
Religious horror films are one of my specialties, specifically Catholic horror films. This particular short is rife with cliches and seems to exist just for shock value. A priest sleeping with a nun, bleeding statues, or children harming themselves while possessed by a demonic spirits are not shocking just because you put them onscreen. This kind of horror thrives on context and an escalation of immoral behavior and this short just jumps between nods to far better religious horror films rather than finding its own voice.
“This Way to Egress” is written and directed by David Slade, co-written by Lawrence C. Connolly, and adapted from Connolly’s story “Traumatic Descent.” Helen is cast into a black and white nightmare that starts in a doctor’s waiting room. She’s been waiting for over an hour with her children to be seen and nothing seems to speed up the process.
This is the kind of stylistic risk you can take in a cinema-themed anthology. A noir-toned horror story about a woman trying to get medical help for a problem she can’t even describe is the kind of small scale story that can soar in an anthology. It is so different in its approach to horror that containing it in a more familiar context makes it more accessible to a wider audience. This segment is an experimental film inspired by that anxiety of waiting for a doctor’s appointment and pushed to absurd extremes.
“Dead” is written and directed by Mick Garris. Riley, a gifted young piano player, performs an original composition at a recital. Afterwards, a stranger shows up and shoots his entire family. His father died from the attack, his mother survived, and no one will tell him exactly what happened.
This short hit different for me, as part of Riley’s fear is losing control of his fine motor skills. An instrumental musician is only as good as their working hands and Riley wakes up unable to pick up a glass of water. From what I’ve experienced, career-altering damage to the hands is a when, not an if, for classical musicians and we’re all terrified of when we can’t play anymore.
The short itself is a great finale piece to Nightmare Cinema. It’s mostly about the fear of death. Riley’s accident gives him the ability to see the spirits of the recently deceased and they want him to join their ranks. This is not the scariest horror short and it doesn’t pretend to be. It’s a beautiful exploration of the overriding theme of the film and probably the best reason to watch the whole thing.
Nightmare Cinema is a solid anthology horror film. It has that right mix of different styles and tones to keep things interesting. Probably the biggest flaw is that level of ambition, as the range of horror styles contained are so far reaching that I don’t think most viewers will genuinely enjoy all of the shorts. I know I didn’t. The technical quality of the film is great and each short is only 20 to 25 minutes long. You don’t need to wait long for a new chance to be scared.
Nightmare Cinema is streaming on Shudder.
