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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By : Rolfe Kanefsky
Tiffany Shepis (Death Factory)
Blythe Metz (Jacqueline Hyde)
Robert Donovan (Corpses)
Richard Moll (Angel Blade)
Supplied By : Rolfe Kanefsky
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : May. 19, 2006
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| PLOT After receiving a mysterious demonic African mask in the mail, Ellen is attacked by a “being” she refers to as The Nightmare Man. Her doctors and husband, William believe Ellen is a paranoid schizophrenic and needs to spend some quality time at a mental facility for further examination. On the way to the hospital, their car runs out of gas. William walks to the nearest gas station as Ellen waits in the car while the sun sets. Alone once again, Ellen is attacked by the mysterious Nightmare Man and runs off into the nearby woods but is this man/demon real or is it all in Ellen's mind? |
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| THE REVIEW NIGHTMARE MAN, follows Ellen, a young woman who seems to be perfect on the outside, but very troubled on the inside - or so people thing. It seems that she and her husband William are kind of having trouble conceiving a child. So in Ellen's own seemingly crazy way, she orders this freakishly ugly african mask from Rome...and supposedly it is the mask of "The God Of Fertility" according to Ellen but William thinks she's just crazy. Soon after receiving this mask, Ellen begins having nightmarish dreams of some sort of demon creature attacking her one she calls the "Nightmare Man". The nightmares that Ellen is having prove to be the last straw for husband William as well as her doctors, so William agrees to take his wife up to the nearest mental institution to have her omitted for immediate care. Well, as fate would have it(as in most Horror films) the car runs out of gas, William leaves to get the gas leaving troubled Ellen alone. It isn't long until Ellen is attacked by the figure in her dreams - and for a moment she even questions if her mind is just playing tricks again. But it proves to be real, and poor Ellen is in a fight for her life, luckily she stumbles upon a cabin occupied by a young group of people vacationing. At first they do not know what to think of Ellen, at first the believe that she has been hurt, but after Ellen begins to mumble of an evil "being inside her" and a warning from William, they have the same impression of Ellen that everyone else does eventually. But even with all their doubts, they are soon hit with a reality check as it seems that the Nightmare Man crazy Ellen speaks of, is more of a reality than they think and that he just may be at their doorstep! Suspense kicks in as the kids band together, headed by a Tomboy, trigger happy Mia to kick some unholy ass! Well the time has finally come, I have been hyping Rolfe Kanefsky's NIGHTMARE MAN for what it seems close to a year on this site - and now it's time to review it! So, was NIGHTMARE MAN as that I had hoped it would be? Most definitely it was. I have seen all of Rolfe's Horror films, and I can honestly say that the last half of NIGHTMARE MAN, proves to be Kanefsky's most suspenseful film to date - for it is that last half of the film that makes it what it is. To be honest here for most of the movie I was not too fond of it, I actually thought it lacked development. For instance, Ellen receives the mask, and then quickly after we are thrown into the scene of her nightmare, and then on the way to the institution it is made known that William has brought the mask with them, as a suggestion from the doctors - thus we figure out that the mask must be evil. I personally would've liked an extra scene or two in which the mask is prominently showcased as being of evil circumstances or at least a scene showing Ellen's possession by the evil. Also Ellen's mental state isn't explained in detail we just know that she takes medication - it has to be for more than just some nightmares right? The strong performances by the cast and level of suspense, once Ellen enters the cabin home in which Mia and friends are staying in is what makes this film a winner in the end. At first they are literally non believers fighting against something they do not believe is there. To further play on this notion there are many references to Rolfe's freshman feature film THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE, even one of the male cast members is wearing a T-Shirt bearing the film's title - this was rather clever and humorous to me. The young cast does a great job of altering their emotions....they go from laid back to incredibly serious in a matter of moments and to me it remained believable, not what you'd normally get from an indie Horror film. I don't want to go into the film too much as the film is looking for distribution and i'd hate to spoil the film for the future potential viewers - But NIGHTMARE MAN sports a great twist and it also has, what I believe is the best climax of any of Rolfe's previous films. I enjoyed the entire cast, here with only a few exceptions. By far the best performances come from it's stars, Blythe Metz and Tiffany Shepis. I thought that Metz did a rather convincing job of playing a struggling woman whom has the world against her it seems, and who also just might be borderline crazy. It was often so believable that it made me do a double take! Tiffany Shepis, who has now done four films for Kanefsky, is a veteran of his style of filmmaking. People are saying that this may be her best performance yet, and while I love her performance in THE HAZING I have to agree....and with this film I have to confess that Tiffany has definitely taught me that I should forever appreciate a "full moon". Newcomer Hanna Putnam impressed me also, although this being her first feature film, she shows tremendous charisma on screen, and I would'nt expect nothing but good things for her in the future. The male characters in this film were left sort of distant in my opinion, while the females were dominant and it worked for me! NIGHTMARE MAN, is by far the most suspenseful film Kanefsky has done as previously stated, and also has some great dialogue but it is neither perfect nor his best in my honest opinion....clearly one you should all see, that's for sure... |
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| GORE
METER 5/10 Some of the gore was actually great, some very cool impalements...look out for an eye impalement via the horns on the mask....I wasn't expecting it. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 6/10 I liked the score, it had a lot of hard hitting themes coupled with some catchy rock tunes, it seemed to fit in very well. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I highly recommend this film to all types of fans, if you are a fan of Blythe Metz's work, she is great here. And if you are a fan of Tiffany Shepis, if you see only one of her films, it should be this one....she's outstanding here and gets a little cocky too! once again - highly recommended by me... |
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