slayrrr666
"Nightmare Man" is an enjoyable, if slightly flawed entry.**SPOILERS**After receiving a new fertility mask, Ellen Morris, (Blythe Metz) suddenly starts having strange nightmares and visions, which her husband William, (Luciano Szafir) immediately writes off. When it starts getting worse, she begins to feel like she's being stalking by a figure known as The Nightmare Man, who is represented by their mask. Finally deciding to get away from the mask and go on a trip out in the woods, they are attacked by the creature and forcing them to take refuge with Mia, (Tiffany Shepis) and her friends Jack, (James Ferris) Ed, (Jack Sway) and Trinity, (Hanna Putnam) who are in a small cabin nearby. Realizing that her stories are true, they band together with whatever they can and hold off the deadly creature without being taken out one-by-one.The Good News: There was a lot of good stuff here in this one. Easily its best feature is that the film manages to throw one of the greatest second halves together with so much good stuff as to be nearly impossible to count against it. From the moment of the car attack, this just gets better and better and has an absolutely fun time that is quite obvious to watch. That car attack itself is one of the best features of the film, as it's an old-school style scene that's protracted and extended, but feels natural about it and not simply because of unnecessary reasons, and the different tactics to keep it going make it energetic and exciting, and then it segues into an equally-outstanding chase through the forest which is just eerie, creepy and good enough to really keep the film going rather nicely with a spectacular setting, a really healthy amount of action and some better-than-expected moments which are responsible for getting this one across as a fun scene. What makes this the best is that, while there's a life-or-death struggle in the woods between a knife-wielding, devil-masked man of her nightmares with the hyperventilating victim screaming for her life, it's being crosscut with scenes of one of the characters performing a striptease while another fakes an orgasm to further annoy her prudish boyfriend. The scenes there, both before and after that, are just as fun and slightly sleazy as that one, most of which comes from the highly-unsubtle flirting going on following the lesbian revelation. Sprinkled with highly-enjoyable nudity, coming just shy of revealing everything, from most of the main female cast which is greatly appreciated, these scenes work incredibly well and have a lot going for them. It then gets chilling and quite tense once it gets the creature there, which is where most of this one works. From the incredible stalking around the cabin to the antics of surviving the matter and the constant attempts at getting to them, this is an incredibly well-done series of scenes that, combined with the earlier stuff, makes for some outstanding moments that make this so fun. By making the killer look rather great, with the use of the tribal mask which is rather creepy-looking on it's own, giving into a fantastic-looking killer that works well. That there's a couple of rather nice kills doesn't really hurt either, as there's a really great arrow-bow through the neck, a knife through the head, some stabbing and impaling, and one is run over by a car that splatters across the windshield, which is about all it can afford due to the body count but it still good enough to really work. The last plus to this is the film's nice attention to it's killer, which has a great history and really feels more complete than most other slashers' back-stories and makes him a more complete villain. All of these here make this a great entry.The Bad News: There are a couple problems with this one that hold it down. One of them is the premise doesn't have nearly enough set-up before the husband is ready to get to the insane asylum. The movie opens with her receiving the mask before getting the effects of that, and within a matter of six minutes in, the film is ready to have her dropped of at the asylum. It really could have used more set-up, and the basic premise behind what ultimately happens remains rather underdeveloped throughout the film and needs a bit more fleshing out. The biggest problem, though, is the horrible camera work and nonexistent lighting. There are entire moments of outdoor scenes where all that's visible was one dark blob interacting with another dark blob. This is especially true during the last half, which takes place at night for the most part, and it gets really hard to see most of what's happening when out in the woods. The scenes inside the cabin are somewhat better, but even still aren't that greatly-lit and seem to be quite hard to fully see through. Otherwise, this one wasn't bad at all.The Final Verdict: A lot of good points mixed in with some minor flaws really helps this one out, making it a highly enjoyable and entertaining film. Definitely recommended to slasher fans, those who have liked the others in the series or are fans of the creative crew, while those who aren't should heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity and Graphic Language
bigdarvick
8 Films to Die for...I've had it with you. One stinker after another. Oh, yeah, there were a few decent movies (Grave Dancers, Unrest)but that has changed. One horribly bad bomb after another. Again, money well spent on DVD cover art and fake four star reviews and that's it!! The production values on this stinker didn't even meet that of a porn movie's. The women cast members were strictly placed in it for T & A reasons. The guy who played the husband must of had something to do with financing this movie, because there was no other reason for him to be in it. He had the range of a plastic action figure. I will make a solemn promise, to never, ever, buy or rent another 8 Films to Die For flick. To me, they have reached the point of no return (like Full Moon.) Shame on them.
The_Void
In 1982, a little film called 'The Slayer' was released. It was basically an eighties slasher; except it was (slightly) more intelligent than the usual fodder as rather than just having the characters at the isolated retreat where the film takes place being picked off one by one; there was a bit of psychological horror thrown in as the psychopath was a part of the lead character's nightmares. The film subsequently banned in the UK by the DPP as a part of their campaign to clean video shelves of the so-called 'Video Nasties'. Fast forward twenty four years and apparently someone called Rolfe Kanefsky didn't realise that The Slayer is now commercially available; and decided to make a blatant rip off of it without anyone noticing. The plot focuses on Ellen; a woman who gets a fertility mask from Africa that, rather than fertilize her husband, fertilizes her head with the 'Nightmare Man' - a vicious psycho in a mask. The husband is driving the wife to the nut house one day when the car breaks down and the Nightmare Man comes after her...As a film in its own right, Nightmare Man is pretty poor. The production values seem amateur at best and the film doesn't even manage to capitalise on the 'low budget slasher' aura than many other films have. After a lengthy chase sequence towards the start of the film, we are introduced to some new characters; a bunch of teens playing truth or dare, and all are clearly just there to provide the film with some death scenes. However, the film doesn't even impress on that front as while the death scenes aren't completely awful; they're not very imaginative either and don't even deliver much in the way of gore. None of the characters make the film interesting; and the twist that comes midway through leaves a lot to be desired. I saw this coming before the film even started, which was very disappointing. However; there actually is a surprise in store as the film moves along, which comes in the form of an Evil Dead 'tribute'. It doesn't really fit the film, but at it moves out of mundane territory for a minute or so. The final twenty minutes are much better than the first seventy; but it's not enough to completely save the film.
Michael F
The quick and dirty version of this movie without any spoilers - it changes the type of movie it's trying to be too many times! The problem with movies that do that is they don't do any one right. Good slashers stick with something - suspense, believability, etc. and run with it. The five is because it does entertain the viewer, but the acting is average and the movie does not give you something to think about after the credits role. Bottom line for those deciding whether or not to watch this movie - if you're hinging an evening on this flick, skip it. If it's a rainy day and there is quite nothing else to do, crack open that bottle of cognac and half of your attention will suffice to get the full value of this one.
