Just Watched: Nightmare (1981)

George is pretty angry

Can one or two great scenes make a movie worthwhile?? That is the question many will probably ask after watching Nightmare. Sometimes considered one of the trashier slasher films of the early ’80s along with Maniac, Nightmare contains arguably one of the most memorable kills ever shown in a slasher flick. Unfortunately what we have to suffer through to get to it is a story of a mental patient that’s lost track of who goes around killing victims while his doctor tries to find him before it turns into the story about a really irritating kid named C.J. and his family while our killer is a little forgotten for awhile.

Trying to stay awake through all this may be a challenge, but it is well worth it to see what happens when a young boy walks in on his father and his kinky games. What ensues is surely one of the most insanely ridiculous and bloody scenes out there.

You'll see this more than once

Probably the most interesting story of Nightmare is the history of the film itself. If you see a trailer for the movie it was heavily promoted as having special effects by the legendary Tom Savini, but apparently that’s not true and he was only a consultant on the special effects. Whether that’s true or not the special effects are quite impressive and violent, and look like Tom could have done them.

Nightmare was also one of the video nasties in the UK, and was banned for several years. This is the kinda film that those against slashers would use in their argument against them. It’s violence was pretty strong at the time, and it is full of unnecessary scenes at a strip joint, women changing and more than one shower scene that exist in the movie for nothing more than seeing some skin.

Availability: The cheapest option is to rent it on Amazon Video if you live in the U.S. However, if you don’t then you’re looking at $70+ to get your hands on a DVD copy. Another option is also You Tube where the uncut version is available for free.

Don't worry he will get his hands on somebody soon

Whether you feel Nightmare is worth your time is entirely dependent on what you are looking for: if you are a big slasher fan you should check it out because of a cool scene or two as long as you don’t expect it to be great. If you are not really into slashers or gore or nudity then you are best to skip this one. Another option is to check out the version on You Tube and watch the main kill scene in full at the end of the movie.

To watch the full movie uncut click here. Full credit to Chris Corbett