Nightmares (1983)
"Nightmares" contains four separate segments, each depicting the horror of what could be a bad dream.
Episode One: A typical 'chase' nightmare–a young woman attempts to outrun a murderous villain who has just escaped from a local prison.
Episode Two: In a small village in Mexico, a Catholic priest begins to question the injustices in this world and the existence of a God. He leaves his parish and the Church, only to be haunted and run down by the devil.
Episode Three: A high school teenager becomes obsessed with the new electronic games. His grades, friendships and relationship with his parents become secondary to his championship on the machines. His obsession eventually leads to his capture–by the electronic games!
Episode Four: An upper middle-class family are bothered in the night by strange scratching sounds coming from the walls of their plush suburban home The next day, their daughter's cat is found dead beneath the house. After causing severe damage to the house and trauma to the family, the culprit emerges. It is a giant rat!
Animal Action
The American Humane Association supervised all of the animal action in the film, “Nightmares.”
The snake, killed by the priest in the second episode, was actually a dead and partially frozen rattler. In episode four, the dead cat was a stuffed toy in make-up, and the giant rat was portrayed by a costumed midget.
Knowing that the action was simulated will lessen the terror of the film; however, it should relieve the minds of concerned animal-lovers.
American Humane rates “Nightmares” as Acceptable.
