Nightmare

2005
5| 1h51m| R| en| More Info
Released: 01 January 2005 Released
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

On the brink of madness, a director's only recourse is to make a movie of the savage murders he believes he committed. The morning after a wild party, a young film student awakens in the arms of a mysterious actress. Unsure where they are, the two find a video camera at the foot of the bed aimed at them. Suspicious of one another, the lovers decide to watch the tape. Their apprehension turns to terror as they see themselves on screen gleefully committing brutal murder in the room they've just slept in.

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Reviews

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Mart Sander Whatever the artistic qualities of this film, I have to say that it has (at least) one redeeming point: it is a very interesting watch. One can only wander, what it would look like, had the director secured a hollywoodian budget for this project where poverty is occasionally visible, even though well masked. It is quite lynchian and just like with most every Lynch film, you find yourself enjoying the going-ons immensely, yet at the same time being deeply afraid that the ending will fail to produce a satisfactory solution. In this case, the film doesn't just end in coitus interruptus (a technique that makes Lynch very irritating) but does offer an 'instant satisfaction', that unrolls during the last 1 minute or so. Yet, as with all things instant, after the first rapture has evaporated, the whole thing seems somewhat silly and artificial. Nevertheless, the film captivated me, kept me guessing and was a very good way to spend 1,5 hours.
krepsilent I didn't see anyone comment on the ending, other than to say it goes nowhere, and I don't really agree with that, so here's my thoughts: the protagonist (Jason Scott Campbell) gets his first clue on how to "end the movie" / "catch the killer" / "end the murders", when his teacher tells him "it's time for the protagonist to take control - everyone's been a victim so far, it's time for him to take control - and time for you to finish the movie." A further clue comes from his classmate, the guy making the other movie: "... there's no villain.. it's almost as if, the director, he's the villain, he's the one putting us through all this." That's when he gets the idea - to end it, he must take control, so he invites Natalia over, grabs a knife, sets up the camera, starts it recording and he and Natalia lay on the bed, the knife hidden beside him. Increasingly certain he's the killer and/or crazy, Natalia starts fighting him, afraid he's going to kill her (or perhaps playing along, understanding his intent).Then the "movie with a movie" starts happening, and quite simply the protagonist kills the director, or the person filming. Next the scene cuts to the class film set, and the ending of the movie and movie within movie is shown - and then Natalia and protagonist huddle while he says "it's over, it's over".Who was the director? I think that is left up to the viewer. The literal interpretation could be the person who set everything up entered the room - maybe the janitor, maybe someone else, and the protagonist killed him. Another interpretation, more magical but still inside the movie, is the camera was some kind of window to another dimension, or the mind/dreams of the director, and somehow a magical second reality was interfering, and the act of killing the "director" was a way to pick an ending and stop it. Yet another interpretation is, the whole work is not actually a horror movie but an inside comment on film making of horror movies, and the comment is, in movies such as this, or Blair-witch, etc, the villain is simply the director.Personally, I think in some cases this type of ending can be brilliant, but in this case we weren't quite there (thus a 6). The viewer wonders, was this an intentional plan of a writer with a message? Or is this just a cowardly way to end a movie from a writer who was unwilling to write an actual ending, or couldn't make up his mind, or ran out of money? And I think that is what bothers so many viewers about endings like this.
wizzdumb What a relief to see that smart movies still exist ! Dylan Bank plays with everyone including himself with a great story about reality and fiction. a great mix full of humor where the only nightmare was the fear to have a trivial ending. But no ! The director doesn't hesitate to put the pressure on his shoulder, using directly his cast to destroy all possibilities of an easy ending. one of the best movies I've seen during the Brussels fantasy Film Festival, for sure: I was so tired of those linear plots, where you can anticipate every move, so exhausted to see exactly the same thing with different actors, that I finally woke up from this awful nightmare with your beautiful independent movie ! And, Dylan, come grab a beer whenever you want at the castle ! John (the beard man)
MrCarey An impressive first feature with solid acting, lots of nudity, blood and gore and a plot that tumbles under and eats itself in concentric circles. (Whatever that means…). I must admit, I walked in 32 minutes late at the Boston Underground Film Festival screening and but was immediately stuck by the images and action and remained riveted right up until the ending that was handled with the right mix of ambiguity and clarity of 'clues'—to lead you to believe you understood what happened, but was not quite sure. I think that's a good quality to leave an audience with for this kind of picture. I mean, what would life be without mystery?I particularly liked the bald creepy crew member who, in one shot, looks exactly like Robert Blake in Lost Highway—a film that was definitely an inspiration for this one. The high def video looks great—just like film--and it's quite a professional piece of work. Plus, this film had the most gorgeous shot of all the films I saw at this years BUFF, but I'm not going to tell you which one.

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