To me, this movie is perfection.

best movie i've ever seen.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Nightmares (1983) ** 1/2 (out of 4) 'Terror in Topanga' has a crazy killer escaping prison but housewife Lisa (Cristina Raines) needs cigarettes so she decides to go out. Of course, you know what happens. In 'The Bishop of Battle' a teenager (Emilio Estevez) obsessed with getting to the thirteenth level of a video games gets more than he bargained for. 'The Benediction' has a Priest (Lance Henriksen) walking away from his faith and on a journey through the desert he runs into a mysterious black truck. 'Night of the Rat' has parents (Richard Masur, Veronica Cartwright) trying to protect their daughter and home from a giant rat.As with any anthology film, NIGHTMARES is a mixed bag but overall it's worth watching if you're a fan of this type of film. With that said, there's no question that the best film is the first one. It's based off a fairly popular urban legend and I must admit that I found it to be quite creepy at times. Director Joseph Sargent really does a great job on this number and we've got a terrific performance from Raines that helps sell it. The entire sequence is the shortest of the lot but it really hammers home the tension and the twist is quite effective as well.The following three stories aren't nearly as good and all of them are rather disappointing in their own way. I'd argue that the third one was the next best as Henriksen at least delivers a nice performance but the religious overtones never really work and what we're left with is a cheap copy of DUEL. The second story with the teenager playing video games probably belonged in a different movie. It's not creepy enough to fit with the rest of the film and I'd argue it would have been better in something else. It's just too bright and the special effects just don't ring a horror film.The fourth and final story is without question the weakest and it's too bad because both Masur and Cartwright give very good performances. This type of story had already been done in several other films including stuff like THE FOOD OF THE GODS. The story runs way too long and I'd argue that the ending is more silly than anything else. In fact, I'd argue that stories two through four all ran way too long and none of them could compare to the first so that made them even more of a letdown.

"Nightmares" is an acceptable horror anthology with 'Twilight Zone' aspirations. It was originally made for TV, but headed to theatres instead after NBC executives proved unwilling to pay for it. With the first three segments written by producer Christopher Crowe, and the fourth written by Jeffrey Bloom, it might therefore strike some hardcore horror fans as a little "safe". Still, it has an excellent cast of many familiar faces, and is paced more than adequately, with capable direction by Joseph Sargent ("Colossus: The Forbin Project", "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three"). The music score by Craig Safan is also noteworthy.There is no wrapround story or connecting thread, so I'll move right along to assessing the individual stories:"Terror in Topanga". A young wife (Cristina Raines) with a hopeless cigarette addiction heads out late at night for her fix. The fact that a knife wielding psycho is on the loose does little to dissuade her. Worth it for the twist ending that hearkens back to an old urban legend."The Bishop of Battle". J.J. Cooney (Emilio Estevez) is a kid hellbent on making it to the 13th level of the title video arcade game. Again, it's the ending that makes the story. The visual effects are pretty good for a movie made approximately 33 years ago."The Benediction". Lance Henriksen plays MacLeod, a priest who's suffered a crisis of faith, and leaves the church. While driving through the desert, he is menaced over and over by a mysterious character driving a black pick up truck. Overall, too reminiscent of "Duel" and "The Car", but there's one brilliant moment at about the one hour mark."Night of the Rat". Richard Masur, Veronica Cartwright, and Bridgette Andersen are the Houstons, a suburban family menaced by a monster rat. It may be tough going for a while since Masurs' character is so unlikable and stupidly stubborn. The special effects leave something to be desired.At its best, "Nightmares" is creepy and atmospheric, even if the stories aren't all that great. It's "The Bishop of Battle" that stands out, since it's the most unpredictable of the bunch, and due to its cool punk soundtrack.Anthony James, (an uncredited) William Sanderson, Lee Ving, Mariclare Costello, Louis Giambalvo, Moon Unit Zappa, Billy Jayne, James Tolkan (voice only), Tony Plana, Timothy Scott, Robin Gammell, and Albert Hague are also among those stopping by.Definitely worth a look for 80s horror enthusiasts and lovers of the anthology format.Seven out of 10.

I watched this on sci-fi tonight. I had not seen it for a number of years 22 to be exact. So it is a horror anthology story movie.First segment there is a killer on the loose. A woman goes out to buy cigarettes when she come back to her car guess where the killer is ??? The back seat? the front seat with a take out ? A bit unoriginal.Emilio Esteves is addicted to this one game and he just has to beat it he has to be the master. So he bunks off in the middle of the night to play the game in the arcade. The game looks so lame these days. It is vector-scan just like asteroids. So he get to level 12 out of thirteen and beats in. Then for level 13 the aliens come out of the arcade game. How lame can you get? The cheese factor was high on this segment. Lance Henrickson is a priest who finds his face after the devil sends someone to kill him in a 4 by 4 which behaves like the car out of the car. So lame it hurts. Lasty hour of the rat. A rat make home in a family house. The rat is a baddie and its huge. Now begins a fight between them and the rat. It ends so badly it is untrue. This anthology makes vault of horror look like a classic.

I just love anthology movies, especially in the horror-genre. And this one was one of the first ones I ever saw ("Twilight Zone: The Movie" was the first one). So those two started it all and I must say: I would love to rate it a bit higher than 6/10 (maybe for nostalgia reasons). Even though the 4 stories presented here were fairly original for that time ("Urban Legend" even stole the first segment's basic plot element), it's a bit strange that all (but one) episodes have a surprisingly happy ending (not very common in horror anthologies). And also it lacks a bit in bloodshed and, well, gory stuff. But still, every story has a nice twist at one point or another and the overall atmosphere is quite creepy & scary at times. Because of the lack of bloodshed and nudity, "Nightmares" can also be recommended to the younger viewers. I'm sure they will have a blasting time with this one, especially with the "Bishop of the Battle" segment (even if it looks hopelessly dated).