'Nightmares' (1983) - Joseph Sargent.

Movie maestro, Joseph ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ Sargent’s criminally undervalued collection of macabre misfortune arguably remains one of the more entertainingly eclectic, inventively disturbing 80s horror compendiums that certainly makes ‘Nightmares’ no less essential viewing for cultivated, fright-ferreting fear junkies than the furry scary selection of freakishly feline madness ‘Cat’s Eyes’ (1985), which slinkily followed just a few years later. All four of these unsettling, deliciously shuddersome tales of nightmarish ill fortune, computerized calamity, and toothsome, reality-twisting terror have fiendish merit; 'Terror in Topanga', 'The Bishop of Battle', and the outrageously clawsome creature featurette 'Night of The Rat' have an additionally sinister, flesh-crawling creepiness!

The ‘Nightmares’ begin in earnest with the sinisterly sardonic, pulse-poundingly tense intro ‘Terror in Topanga’, a tantalizingly terrifying invocation of an oft-reiterated Urban Legend. This blood-curdlingly creepy tale of anxiety-laden, automotive angst about a lone woman stalked an escaped, canyon prowling lunatic is a doozie! The talented filmmakers have evilly retooled this family favourite into an especially razor-edged, fright-loaded opening scream, and gee willikers, if that fractious confrontation with the traffic cop doesn’t get you good, oh boy! you’re WAY past gettin’! 

The ‘should be iconic’, indisputably bionic, electronic fable,‘The Bishop of Battle’ with its steely-eyed, arcade-haunting, punk rock-blasting, Video game-obsessed, Emilio Estevez pitting his increasingly desperate skills against his sonorous, James Tolkan-voiced, neon-faced nemesis remains a remarkably vivid pleasure, and holy asteroids! All the additionally sublime Walkman/vintage arcade game/tech nostalgia remains glorious to behold! While the stolid, competently acted, Lance Hendrickson-starring segment ‘The Benediction’ is technically fine, it is far too derivative of the Spielberg/ Richard Matheson scripted ‘Duel’ to strike any deeply resonating chill-chords, for me, overall, it just felt inauthentic and a little uninspired. 

If one can forgive the rudimentary, far-from special effects, the truly outstanding, Stephen King-ish ‘Night of the Rat’ mini-creature feature menacingly makes for an outrageously fun, fur-flingingly fabulous, jaw-gnashing finale! The pristine, white-picketed suburban facade of married couple, Steven (Richard Masur) and Claire (Veronica Cartwright) is being wantonly wrecked by the grievous gnawings of a gigantic mythical rodent laying rapacious, apparently arbitrary siege upon their fragile middle-class domesticity with a monstrous cement-chewing efficacy! Watching the outsized, flame-eyed, property punishing rodent savagely Swiss Cheese-ing the Houston family home is what makes gnarly horror movies like 'Nightmares' such Jawfully compelling entertainment! 

'Joseph Sargent's jawfully compelling 'Nightmares' is a ferociously fun, conspicuously clawsome collection of eclectic creepiness which remains one of the more terrifically toothsome, fear-festooned, shock-saturated 80s creepshows!   - Weirdlingwolf.