Nightmares (1980)

NIGHTMARES (AKA STAGE FRIGHT (1980))

Dir: John D. Lamond

We watch a girl traumatized by watching her mother have sex with random men. She eventually causes her mother and one of her lovers to die in a car accident. After years of being institutionalized she is released. She auditions and gets a role in a play about the absurdity of death. As her fellow actors and crew begin to die off, her sanity seems to slip away. Each death is shot through the trappings of a slasher / Giallo whodunnit film. The killer breaks a window or mirror, grabs a glass shard, and stabs anyone near. The cinematography and ample amounts of nudity almost make this film tolerable. But you have this question in your head the whole time, “It’s the girl from the beginning, the actress we’re following, who’s the killer right?” Then our brain tells us, “No, there’s no reason for POV shots if it’s her.” If it was Cathy/Helen, our lead, then the film should have that Maniac (1980) feeling where we watch someone become completely unstable. Wait, as of this sentence I think I realized what the director / writers were going for.

The girl at the beginning is named Cathy. There are hints that Helen drops in the film that Cathy won’t let her do things. So, we are supposed to believe there is a Cathy and a Helen. But it takes two viewings and an attempt at writing something critical about this film to even discover that detail. Developing this idea would have been easy. The inclusion of a Cathy and Helen as sisters in the beginning of the film and having Cathy also die in the accident would have solved any plot issues. Then when it came out that Helen was some Norman / Norma Bates-type killer we would understand. And the mystery would make sense. But as it is, the film is a complete mess.