HALLOWEEN HORRORFEST 2021/RATAPALOOZA NIGHT SIXTEEN: Nightmares (1983)

As we roar into the final lap of this rodent-laden festival of fear, The Ratapalooza Randomizer has blessed me with a true oddity.  Tonight's film, 1983's Nightmares, was originally intended as a TV pilot for a proposed horror anthology.  When the network it was made for, NBC, passed, Universal Pictures decided to release it theatrically...where it made six and a half million dollars.  Wikipedia (and we all know how reliable they are) claims the film had a budget of nine million, but I suspect that's exaggerated....either way, it didn't make enough money until it was released on VHS.

I had originally seen this on VHS, when I wrote about it for my old fanzine, Sticky Carpet Digest.  I remember thinking it was okay, if a bit chintzy.  But at that time I did not know about its made for TV origins.  Looking at it now, with that knowledge, I understand why it was chintzy.  It's a film made for NBC in the 80's and designed to be split into four individual episodes if the series ran long enough that it could be sold to syndication.  That explains the rather lengthy animated sequence before the credits--you just know producer Christopher Crowe was planning on there being some kick-ass narration by a horror legend over the primitive computer-generated landscape--and the overall flat lighting and basic shots.

We'll get to the Ratapalooza Checklist Shortly....but let's briefly touch upon the first three stories.

'Chapter One' is entitled 'Terror In Topanga,' and it's as bland as it sounds.  It's literally a retelling of 'The Killer In The Backseat' urban legend without any embellishment or twist to justify its existence.  There is a slightly gory attack at the top of the story which may have been added later to get the film its R rating, but it's otherwise thoroughly forgettable.

'Chapter Two' is the one everyone remembers, and not just because it stars Emilio Estevez, 'The Bishop of Battle.'  Estevez is JJ, who we know is a punk rocker by all the vintage Fear and X tracks on his Walkman.  He's obsessed with getting to the twelfth level of the titular video game, to the point where he's letting his grades slide, ignoring Moon Zappa's come-ons and hustling inner city gangbangers to finance his crusade.  One night he breaks into the arcade and does reach that twelfth level...and things go pear shape.  It's very on-rails, and it ends up exactly where you think it does.  Much props for that soundtrack, though, which is the liveliest the score gets.

'Chapter Three' is 'The Benediction,' which features Lance Henrickson as a priest who has lost his way crossing path with an ominous black Chevy truck who has it in for him.  Almost every time I hear people mention this story calls it a rip-off of Duel, but this viewing I was reminded more of The Car...only it doesn't have that film's nuance or depth.  Henrickson is really good, but you can see the ending coming a mile away.

And now we come to the reason I'm writing about this film, and you know what that means--The Ratapalooza Checklist!

1) IS CANADA SUBBING FOR AMERICA?  No.  This was shot in California.

2) DOES SOMEONE OFFSCREEN THROWS A RAT AT SOMEONE TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE IT'S ATTACKING HIM?  No.

3) ARE THERE CUTE RAT PUPPETS?  At times.  Most of the time, director Joe Sargent resorts to Bert I. Gordon-style optical effects.

4) IS THERE A SPEECH ABOUT HOW BAD-ASS RATS ARE? Kinda.

5) IS A CAT VICTIMIZED BY RATS? Yes.

6) IS THERE AN EXTERMINATOR CHARACTER, AND IS HE COMIC RELIEF?  There is an exterminator, but he is more of a...Van Helsing figure?

7) DOES THE RESEARCH RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RAT CATASTROPHE MENTION CANCER? No research is involved; supernatural origins are teased but the veracity of said origins is ambiguous.

In 'Night of The Rat,' Richard Mazur is a Businessman Who Cares Only About Business and won't let his wife Veronica Cartwright pay for an exterminator when they experience rat trouble.  His attempts at rat killing seem successful until what may be a German Rat Demon that preys upon mean humans takes to terrorizing the family.

Like with the other segments, this is flatly shot with no real 'stamp' of the director.  Mazur and Cartwright, being acting veterans, do well bringing their underwritten characters to some semblance of life...but the most interesting character in the story, and the film, lies with Albert Hague's Mel Keefer, the exterminator who apparently is knowledgeable about demonology.  After sitting through a parade of goofy exterminators giving us heel promos on behalf of the rats all this month, Hague chooses a different tack.  He talks about rats in a reverent, respectful way, and his generally quiet performance is in excellent contrast to the broad 'callow yuppie' that Mazur is doing.  I think the segment might've been better if it continued along the lines that character was hinting at instead of going for a more conventional resolution that muddies the water rather than clears it up.

I can see why the television series wasn't picked up; most of these stories are derivative, and there is a lack of depth to the characterization.  I wonder if Crowe had come up with a host segment to introduce each story if it might've found its place on NBC's schedule.  As a movie however, its segments just put out there for our examination, it's not very good.

Tomorrow...well, it was inevitable, I guess, that I'd eventually hit upon a film about evil rats from space.  That'll be 2011's Rat Scratch Fever.  

There are presently five open slots for this year's festival, and if you'd like to be included, there are four ways to get your share of the spotlight:

1) You can become a Domicile of Dread Patreon at any level.  Patreons always get a free slot, as well as advance access to podcasts and other goodies!

2) You can buy me a coffee at Ko-Fi.  Suggested donation is $3

3) You can make a donation to Queens Community House Covid-19 Relief and Recovery Campaign.  Suggested donation is $10.  Please forward your receipt to me as proof.

4) You can choose to make a donation to the charity chosen by a sponsor on his/her/their day. Like with the third possibility, please forward me proof of donation.

It is not necessary to choose a rat-based horror film.  However, if you do, I will forward you a special Ratapalooza banner you can display on your website.