Nightmare Man (2007)

   
Produced, Written & Directed by: Rolfe Kanefsky

Starring:

Blythe Metz .... Ellen
Tiffany Shepis .... Mia
Luciano Szafir .... William
James Ferris .... Jack
Hanna Putnam .... Trinity
Jack Sway .... Ed
Aaron Sherry .... Nightmare Man

Release Date: After Dark Horrorfest: November 9, 2007;

 

 

 

Rating:

 

A young woman who is a paranoid schizophrenic named Ellen (Blythe Metz) buys a demonic mask she ordered away but she continues to have nightmares about it over and over again and is constantly hallucinating but her doctor tells her to take some subscribed pills to calm her nerves as she thinks a demon in black wearing her mask called the Nightmare Man is after her.

Meanwhile, her husband William (Luciano Szafir) is taking Ellen to a facility but on their way she throws the mask away and then their car stalls and then William goes out to get some help as they are both stranded in the woods.

Suddenly Ellen's fears unleash again with her hallucinations of with the Nightmare Man coming after her so she runs towards a house of partying teens playing a truth or dare game.
They think she's being chased after so they bring her inside but then they call her husband William and he warns them about her that she may cause damage to herself as well as to them so they try to do anything to save themselves from her split personalities before William arrives there to pick her up.
But suddenly, the killer that Ellen explains to the teens is killing them one by one while Ellen is passed out in the house but when she awakens she is asked to be killed as she hasn't taken more of her pills since she claims something inside her is evil and it may get unleashed.
Is the Nightmare Man really a myth in Ellen's mind?

 

An impressive beginning when we spot Ellen wandering around the house when the power goes out and there's some creepy moments going on with what she spots from a window as this for sure leaves some nice chills for a start on a horror flick. Also a good moment when she goes up in the attic and a surprise attack begins as I must say the special effects during this moment was pretty impressive for a no budgeter.
We have a moment when Ellen and her husband William are on a car ride and then their car breaks down due to no gas as this was a nice impression for a horror flick that something is going to happen later on as well as him lifting his trunk and the demonic mask is revealed. Although there's supposed to be tension between the two of them after she spots it and throws it away it doesn't do the trick too well.
Also when William leaves to get help and leaves her behind to keep an eye on stuff was a nice add on to the story in which you have a sinking feeling that the terror will soon happen since it is becoming after dark when we see this. Perfect timing indeed.
Perfect eerie moment when we see the masked Nightmare Man spying on her while she's in the car which is truly chilling to watch as this works in even for the no budgeter that we spot in this flick. Plus some nice intense moments when he tries to attack and hurt her along with nice shots on her running away in the woods with this maniac on her tail.

Meanwhile this is happening we of course see some partying teens at a lodge nearby trying to entertain themselves including by doing an erotic truth or dare as this looked rather lame and pointless to watch as I wondered if I was in for a bad horror flick while spotting this. Yet the other scene's to come makes up for that.
Nicely effective moments when the group of teens try to help Ellen out on whom was after her as well as her telling him the Nightmare Man is inside of her and comes out of her which of course looked effective that this woman is a paranoid schizophrenic or plain crazy. This was done in nicely.
Great moment in between these situations when some of the teens talks to William on Ellen's cell phone and tries to warn them about her mental state as well as getting her meds which was well put in and looking convincing as well.
We spot a stale discussion between Mia and Ed outside while he's smoking as well as the two of them acting flirtatious which is a good drawing card afterwards since we spot the Nightmare Man coming in for the kill with one of them and effective deadly camera shots on what happens as this can please slasher fans and it looked creepy too.
Perfect intensity with the others trying to keep themselves safe with any weapons that they have as well as their aggressions towards one another. Plus nice still moments on them trying not to say a word to prevent themselves from being another victim as this looked greatly done leaving a chill down your spine and wondering on what's going to happen next.
Perfect nastiness with Mia towards Ellen when she's tied up on being pitted against the maniac outside which shows alot of effective moments and very believeable between the two of them.
Great powerful moments when Mia is struggling against the Nightmare Man inside of the home which was carefully done when we see on the intensity on trying to stay alive.
While we watch this there's a great little twist that involves Ellen as it combines supernatural demonic types of possessions which was quite impressive with the special effects that revolves around this for a no budgeter as it seems to pay a tribute to flicks such as The Exorcist or even the Evil Dead. This will please the low budget horror fans big time that likes paranormal events.
Another great moment is when Ellen wickedly calls to Williamn and she is on a bed as you get the sinking feeling that he will be in for something deadly as this showed perfect timing and works in well for a possessed type of horror flick. Plus it's great when we spot Ellen on how she controls some corpses she killed to do someone in too as this worked perfectly without using any kinda of special effects with perfect camera shots on all of this.
The best moments are yet to come in an outdoor scene with Mia battling and surviving against Ellen as this looked greatly concentrated by what goes on here and good close up shots within all of this and powerful looking too. Definetely looked well done.
Bottom line: For an independent film that was made on almost no budget at all it's damn good. Rolfe knew his stuff for this film without a douby as he made it extremely twisted and mysterious as you wonder who this killer may be and wonder what is going to happen next. It's a story by itself without a doubt and should please all you fans that likes it very posessed and psychotic like. It's both a combination of a slasher flick and a supernatural one too which was clever to do both without it failing enough to disappoint any horror fan of both types of genre's.

The actors seemed to know their characters well enough. Blythe Metz (Ellen) seemed to know her craft very well as someone as a schizophernic in which she seemed to show great aggressions or having a paranoid attitude. Plus does well acting crazy as if she doesn't know what she's talking about. Brings her intensity to a hype as well while being attacked. Shows a nice versality while being possessed with her wicked speaking and cackling too. SHe studied this role quite well and passes as a character actress.
The best out of them all is scream queen Tiffany Shepis (Mia) who is marvellous in her role and will definetely be in demand for future indie work. She seemed to show off a convincing sarcastic type of behavior along with not taking crap from anyone. Also does well with her arrogant behavior and getting in your face about it. She had a great powerful motive into all that she did here. Plus shows off great energy while trying to fight someone off after struggling against them offering a nice tough as nails type of motive. Shows some terrific adrenaline quarter way through while trying to survive the madness surrounding her. Her ending performance looked great too as she shows it off nicely like she's crazy.
Luciano Szafir (William) however needed some imrovement as his thick accent it was tough to get into character at first in which he seemed a little bit wooden by when he has conversations but he isn't overly terrible by any means. Seemed to do well though when talking to someone on a cell phone warning them about his onscreen wife and what she's diagnosed with as he draws that moment in pretty well. Plus was convincing when he reveals his darkest secret to someone else as he reacts well to this in a criminal type of manner.
James Ferris (Jack) added a good sharp attitude onto his role as he was a ball of energy and added great spunk into his role. I really enoyed by what he did here as well as being fully alert on the suspensefuil moments. He seemed to be on the ball of things by what he does with his speaking or anything else. Had the right guy next door type of looks too which was a perfect match for the role.
Jack Sway (Ed) didn't do much for me as he seemed to act like an airhead by what he was doing along with like he was doped out of his head. Just lacked inspiration as a partying type of teen who likes to have a good time. Had the right looks for his role and almost presented himself well but that was about it. Not everyone was cut out for the acting biz.

There is a breast and butt shot by Tiffany Shepis' character in a scene with her in a shower and then nearly raped by a demon in her nightmare.
Hanna Putnam's character does a moonshot in the woods.
Tiffany Shepis' character is topless while being tortured by an evil spitit breasts fully exposed

An arrow is shot through a guys mouth
A knife is stabbed in a girls chin
There are guts of the Nightmare Man splattered on the windshield of a guy's car.
A female demon puts her hand in a guys chest

Christopher Farrell has great chemistry with his composing for the film making it extremely chilling and very effective putting every little energy he has into it. Alot of strong classical music with trombone and other sounds to it which is unsual for a no budgeter like this one. Some good echoey metal pounding as well as the odd unique chanting especially when the supernatural elements that come into the picture sounding perfectly clear too. We also hear the odd bonging and whooshing airy sounds which works well for a horror flick such as this one. Of course there's some cheesy synthesizer music in other spots too which didn't seem to tickle my fancy but the other music was acceptable as there's many versatile music like mentioned and this person deserves good credit for all of this.

We have a good heavy metal score by a group named Set Theory with their tracks "Wandering Eye", "Sightless" and "The Right Time" as one of these songs really stood out for the closing credits adding some nice powerful energy while watching the credits slwoly rolling up..