2 out of 5

Director: Rolfe Kanefsky

Nightmare Man is by no means a bad film. It also isn’t that original, but that’s not what director/writer Rolfe Kanefsky seems to be aiming for, instead trying to find a balance between something that gives winks to its genre but tries to sidestep some cliches at the same time. This, you could say, is the goal of a vast majority of horror today. Nightmare Man mostly succeeds, and does so with a grin, but it doesn’t give you any wacky moments to make it truly noteworthy and also doesn’t grin in a way that’s particularly intelligent. So Ellen has been having nightmares about a man in a devil mask trying to kill her. She’s convinced that this man is not just a dream, but something real, and something truly threatening. So hubby William is driving her out to a clinic to get some professional help. Clinic is located in the woods, they run out of gas, Bill goes to get gas… These checkpoints of how to isolate someone are well executed and honestly written and acted better than a good chunk of middleground horror. The scares Kanefsky throws at us/Ellen to get her out of the car and running toward a group of young-adults-partying-in-a-cabin have a nice low budget feel to them that oddly mixes well with the very crisp digital format. Once we’re all in a cabin and defending against the Nightmare Man, it’s a pleasant blend of stereotypes and awareness of stereotypes, and well-paced reveals. The “twist” is expected, but what occurs after is a nice spin on the, eh, “after-twist” and matches with the genre vibe Kanesfsky puts on the whole thing. But only two stars, yes? Well, it is a solid experience, but we’re jaded fans nowadays, and we need something truly special to get us on the edge of our seats.