Keeping the Nightmare Alive’.

I have to admit, after the first few minutes of this 2006 film by Rolfe Kanefsky, I was getting worried about the production standards. Most of the time in a movie if the audio mix is awkward, or there are cinematography issues, that does it for me; sometimes I just can’t get comfortable and lose myself. But in Nightmare Man you slowly adjust, and a movie with some potential comes bloodily crawling out. It shows that with some smarts and perseverance, independent film makers can do good things with little or no money.

My first big compliment to Rolfe, is his sexy handling of his female actors in the nude scenes. It’s traditional in slasher films to have the girls screaming and cowering when the killer is lurking around the corner, but not these ladies. Tiffany Shepis takes control of the camera in a hilarious sexy striptease murder scene, and there were several moments in this film where I found myself with a smirk on my face. It appears Kanefsky has a bit of experience with some soft erotica, and it helps make the nude scenes sexy and burlesque like rather than hokie. And for my second compliment, being the writer and director, Kanefsky also deserves some credit for using a typically overused horror set-up (a bunch of horny post college students on a getaway in a house out in the woods in complete darkness) and having some fun with it.

Throughout the movie I found myself quietly cheering cast and crew on, for finding creative solutions to budget constraints; and trying their best without fail. The movie isn’t something that hasn’t been seen before, it is taking a formula and twisting things around a bit. I probably am adding a half a star for the effort. After having read some of my reviews, I am sure you all have noticed that I assign days of the week for the movie going experience – and this one falls into the Friday/Saturday night category (just add some friends and beer, and Tiffany Shepis).

LadyR3D

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