Nightmares

Divided into four separate independent films originally made as a television pilot, Nightmares begins with Terror in Topanga, a story about a young woman who goes out one night to buy a pack of cigarettes, knowing full well that the infamous canyon killer is on the loose -- and sure enough, a subtly menacing store clerk (Anthony James) begins to loom large in the woman's journey. The second story, Bishop of Battle is a sequence with animation that details the saga of a video games champion who comes up against a supernatural opponent. The next vignette, The Benediction is about a priest who gives up on his faith and takes off down the highway, only to be confronted with a demonic minivan and good reasons for remaining a believer. The last story, Night of the Rat has the rodent that ate Manhattan looming large over the home of a young couple, but never fear, the husband is blasé enough to handle anything, or so he thinks. As might be expected, the low-budget production and facetious scripting of a few of these sequences work against the intended scary effect of the stories.~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide