Nightmares 1999 Horror Movie Review

Fans of the Tales from the Crypt series and The Twilight Zone should appreciate this early-Eighties anthology of horror tales.  “Terror in Topanga” is the tale of a woman terrorized by a maniac when she just has to make a trip to the store for some cigarettes.  “The Bishop of Battle” is notable for a very young Emilio Estevez as a teen whose obsession with video games gets the better of him.  There’s a definite nostalgia factor as he hustles other kids for money on the Paleozoic-era arcade games (listening to punk rock like Black Flag and Fear on an early-model Walkman the whole time).  Perhaps the strongest segment involves B-movie stalwart Lance Henriksen as a priest who gives up the clergy and leaves his parish.  While traveling across the desert, the hapless padre is pursued by a mysterious black Chevrolet pickup that systematically demolishes his car (shades of Spielberg’s Duel).  “Night of the Rat,” rounding out the quartet, is just that; the story of a family who has a problem with a really big rat.  While this little collection of tales tends to telegraph its punchlines well in advance, it still offers up a satisfying chill or two by way of its pacing and suspense, and with a bit more gore than the usual made-for-cable fare.  —Jerry Renshaw