Nightmare is a 1981 American psychological slasher film written and directed by Romano Scavolini, and starring Baird Stafford and Sharon Smith. Its plot follows a deranged man who, after undergoing an experimental medical procedure, is released from a New York City psychiatric hospital and embarks on a road trip to Florida with the intent of murdering his ex-wife and child. Scavolini, an Italian director who had previously worked making experimental films, developed the idea for Nightmare after reading newspaper articles about psychiatric patients who had been administered powerful drugs that altered their behavior. He completed the film's screenplay over a two-week period while vacationing in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he chose to set the majority of the film. The film was shot on location in Florida and New York City in late 1980. Released by 21st Century Film Corporation in the fall of 1981, Nightmare was met by significant criticism for its graphic violence and sexuality: The Motion Picture Association of America granted it an X rating, and it was later banned in the United Kingdom (where it was released under the alternate title Nightmares in a Damaged Brain) and prosecuted for obscenity as a "video nasty". Three executives for the film's British distribution company faced legal action for releasing the film in its original cut, violating the ruling of the British Board of Film Classification, which mandated that approximately 48 seconds of footage be excised before the film could be screened for the public. In 1984, all three executives were found guilty, two of them sentenced to 18 and 9 months imprisonment, respectively. The film also garnered controversy for claiming in its press material that Tom Savini had provided the film's special effects, which Savini vehemently denied.
Plot George Tatum has been incarcerated in a psychiatric institution in NYC for many years after sexually mutilating and murdering a family in Brooklyn. Diagnosed with a variety of disorders, including schizophrenia, amnesia, and epilepsy, George undergoes an experimental procedure during his incarceration that "reprograms" his brain, reforming him into an upstanding citizen. However, he remains plagued by hazy nightmares of a violent incident from his childhood. Upon his release, George visits a peep show in Times Square, which triggers flashbacks to his father's murder. The following day, George obtains a car. He leaves New York, heading south to the Florida home of his ex-wife, Susan Temper, their daughters Kim and Tammy, and their mischievous young son, C.J., who frequently plays twisted pranks that disturb her and babysitter Kathy. His car breaks down en route in Myrtle Beach, leaving him stranded overnight. There, he follows a woman home from a local bar and brutally slashes her to death. Back in NYC, George's psychiatrists discover he has fled the city and begin tracking his movements. Meanwhile, in Florida, Susan is in a relationship with her boyfriend, Bob Rosen, and struggles with her responsibilities as a single mother. Her house begins receiving numerous disturbing phone calls, which no one realises are being made by George. While Susan is out one night, Kathy gets multiple calls, which unnerve her. C.J. begins claiming he is being followed by a strange man–, his father George, unbeknownst to him–, but Susan dismisses it as another of his pranks. Later, George murders Tony, a classmate of C.J., and a teenage girl named Candy in an abandoned house during a game of hide-and-seek. Kathy agrees to babysit the children the following day while Susan attends a party. During the night, George infiltrates the house and murders Kathy and her boyfriend with a rock pick. After donning one of C.J.'s Halloween masks, an old man, George pursues the children, who have barricaded themselves in the upstairs bedrooms. C.J. obtains a revolver from his mother's dresser and uses it to shoot George a total of 8 times. During his dying moments, George has a full recollection of his childhood, including a memory of catching his father engaging in sadomasochistic sex acts with another woman, during which he brutally murdered them both with a felling axe. Susan returns home to find police at her house removing George's body, whom Susan hysterically identifies as her husband. C.J., sitting in a police car, winks into the camera knowingly.
Cast
Production
Development Scavolini was inspired to write the screenplay for the film after reading articles in Time and Newsweek concerning psychiatric patients who had been administered powerful drugs that altered their behavior. He wrote the screenplay while visiting friends in Cocoa Beach, Florida, over a period of 15 days. Scavolini recalled: "[I was] trying to tell a story and not just hit the stomach of the viewers. To hit the spectator's stomach, you need to tell a story that has its roots in reality, not in fantasy. The massacre of the father and mother by the young Tatum is not the explosion of a mental disorder but flows from the inability of him to "understand" that his parents love to have sex through sadomasochistic practices...In my film there is no hope, because the real and final message is that we are all at the mercy of our demons." The film was also influenced by Scavolini's earlier work in hardcore pornography, which could explain the amount of extraneous nudity and the bare context behind the bloodletting that the film contains.
Filming Nightmare marked the first and only film produced by the independent Goldmine Productions. Principal photography took place in Cocoa Beach, Florida, with additional photography in New York City. According to producer and actor William Milling, the primary shoot in Florida occurred over a twelve-day period, where the cast and crew worked for at least 12 hours per day. Milling stated that the film's production budget was approximately $250,000.
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