Reviews of Nightmares 52

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  Needs a little work
  A review of Nightmares
  by addjeff11 on 03/28/2013
  I'm not exactly sure where the hook ended and the plot began, but I felt completely lost by the end of Nightmares. To me it felt more like a montage of gory props and jump scares than a short film. If the tagline is "Children shouldn't watch scary movies before bed", then maybe you could have shown the kid actually watching a scary movie as opposed to bombarding us with devilish... I'm not exactly sure where the hook ended and the plot began, but I felt completely lost by the end of Nightmares. To me it felt more like a montage of gory props and jump scares than a short film. If the tagline is "Children shouldn't watch scary movies before bed", then maybe you could have shown the kid actually watching a scary movie as opposed to bombarding us with devilish images with no backstory from the get-go.
  
  What I'm trying to say is that I felt this short lacked a sturdy structure. The premise is good, but the execution didn't seem to live up to the concept.
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  Just some notes:
  
  I would have liked to hear the actors a bit more clearly [which, I understand (almost a little too well) can be difficult to achieve on a no budget short], but sound is critical to any film's success (or failure).
  
  I think the film would benefit from a fade to the child's eye as opposed to the "shatter" transition which sort of took me out of the short before it began. Although those kinds of transitions can excite some editors, I've seen that a simple hard cut or a fade can aid the story exponentially more than any shape transition or effect could.
  
  I'm assuming that, in the final scene, the kid lays down in his father's bedroom. I would have loved to see a connection between the two relationally. (The kid could call out "Dad", but dad doesn't respond and, when the kid walks over to see if dad is awake, he throws off the cover and reveals himself as the villain). I'm just nitpicking here, but this all goes back to the structure of the story.
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  When all is said and done, I was thoroughly terrified by the short (in a good way I mean) and I will be eagerly awaiting your future projects. read
• 
  Night
  A review of Nightmares
  by burgos387 on 02/12/2013
  I watched plenty of horror films, when I was a brat and I never had dreams like that before. Thank god. This short was interesting. The cutting back and forth between the child and his bad dreams worked nicely. The scenes of gore (which I personally am not a fan of) worked nicely in creating the childs terror. Though it wasn't clear to me that the child had been watching horror... I watched plenty of horror films, when I was a brat and I never had dreams like that before. Thank god. This short was interesting. The cutting back and forth between the child and his bad dreams worked nicely. The scenes of gore (which I personally am not a fan of) worked nicely in creating the childs terror. Though it wasn't clear to me that the child had been watching horror movies. I liked the ironic twist that the place he went to for safety, may have been the root of his terror. read
• 
  What a horrible film...Well Done!
  A review of Nightmares
  by chrisprobert38 on 02/08/2013
  The synopsis says " children shouldn't watch horror movies", well maybe grown-ups shouldn't either because this is truly a disturbing vision. Obviously one can see the "join" as it were,but hey ,given a few quid I'm sure the film-maker could solve that quite easily, anyhow we all know if we had a million bucks we'd all make Lawrence of Arabia. Although the part where the older... The synopsis says " children shouldn't watch horror movies", well maybe grown-ups shouldn't either because this is truly a disturbing vision. Obviously one can see the "join" as it were,but hey ,given a few quid I'm sure the film-maker could solve that quite easily, anyhow we all know if we had a million bucks we'd all make Lawrence of Arabia. Although the part where the older brother's face goes ogre-like at the end must have taken a while. Although it did seem like the director was more concerned with showing his technical ability to the detriment of story I don't know how he could avoid this in such a short space of time. It would be great to see the build up from the kid watching the horror film to entering into his nightmare. It is a genre I don't particularly enjoy, but I don't think one is supposed to. And I live on my own. read
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  Freedy Krueguer is baaaack!!!
  A review of Nightmares
  by JITofe on 11/07/2012
  If you want to scare viewers is very important that they cannot see the trick, the mask, a men under the monster’s skin. When you get the hang the fear is over. If you have more than ten years is impossible feel fear with this film. You always are seeing the mask, the fake blood, and the oldest topics in this genre: the dark forest, a creaky door, sinister music, etc....
  
  If you want to scare viewers is very important that they cannot see the trick, the mask, a men under the monster’s skin. When you get the hang the fear is over.
  If you have more than ten years is impossible feel fear with this film. You always are seeing the mask, the fake blood, and the oldest topics in this genre: the dark forest, a creaky door, sinister music, etc.
  I don’t like it, sorry. read
• 
  Scared
  A review of Nightmares
  by Eliza Maus on 07/31/2011
  I'm a wimp when it comes to horror so I was genuinely creeped out by this. I thought the nightmare monster was the most compelling part since he looked and sounded very rough and I liked the settings you put him in. The little boy however could have looked more scared. Darker lighting would have made this film more frightening. The quick edits in the beginning of the film would... I'm a wimp when it comes to horror so I was genuinely creeped out by this. I thought the nightmare monster was the most compelling part since he looked and sounded very rough and I liked the settings you put him in. The little boy however could have looked more scared. Darker lighting would have made this film more frightening. The quick edits in the beginning of the film would have been more effective if the camera focused on them longer. It certainly brought me back to what I felt like as a kid when dreading nightfall after watching a scary movie. All in all I was a little scared so I guess it worked. read
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  Sibling Spooky
  A review of Nightmares
  by Aluinsqui on 12/12/2010
  I was legitimately scared while watching this short. Many of its details remind of movies from another time; the music, the make-up, the direction. Having said this, it might have been a little on the camp side. If this is what you were aiming for, then you definitely did it, I guess. The special effects added to this feeling as well. Good job, overall. Loved the atmosphere... I was legitimately scared while watching this short. Many of its details remind of movies from another time; the music, the make-up, the direction.
  
  Having said this, it might have been a little on the camp side. If this is what you were aiming for, then you definitely did it, I guess. The special effects added to this feeling as well.
  
  Good job, overall. Loved the atmosphere achieved, but the direction could have been better. read
• 
  Foray into Fear
  A review of Nightmares
  by bigsexypeters on 06/24/2010
  Nightmare, put simply, is about a child who shouldn't have watched that scary movie befor bedtime...a situation most of us have found ourselves in. I think overall, the story could have been expanded. With a push to higher risks, we get a chance to see who the kid really is so I would suggest that the stakes in the story for the character need to be raised. Loved the design... Nightmare, put simply, is about a child who shouldn't have watched that scary movie befor bedtime...a situation most of us have found ourselves in.
  
  I think overall, the story could have been expanded. With a push to higher risks, we get a chance to see who the kid really is so I would suggest that the stakes in the story for the character need to be raised.
  
  Loved the design of the scary guy with the chin but be careful of blending issues. There was a 3/4's shot where you could see the make-up peeling.
  
  Horror on a no shoe string budget can be really tricky to pull off. The blood and gore didn't work so well for me just because you could tell that it was fake. Maybe next time try using some different angles or lighting set-ups, not to hide what doesn't work but to emphasize what does. Could make for a better film.
  
  Thanks for letting me watch! read
• 
  Sound makes a huge difference
  A review of Nightmares
  by giannistsakiridis on 06/06/2010
  Really enjoyed the choice of sounds as the sound design adds a lot in terms of engaging the viewer. Interesting visual effects with different contrasts and saturation which denote the "other" dimension in the boy's dreams. Despite that, I'd like to see more of a journey into the nightmare rather than scary images.
• 
  Good Film
  A review of Nightmares
  by ADr1an on 03/27/2010
  The film overall was great because the story was very easy to understand and it was completely related to the title of the film. In the opening scene the font style of the title, “Nightmare” definitely needs improvement. The title of the film should been in bold letters to add effect; after all, the genre of this film is horror. I like the lighting scheme in the beginning,... The film overall was great because the story was very easy to understand and it was completely related to the title of the film. In the opening scene the font style of the title, “Nightmare” definitely needs improvement. The title of the film should been in bold letters to add effect; after all, the genre of this film is horror. I like the lighting scheme in the beginning, it was dark. It completely resemble the theme of the film. However, the inscriptions in the opening scene, where its said, “Written by…Starring…” were obscure. Again, the font style and the size of the letters/words were the problems, it was to thin and hard to read.
  
  After the opening scene, I noticed that there was a bloody baby doll hanging from the ceiling. That scene was crucial because it can immediately captures the audiences attention and it clearly portrayed that the film was a horror film. Moreover, that scene encourages the viewers to be scared because of the blood that can be seen everywhere and the background sound of a female child praying. In that scene there were a lot of disturbing images, like for example the bloody eye ball on the wall. I like how you zoomed in on that bloody eye ball and added a video transition effect and showed a different scene where the camera was focused or zoomed closely to the eyeball of a boy laying down on his bed. That clearly demonstrated that the opening scene was a horrendous nightmare of the boy. When the boy said, “I should’ve not watched that stupid movie.” You should have raised the volume a little bit so that it was easy to hear and understand what he said. Also right after the boy said those words and closed his eyes, you should have zoomed the camera to his eyes again and add a video transition effect that will lead to his second nightmare.
  
  The sound effects from the beginning to the end was outstanding. I thought that something was going to pop out anytime because the music backgrounds were scary. The camera angles were okay; however, it was a little bit shaky in the opening scenes. read
• 
  Nightmares
  A review of Nightmares
  by justintagg on 01/08/2010
  Some nice ideas, cool effects but, in my opinion, a little bit too much of all of those and not enough structure to the story. I liked the premise and given the things you had to play with it seems like a perfect fit but somewhere along the lines it feels as though everything you could put in has gone in with very little restraint and my suggestion would be this. Make choices... Some nice ideas, cool effects but, in my opinion, a little bit too much of all of those and not enough structure to the story.
  
  I liked the premise and given the things you had to play with it seems like a perfect fit but somewhere along the lines it feels as though everything you could put in has gone in with very little restraint and my suggestion would be this.
  
  Make choices. There are two stories here, both of which end up at the same point. One is the story of the boy who cannot sleep, the boy in reality. The other is of the boys nightmares. But everything was in such a rush it was hard to clamp either of these down.
  
  You need to decide what is actually happening in the nightmares, where are they taking the boy and the audience. For example, you need some kind of key visual element that draws us into the story, you had a neat shot flying over a field of corn (or something) this would be an ideal establishing shot that tells us 'ok, now we have left reality and gone to this dream reality'. Becaue this did not happen what we saw was a lot of almost disconnected effects shots and a few attempts at making us jump out of our seats... which I did. But that alone is not the scariest thing. The scariest thing is the psychological story and that is the one that effects the boy in the real world. Again this stuff seemed too rushed... You either needed to cut a lot out or allow your edit to find it's own length.
  
  I enjoyed this short and notice it has been re-cut. I will have a look at that and accept you have probably made enough changes from this edit to improve it vastly.
  
  Thanks for uploading, best of luck with your future projects. read