Nightmare Man starts as Bill (Luciano Szafir) is driving his wife Ellen (Blythe Metz) cross country to a mental institute, apparently Ellen thinks she's possessed by some sort of demon from an Afican tribal wood carved face mask, obviously she isn't & that's why she's on her way to a loony bin. However en-route the car runs out of petrol in the middle of nowhere, Bill sets off on foot to find a petrol station while Ellen stays behind in the car. It turns out though Ellen may not be as mad as originally anticipated as the Nightmare Man (Aaron Sherry) becomes a living reality that wants to kill her, she runs away into some wood where she stumbles upon a log cabin with four friends inside who all become potential victims for the Nightmare Man...

Written, produced & directed by Rolfe Kanefsky this low budget teen slasher isn't quite as bad as I had feared & isn't too bad if you have low enough expectations. The script obviously takes it inspiration from the self conscious Scream (1996) & it's imitators, this is a basic teen slasher & to be honest it doesn't really try to be anything else. Sure there are a couple of average twists in the story to liven things up a bit but at heart this is just a slasher. To be positive at least it moves along at a nice enough pace, there might have been a couple more murders but I wasn't bored with it, the character's are actually a lot better than I thought with reasonable decision making like actively trying to stick together & deciding not to go out in the woods alone or split up which is a nice change & generally speaking I thought it was a painless if undemanding & forgettable enough way to pass 90 odd minutes. The other thing that I liked about this film is Tiffany Shepis who I have seen in several other low budget horror films but didn't particularly know her in the sense if I saw a picture of her I wouldn't recognise her, here though she's probably the best thing about Nightmare Man as she runs around in her extremely mini skirt & boots holding a huge hunting rifle spouting mildly amusing one-liners, hey I'm easily pleased OK?

Director Kanefsky does alright on a low budget but it's not stylish & it all rather flat & bland. I've just realised that I've seen every horror film Kanefsky has directed to this point (lucky me, not),The Hazing (2004) which is pretty good, Corpses (2004) which is not so good, Jacqueline Hyde (2006) which is terrible & this which is OK. There's no scares, the twists aren't entirely successful or surprising, there's not much tension & no atmosphere but nothings perfect I suppose. Horror fans will also be able to spot the blatant The Evil Dead (1982) homage. There's not much gore here, an arrow fired into someones mouth, a knife stuck under someones chin & a bit of blood splatter & not much else.

Withn a supposed budget of about $250,000 this is as well made as you could expect, it's certainly glossier & nicer looking than many low budget straight-to-video/DVD horror film crap that's out there. As I said Tiffany Shepis is the best thing about Nightmare Man, she's a really hot looking chick with a great body & she actually gives a decent performance here which I'm sure no one was expecting to hear. The rest of the cast do OK & all of the girls find themselves in some degree of undress at one point or another.

Nightmare Man isn't anything particularly special, in fact it's nothing more than OK but even that's still a hell of a lot better than I was expecting. Worth a watch for horror fans who have to see everything & anything but other more casual viewers out there may not be that impressed.

Troubled and mentally unstable Ellen Morris (a solid and sympathetic performance by Blythe Metz) is being stalked by an evil and deadly demonic being known as the Nightmare Man (a genuinely creepy portrayal by Aaron Sherry). Ellen seeks shelter at a cabin in the isolated woods where two young adult couples are staying. Naturally, the Nightmare Man comes after all of them. Writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky ably crafts a dandy and dynamic blend of in-your-face visceral horror, wickedly amusing dark sarcastic humor, cheerfully nasty splatter, and truly enticing titillation; he keeps the pace brisk swift and constant throughout, builds a considerable amount of suspense, relates the simple, yet effective and engrossing premise in an admirably snappy and straightforward manner, delivers a few nifty plot twists, makes excellent and unsettling use of the remote nocturnal sylvan setting, and further spices things up with some yummy female nudity and a handy helping of graphic gore. Moreover, the game and attractive cast really sink their teeth into the fun material: Metz makes for an appealing heroine, the always sexy and vibrant Tiffany Shepis nearly steals the whole show with her delightfully sassy'n'spunky portrayal of the brash and resolute Mia, plus there are fine turns by Luciano Szafir as Ellen's duplicitous husband William, James Ferris as the practical, take-charge Jack, Hanna Putnam as the sweet Trinity, and Jack Sway as the boyish Ed. Paul Deng's slick and lively cinematography gives the picture an extra invigorating adrenaline rush with its whiplash pans and vertiginous Steadicam work. Christopher Farrell's robust and shivery score hits the spine-tingling spot. A very worthwhile and enjoyable fright feature.

Ellen (Blythe Metz) orders an African hand-carved mask from Rome to resolve her fertility problem with her husband William (Luciano Szafir). After receiving a wrong mask, Ellen insists that the demon Nightmare Man is attacking her and she needs pills to keep him under control inside her, but the doctors diagnose her as paranoid schizophrenic. On the way to be committed in the remote Devonshine Institute, the car runs out of gas and Bill leaves Ellen in the car while he walks to a gas station 10 miles away. Ellen is attacked by the Nightmare Man but she escapes through the woods, reaching the house of Mia (Tiffany Shepis) that is receiving her boyfriend Ed (Jack Sway) and the friends Trinity (Hanna Putnam) and her fiancé Jack (James Ferris). They shelter her and call Bill that tells them about the delusional state of Ellen, and they do not call the police. Sooner they discover that the deadly Nightmare Man is outside threatening their lives and they realize that Ellen was telling the truth.

"Nightmare Man" is a good low-budget slash movie with many twists in the story. There are many bad reviews in IMDb but I liked this movie, maybe because I do not read reviews before watching the movie and writing mine. Unfortunately Rolfe Kanefsky should research before writing – he would discover that Brazil does not produce tequila and this drink is imported usually from Mexico. Therefore his reference to "Brazilian tequila" is absolutely wrong and does not exist; next time, try to use Brazilian "cachaça". My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available