"Night Terrors" is a rather decent entry in the style, even if there's some problems with it.
**SPOILERS**
Arriving in Egypt, Dr. Matteson, (William Finley) meets up with daughter Genie, (Zoe Trilling) while looking for a new archaeological site. Touring the city, she is then rescued from an altercation by Sabina, (Alona Kimli) a local friend of her father. As she spends more time with her, to the detriment of her friend Beth, (Chandra West) and her father, the more she begins to pull away. She begins to pill away the most when introduced to the writings of the Marquis De Sade, (Robert Englund) the famous writer, as she feels he is trying to contact her and seek out revenge for his imprisonment. Soon haunted by visions of various cult members trying to get at her, she soon learns of the true intentions behind the cult and does her best to survive the torture they inflict.
The Good News: This one here wasn't that bad of a film. One of the great things about it is the gradual build-up this employs. There's a real slow approach here to it's finale, which makes it all the more suitable at the end. Things begin at a small scale, get more severe as it plows forward and eventually gets to a fever point. This is the way to do a slow-burning film, as it's the anticipation of what's going to happen next that brings in some sound suspense techniques. That it all comes out at the end, which is some of the best scenes in the film where the torture begins and the pieces from before finally come to a head in these sequences. With the real intentions of the film coming into view and the actions finally being represented, this is the film's best spot. These also come with some nice chasing to lead up to them, including a really warped spot through the tunnels underneath the city that's quite brilliant. The hallucinatory dreams and visions are all quite startling, and several can be pretty chilling. The crucifixion one in particular stands out as one of the better ones, and the later romance dream is quite nice. The fact that this also deals with the dark themes of pain and pleasure, with as recent a time as it did to come out, makes it feel quite a bit like the old-school films where it dwelled in those styles rather than avoided them. These all make the film feel much better than it should be.
The Bad News: The film doesn't really have a whole lot wrong with it. The low-key nature of is perhaps the biggest flaw. There's a lot more dialog than normal, and anytime anything happens it's a big shot of excitement but then there's not a lot of emphasis placed on them. They're over quite rapidly, meaning that there's not a whole lot to get behind for those who enjoy that kind of film. There's a feeling that not a whole lot could've been shoe-horned in to up the excitement as well, since this one is pretty lean as is, but the fact that there's such a low-key feeling to this one could be something to get through for those not that interested in this style. Even more is that the action scenes do come at the end, meaning that the beginning is full of scenes that basically amount to just talking between everyone. Every now and then something happens, but there's far more of the dialog scenes and they go on longer than the action scenes, giving this something of a rough beginning to also get through. The film's other big problem is that there's way too much confusion at what happens in the end. The flashbacks to the previous time, unexplained hallucinations and the random turn are just part of what makes this confusing, and this makes it a lot harder to really understand. These, though, are the film's main problems.
The Final Verdict: While not all that spectacular, this one does have enough positive points to give it a viewing. Those in the mood for the more subtle end of the genre or are fans of the style should give it a shot, while those who prefer more action-oriented films should heed caution with it.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity and Language
**SPOILERS**
Arriving in Egypt, Dr. Matteson, (William Finley) meets up with daughter Genie, (Zoe Trilling) while looking for a new archaeological site. Touring the city, she is then rescued from an altercation by Sabina, (Alona Kimli) a local friend of her father. As she spends more time with her, to the detriment of her friend Beth, (Chandra West) and her father, the more she begins to pull away. She begins to pill away the most when introduced to the writings of the Marquis De Sade, (Robert Englund) the famous writer, as she feels he is trying to contact her and seek out revenge for his imprisonment. Soon haunted by visions of various cult members trying to get at her, she soon learns of the true intentions behind the cult and does her best to survive the torture they inflict.
The Good News: This one here wasn't that bad of a film. One of the great things about it is the gradual build-up this employs. There's a real slow approach here to it's finale, which makes it all the more suitable at the end. Things begin at a small scale, get more severe as it plows forward and eventually gets to a fever point. This is the way to do a slow-burning film, as it's the anticipation of what's going to happen next that brings in some sound suspense techniques. That it all comes out at the end, which is some of the best scenes in the film where the torture begins and the pieces from before finally come to a head in these sequences. With the real intentions of the film coming into view and the actions finally being represented, this is the film's best spot. These also come with some nice chasing to lead up to them, including a really warped spot through the tunnels underneath the city that's quite brilliant. The hallucinatory dreams and visions are all quite startling, and several can be pretty chilling. The crucifixion one in particular stands out as one of the better ones, and the later romance dream is quite nice. The fact that this also deals with the dark themes of pain and pleasure, with as recent a time as it did to come out, makes it feel quite a bit like the old-school films where it dwelled in those styles rather than avoided them. These all make the film feel much better than it should be.
The Bad News: The film doesn't really have a whole lot wrong with it. The low-key nature of is perhaps the biggest flaw. There's a lot more dialog than normal, and anytime anything happens it's a big shot of excitement but then there's not a lot of emphasis placed on them. They're over quite rapidly, meaning that there's not a whole lot to get behind for those who enjoy that kind of film. There's a feeling that not a whole lot could've been shoe-horned in to up the excitement as well, since this one is pretty lean as is, but the fact that there's such a low-key feeling to this one could be something to get through for those not that interested in this style. Even more is that the action scenes do come at the end, meaning that the beginning is full of scenes that basically amount to just talking between everyone. Every now and then something happens, but there's far more of the dialog scenes and they go on longer than the action scenes, giving this something of a rough beginning to also get through. The film's other big problem is that there's way too much confusion at what happens in the end. The flashbacks to the previous time, unexplained hallucinations and the random turn are just part of what makes this confusing, and this makes it a lot harder to really understand. These, though, are the film's main problems.
The Final Verdict: While not all that spectacular, this one does have enough positive points to give it a viewing. Those in the mood for the more subtle end of the genre or are fans of the style should give it a shot, while those who prefer more action-oriented films should heed caution with it.
Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity and Language