As far as movies go, Nightmare Weekend is probably not the foot you want to start off with for review purposes. I had never heard of it, but the cover caught my eye on the Retro VHS Horror Facebook page. I plugged it into my Roku search, and it was available on Amazon Prime. From the comments on Facebook, I learned it was a Troma film, so I was ready for some gore-filled fun.
The cover art I'd seen suggested some supernatural goings-on, but the plot is actually focused (if you can say this movie has a focus) on a scientist by the name of Edward Brake (Wellington Meffert), who has designed a computer program that can modify bad behavior in its subjects. The program is called Apache, to which we are introduced with a scene where Brake is testing it on a supposedly "killer" Doberman. The program generates small silver spheres akin to Phantasm, which are then launched into the subject's mouth (because why not...), where they wreak havoc on the subject's neurons. Brake's assistant Julie (Debbie Laster) is anxious to test the program on humans, but Brake insists it isn't ready. She of course betrays him, inviting three young women to the mansion without his knowledge and proceeding to unleash Apache on them. Nudity and some vague gore ensue, but the lighting is so poor, you miss a lot.
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| Taken from blu-ray.com |
Jessica doesn't seem to have much going on in her head, and is extremely naive, to a point where I suspect she can probably barely feed herself. At one point she ventures out of the house and roller skates down to the local bar, where she runs into some bikers. We get a sex scene involving a pinball machine and one of the bikers (played by Dust Devil's Robert John Burke), and Jessica meets the man of her dreams, Ken (Dale Midkiff of Pet Sematary). Most of this seems drawn-out and pointless.
Eventually we are treated to an attempted rape by Robert John Burke's character when he comes across the virginal Jessica "hitchhiking to run into her dream man", which results in Ken saving her and the biker getting Phantasm-sphered in a nearby lake. We later learn that Ken is Julie's lackey, but of course "he loves Jessica now".
By now the girls back at the mansion have gone insane and are mostly cutting up themselves and each other, but it is all fairly rushed. Scientist Brake is onto Julie a little too late, and she takes off for the airport. It is implied that one of the test subject girls has climbed into her car, and she drives away. Brake and his daughter seem completely normal in the next scene, with little concern for what has just gone on; Brake is destroying paperwork but they do not address what they did with the bodies, if anything at all. Jessica tells her dad she is going to go meet Ken at the airport, thanks him for reactivating George, and takes off.
The end is hard to see, due to the horrible lighting. Based on the yelling and George's usual "Danger, Jessica!", I assume, she dies... but it would have been nice to see. The credits roll, and we are again subjected to the horrific theme song.
Based on an IMDb review left from someone who actually worked on the film, this thing was riddled with issues:
"The co-executive producers, (all from France and England) who were supposed to put up their 50% of the $750,000 budget decided that in lieu of $, they would provide a script (horrible - written in French), a director (whose only credits I was told were porno pix out of Thailand, a film crew (again, all from France) and some equipment. We never got our money's worth. When we (I represented the American contingent) looked at the script, I hired a new writer (American) to re-write the entire thing. However, when we finally arrived on location in Ocala, Florida to begin shooting, the French writer had once-again re-written the entire film on instructions from the co-executive producer, an Indian chap named Bachoo Senn from India/London. It was a joke but once on location, there was little we could do."
Dvddrive-in.com does a pretty good job summing this one up, and suggests the review on IMDb is pretty accurate.
Having watched this on Amazon, I do not know for sure which version I watched, so there is hope that the Vinegar Syndrome release on Blu-Ray is better. If I ever pick it up, I will re-visit this one.
My take-away from this, is that it turns out I don't like all 80s movies with synthesizer soundtracks. I wanted to say it was "so bad it was good", but it wasn't. From what I have read, I am not alone in that sentiment. The hand puppet was ridiculous if not down-right annoying, and it seemed like the parts of the movie where they had an opportunity to surprise us, they decided to forego lighting on instead. The result is a bit of a jumble; it would be unfair to say there is no plot, but it just kind of rolls through and stumbles more than virginal Jessica on her rollerskates.
Overall, I guess I did need IMDb to tell me how to think... I was ready to give this thing 5/10 stars just for Dale Midkiff and Robert John Burke.
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