Movie Review: ‘NIGHTMARE ALLEY’

Anthology films can sometimes feel like a collection of short films with no theme or visual style to pull them together as one cohesive unit.  A easy way to try to make the anthology feel like one collected unit is to have a wraparound and/or introductions to each story.  The latter is done in Nightmare Alley as we are introduced to a host who is surrounded by cheapo Halloween props that you can pick up at your local Halloween shop right now.  With a voice that can be compared to a horrible imitation of The Crypt Keeper and the fact that the guy who is playing this character is only moving his mouth up & down and not actually speaking the words makes you wonder if the filmmakers had some grand illusion that we would buy into the fact that he was a sophisticated puppet.

Nightmare Alley is shot on video under the Arizona sun for the majority of the film, probably due to lack of professional lighting, and is brought to you in Grind-O-Scope (ie. a video effect to help them market the film under the Grindhouse and try to make their movie look more professional – pssst, it doesn’t).  There are 7 “stories” to be had in this unfocused collection that is ultimately forgettable except for a few yarns.

The highlight of the film is a story about a soul possessing rat who influences an impressional young man into picking up ladies so he can acquire their souls and grow.  Yep, that’s the highlight.

There are low budget films, then there are films like Nightmare Alley, which is zero budget.  It was obviously made in someone’s spare time with whatever friends they could scrounge up.  What is most discouraging is that there are two directors credited to making this movie.  It’s pretty bad when the best acting you will see in the film comes from North Side Kings’ Danny Marianino.  He seems to be the only one who has any emotion or believability.

Even for Z-Grade entertainment, Nightmare Alley isn’t worth the miniDV tape they probably filmed this on.  There is some gore, but not enough to try to save this film from the trash heap.  The puns from our host fall flat, the stories are full of characters that no one really can care about, the acting is horrible…I must stop now.  If you are a fan of Troma films, there is a very slim chance you might enjoy this film as they have obviously looked to those films as inspiration. 

I can’t recommend the film unless you just want to see it out of morbid curiosity. If so, then good news, it is available via a program called IndieMoviesOnline.com with a partnership with DailyMotion.

View Nightmare Alley here.

For the record, anyone who actually gets out there and films something and has it distributed properly receives at least a 1 out of 10 and you can’t learn from your mistakes if they are not heard – so there you have it.