Nightmares in a Damaged Brain

A classic from yesteryear ...?

George Tatum (Baird Stafford) is insitutionalized in a hospital for the criminally insane. He suffers from a reocurring gruesome nightmare, in which a young boy witnesses his parents being brutally axed to death while in the midst of a spot of afternoon S&M. Despite his violent reaction to the nightmares (only drugs will stop him screaming) and the fact that he is 'inside' for butchering an entire family, the panel of doctors reviewing his psychological profile decide George is no longer a threat to society and his freedom is granted.

And so we join George on The First Night, New York.

The film is punctuated by titles on the screen that help the viewer to know whether it is night or day ...

George immediately takes a walk down the red light zone and pays his way into a peep show. Lots of pre-sillicone nudity on offer here. He's invited into a private booth with Tara Alexander, who he watches through a glass panel as she masturbates with a dildo. The nightmare returns and George is soon reduced to a mouth-foaming wreck, as Alexander continues to moan away. Incidentally, Alexander was once famous for having sex with the most men in one single marathon session (a title since bettered by Annabel Chong et al)!

The Second Day

We're introduced to a family in Florida. Susan Temper (Sharon Smith), her boyfriend - who's a deadringer for THE BEYOND's Joe The Plumber - the woman's son CJ (CJ Cooke), and his elder sister. Meanwhile George is making his way to Florida and hitches a lift in the back of an unwitting woman's car. Moments later, George has slashed the woman's throat and stabbed her in the stomach. As she lies dead on the floor of her own lounge, George quietly weeps "I'm sorry". Maybe the drugs haven't worked after all, eh??

The Third Day

The doctors that ordered Tatum's release are getting concerned. He hasn't reported to the half-way house that was organised for him. In fact he hasn't checked in with any authoritarian figures. Instead, we're watching him dream about severed heads in his bed while he hides out in sleazy motel rooms. In all fairness, we do see Tatum taking his medication of his own free will - perhaps it's director Romano Scavolino's intention to blame his psychosis on the prescribed drugs, rather than a deviation from the enforced treatment?

We then get to see more of Susan's family, and CJ is established as the token practical joker. Every slasher film needs one! So it's not a case of 'will' the boy-who-cried-wolf scenario arise, but 'when' ... It's at this point we also realise Tatum is heading for this family. He rings their house but when CJ answers the phone, George cannot bring himself to speak and hangs up. But while Tatum is stalking the family, there is a keen doctor hot on his heels too.

The Fourth Day

CJ's babysitter Kathy (Danny Ronan) threatens to quit because his pranks are 'evil'. The doctors are getting more nervous as they try to second-guess where George is headed by using their hilariously primitive computer. And CJ is reprimanded by his mother for lying about seeing the boogeyman on the beach. Hey, the boy-who-cried-wolf scenario - who would've thought?

The Fifth Day

George contacts Dr Williamson via his hotel room telephone, complaining that the nightmares are becoming more severe. The doctor asks where George is, but thanks to a great bit of overacting his whereabouts remain a mystery. An off-screen murder at least serves to inform us that George has finally landed at Daytona Beach (just in case you didn't believe the lying little brat either) and that CJ's family are going to be in for a hard time.

The Final Day

I guess it's unfair to give too much away in the last half-hour. Suffice it to say, the doctors are getting closer to locating their AWOL lunatic, while Tatum moves in on the family home while the babysitter and her jock boyfriend are looking after CJ. Pickaxe and shotgun violence ensues, and that can never be a bad thing! As the night comes to a head in OTT gory style, we do get to see Tatum's nightmare in full - although the 'twist' has been given away about 90 minutes previously!

I've always liked this film. It benefits greatly from strong central performances (though many of the peripheral actors are abysmal) and unlike many of the former nasties is not dubbed. Although low-budget, it is well shot and very stylish in many exterior scenes. The violence is filmed in a glorifyingly graphic manner - much what you would expect from a former pornographer like Scavolini. Ah, who am I kidding? - it's a great old-fashioned stalk'n'slash film with loads of dubious gory violence and stock horror cliches!! Fast-paced and unapologetic, it's hard to not like.

Even Jack Eric Williams' score is memorable, despite being obvious and melodramatic at times.

OK ... the good news, or the bad news?

Here's The Good:

The film looks fine. Considering the fact it's 21 years old and hardly what you would call a blockbuster, the print used is surprisingly clean and clear - it's also considerably less dark than I remember it. OK, it's a little soft but there's minimal grain or artifacting. It looks great, in fact. The sound is mono, and as that is the original format I can see no problems. It's clear throughout, and improvement on any VHS version I've seen.

This version is a good 8 minutes longer than the version released in the UK on VHS in the 80s - and subsequently banned. Most of the additional footage is storyline. Some of it is of no consequence, but there are a couple of scenes that expand on the doctors fretting over locating Tatum - even discussing the insanity of releasing him in the first place. These should never have been edited out in the first place, and it's nice to see them back where they belong. They add a modicum of plausibility to an already preposterous concept!

Also, there are a couple of brief moments of gore present here that WEREN'T in the old World Of Video 2000 VHS release. These are so brief (but admittedly noticeable) that they're hard to point out - there's a 1/2 second shot of the boy hitting the headless woman's torso with his axe, there's a second blow to the babysitter's back with the pickaxe etc - minor moments that didn't make the original UK VHS release.

The Bad:

Yes, this disc is CUT. I've no idea who cut the film (though I know it wasn't the BBFC) but there are definite cuts, and strangely enough they are not consistent with the cuts made for the original VHS release many moons ago!

Shots missing include a close-up of a throat-slashing about 26 minutes into the film, plus the stabbing in the stomach has been reduced in this scene too. The final nightmare is missing a nice close-up of the father's head spewing frothy blood from his axe wound. And - stop me if this is needlessly confusing! - although this version includes the aforementioned shot of the boy hitting the headless torso with his axe that wasn't in the old UK video, a second whack to the torso is still missing!

It's still a very bloody proposition and if you're new to the film, I think the level of gore on offer will satiate most. But it is annoying when you've seen a complete version, and then get offered something less (especially when the lost scenes are so fleeting, and some of the stuff left in is just as contentious anyway!).

Secondly, the Dutch VHS shows evidence that the film was shot in 1.85:1 (the end credits are letterboxed at this ratio). However, the presentation here is full-frame. It really doesn't matter as the film seems correctly framed so I guess I mention it as a poser rather than a complaint.

Extras include a gallery of 7 video covers from around the Globe, including the original UK banned cover. You also get 13 screen grabs from the film (why?), a picture of the I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE DVD cover and a couple of Weblinks.

William Milling - who plays Dr Williamson in the film - is credited as being 'Florida producer', as well as the special effects artist for the film. At one point, Tom Savini was linked to the movie as SFX co-ordinator but distanced himself from it by claiming to have nothing to do with the production, other than act as remote FX 'consultant'.

I have been raking around and dug out a couple of reviews for this movie's UK theatrical release in 1981 (yes, it did play in cinemas!!).

This is what Alan Jones had to say in STARBURST:

"And the dregs of the down market stalk and slash brigade keep filtering on ... a piece of junk whichever way you look at it ... worthless trash. If you go and see this, you only have yourselves to blame".

And, the reviewer in MONSTER MONTHLY (sorry, name not known):

"a load of tripe ... the only damaged brain belongs to the director ..."

So, yeah, the film has it's enemies - and so will this disc. But personally I like the film and the picture quality here is the best I've yet seen. What we need now is an uncut R1 release to provide the definitive NIGHTMARE experience. It's on it's way ...!

Review by Stuart Willis