"The Nightmare Gallery" 🌠🌠🌠
This film is a C+ or B- movie across the board. The acting, Music, Cinematography and special FX have the feel of a cheesy made for TV minuscule budget movie. I personally loathe these kind of films so regardless of the storyline or direction these films take it's basically a waste of time when their's a massive amount of good movies to watch and so little time to watch them. I suggest a hard pass on this one.
45 Reviews
If you can't sleep, watch this. It might help...
paul_haakonsen21 June 2019
"The Nightmare Gallery" came without as much as a fanfare, and it will leave without as much as a whisper. I hadn't heard anything about this movie prior to finding it one year after it was initially released. I was lured in by the movie's cover/poster, because it seemed rather interesting.
And I was even more intrigued when I noticed that the Rand family lived on Innsmouth Ave., so I thought maybe I was going to be in for some Lovecraftian inspired horror. Instead, I suffered through one hour and six minutes of sheer self-inflicted torture by watching this movie, as I should have given up after thirty minutes. But I thought the movie would pick up and become interesting. I just never did. And I didn't even finish the movie, having about thirty minutes left or so, and having no intention of returning to finish it.
Why? Well, because the storyline was tedious and utter rubbish, to be bluntly honest. It made no sense and it seemed more like the work of several directors whom had no collaboration and were told to direct individual segments with the same character, then piece it together afterwards. The script was just boring and all over the place. So not a great accomplishment by writers Jhan Harp and Rob Stith.
Director Gene Blalock didn't really have much to work with, and it was definitely reflected on the screen.
The characters in the movie were fairly adequate, they were not overly interesting, but served the story well enough. And while not being in the lead role, then it was actually Mieko Hillman (playing Dawn Rand) whom carried the movie with her performance.
I have no idea what this was supposed to be, but an hour and six minutes of nothing happening was not my sense of entertainment. And with no interest in the remaining thirty minutes "The Nightmare Gallery" was exactly what the name is; a nightmare gallery.
There is nothing I could or would recommend in this movie, so it is not worth the effort.
And I was even more intrigued when I noticed that the Rand family lived on Innsmouth Ave., so I thought maybe I was going to be in for some Lovecraftian inspired horror. Instead, I suffered through one hour and six minutes of sheer self-inflicted torture by watching this movie, as I should have given up after thirty minutes. But I thought the movie would pick up and become interesting. I just never did. And I didn't even finish the movie, having about thirty minutes left or so, and having no intention of returning to finish it.
Why? Well, because the storyline was tedious and utter rubbish, to be bluntly honest. It made no sense and it seemed more like the work of several directors whom had no collaboration and were told to direct individual segments with the same character, then piece it together afterwards. The script was just boring and all over the place. So not a great accomplishment by writers Jhan Harp and Rob Stith.
Director Gene Blalock didn't really have much to work with, and it was definitely reflected on the screen.
The characters in the movie were fairly adequate, they were not overly interesting, but served the story well enough. And while not being in the lead role, then it was actually Mieko Hillman (playing Dawn Rand) whom carried the movie with her performance.
I have no idea what this was supposed to be, but an hour and six minutes of nothing happening was not my sense of entertainment. And with no interest in the remaining thirty minutes "The Nightmare Gallery" was exactly what the name is; a nightmare gallery.
There is nothing I could or would recommend in this movie, so it is not worth the effort.
"You are both awake and asleep" - cause the movie put you there.
Patient44419 June 2019
Wow was this a sleeper kind of movie or what?!? Long time since I've seen such a production, taking itself so seriously yet delivering on no levels whatsoever, with actors that tried to show emotions but with no clear reasons to do so, The Nightmare Gallery felt far too long.
I got nothing good to say about it, so I won't bash it but try to present some facts: camera work with acting are quite ok for such an indie movie, there is a plot which is kinda hard to understand how it got green lighted and a final act that came a little too late. It is part horror, part super natural but hard to digest really, so unless you're immune to low budget horrors go try on something else. Nothing to see here really.
Again, I do appreciate the effort put into it, and the fact that it tried, and you can clearly see it, but I do believe it got lost in its own thoughts and came out as boring and confusing.
Cheers!
I got nothing good to say about it, so I won't bash it but try to present some facts: camera work with acting are quite ok for such an indie movie, there is a plot which is kinda hard to understand how it got green lighted and a final act that came a little too late. It is part horror, part super natural but hard to digest really, so unless you're immune to low budget horrors go try on something else. Nothing to see here really.
Again, I do appreciate the effort put into it, and the fact that it tried, and you can clearly see it, but I do believe it got lost in its own thoughts and came out as boring and confusing.
Cheers!
Not what I expected, but not terrible either
tankfreak23 June 2019
Not going to lie, I was disappointed in this. Not because it was bad necessarily, but like others I was expecting more of a budget and more traditional horror elements. That doesn't mean it was terrible, just that it didn't meet my initial expectations. Unfortunately I think a lot of people are going to end up hating this movie due to its budget restraints and 90s made for TV feel. Seems like with this generation low budget is fine for slasher boob and gore flicks, but not for movies that you actually have to pay attention to details to fully grasp the plot. This movie is more of an existential supernatural crossing of realities kind of story that just isn't going to hold viewers attention if they're going to get hung up on subpar effects and acting. That's not to say the acting is bad, but there are a few good performances (namely Amber Benson, Mieko Hillman, and Mat Devine) and a few that are really not. Admittedly the nots can be distracting while they're on screen though. And some of the writing and dialogue could definitely be better. It feels almost soap opera-ish at times.
But I think if you go in knowing the overall production value is going to be more like an episode of some 80s or 90s horror anthology series (think Amazing Stories, Ray Bradbury Theater, Twilight Zone, or Tales From The Darkside) then you'll be better off and more open minded about it. But don't go in expecting theater quality or even Netflix or cable budget. And don't expect anything fast paced either. It's definitely a slow burn psychological mystery thriller, but it does still qualify for the horror genre, just not the hack and slash, torture porn, or even jump scare supernatural that gets the most attention in the genre these days.
But I think if you go in knowing the overall production value is going to be more like an episode of some 80s or 90s horror anthology series (think Amazing Stories, Ray Bradbury Theater, Twilight Zone, or Tales From The Darkside) then you'll be better off and more open minded about it. But don't go in expecting theater quality or even Netflix or cable budget. And don't expect anything fast paced either. It's definitely a slow burn psychological mystery thriller, but it does still qualify for the horror genre, just not the hack and slash, torture porn, or even jump scare supernatural that gets the most attention in the genre these days.
Nah!
LoremIpsum32119 June 2019
It's a cheap movie nobody should spent time on.
Theoretically, there's somewhere a potentially interesting story, but that's absolutely not enough to endure everything else, like a lousy screenplay, characters you don't care for, and acting that's, while not totally bad by some, quite poor.
Oh, and to the person who that said that Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans would love this: What the heck??? I liked Buffy the series, freaky action with humor and actually good acting. Buffy the Movie was pretty bad as I vaguely recall, yet it rocked compared to this one. There's simply no whatsoever similarity detectable, apart from tiniest fractures regarding one certain and only minor supernatural aspect, and no, it's not vampires...
Theoretically, there's somewhere a potentially interesting story, but that's absolutely not enough to endure everything else, like a lousy screenplay, characters you don't care for, and acting that's, while not totally bad by some, quite poor.
Oh, and to the person who that said that Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans would love this: What the heck??? I liked Buffy the series, freaky action with humor and actually good acting. Buffy the Movie was pretty bad as I vaguely recall, yet it rocked compared to this one. There's simply no whatsoever similarity detectable, apart from tiniest fractures regarding one certain and only minor supernatural aspect, and no, it's not vampires...
A meandering waste of time
2Ls1T17 April 2022
A low budget doesn't have to mean a bad film but this was a bit of a slog. That said, I found the overall production values perfectly fine, to be honest; the problem lay predominantly in the writing / script.
I had my interest piqued as a Buffy The Vampire Slayer vampire by the presence of Amber Benson, unfortunately all this film helped do was highlight her shortcomings as an actress. The acting throughout the film was generally a bit on the amateurish side, the only exception probably being Meiko Hillman who played the wife of Benson's character.
I could be wrong but the film seemed like it was largely populated by queer characters / actors, which is nice to see for a change but it doesn't mitigate the poor end product.
Also, I don't mean to be a cynic but I do wonder how many of these 8, 9, and 10 reviews are from the people who backed the film on Kickstarter (having spotted this detail in the film credits while waiting for the post-credits scene, which was mentioned at the start), as I can't for the life of me see how anyone could rate this film THAT highly.
I had my interest piqued as a Buffy The Vampire Slayer vampire by the presence of Amber Benson, unfortunately all this film helped do was highlight her shortcomings as an actress. The acting throughout the film was generally a bit on the amateurish side, the only exception probably being Meiko Hillman who played the wife of Benson's character.
I could be wrong but the film seemed like it was largely populated by queer characters / actors, which is nice to see for a change but it doesn't mitigate the poor end product.
Also, I don't mean to be a cynic but I do wonder how many of these 8, 9, and 10 reviews are from the people who backed the film on Kickstarter (having spotted this detail in the film credits while waiting for the post-credits scene, which was mentioned at the start), as I can't for the life of me see how anyone could rate this film THAT highly.
Only because of the professors wife is worth it the 2 star
weapon_r18 June 2019
This movie is so awfull that i had to come here to write my first review so that the other users don't waste a hour and a half of their lives. For one it so chep witch is a sorry because the story had potentional and for two the lead actress is a total fail because her acting is so bad and here reactions looks so fake in every scene of the movie i think its her that ruined the whole movie for me. The only brith thing is the suspence music and the beautiful professors wife
time wasted
alfredbullock24 June 2019
Don't Go There!
wendy-manis2322 June 2019
This movie is so awful that I could only watch 29 minutes of it and that was too long. Talk about awkward pauses. It wasn't even an "It's so bad it's funny" type of movies. It's just baaaad! Worst acting I've seen in ages.
He takes everything for a bit of knowledge
nogodnomasters25 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Sanjay (Rahul Parikh) obtains an original copy of "Thrice Greatest Hermes" in an anachronistic binding. He disappears because a book on religious philosophy has magical powers. Lesbian and Professor Rand (Amber Benson) seeks him out only to discover a lucid world between sleep and awake. Here must not try to bore us to tears, but fails.
The film was build on unsound principles that they never connected. The acting was rough and dialogue wasn't good. They could have made the gallery look more like a gallery than my grandmother's house.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity. And Amber Benson looked like she needed a good shower the whole film.
The film was build on unsound principles that they never connected. The acting was rough and dialogue wasn't good. They could have made the gallery look more like a gallery than my grandmother's house.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity. And Amber Benson looked like she needed a good shower the whole film.
A Solid Watch
jonathanianbloom27 June 2019
It was recommended that I watch this by a friend of one of the filmmakers. I don't usually watch a lot of movies as that I'm more of a television series viewer. This very much reminded me of a series you may see on Netflix or Hulu and that's where it may have been better suited. I feel the filmmakers tried to pack too much into an hour and a half film. This content would have certainly been better explored over the course of 10 or so hours. Nonetheless I still enjoyed it and thought that cast did a stellar job. If you like intellectual drama that plays more like a television series than a traditional movie, give this one a go.
Thoughful and Dreamy
csloanandfriends22 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I liked it. I think most of the problems come from the story, but they did the best with what it is. It looks nice and the shots are cool. Nice effects. The dreams are really cool. The actors are great. I like the mental patient. He was fun. Perfect ending with Sam in the mental hospital. That eye! Thanks!
Easy way to fail at a good film
chaosbaron10 November 2019
This is a film about a college anthropology professor who is on the search for her missing student. She begins following clues received in the mail, which puts her career and marriage in jeopardy. The core problem is we never see the relationship between her and the student, so viewers don't feel connected to the plot. Because of this all we know is the main character is rude, disregards her responsibilities, the feelings of those close to her, and comes off and unlikable and weird. Then as we start to get glimpses of Sanjay the missing student, he is just as unlikable and creepy as she is. To sum it up, the music is generic, the actors chew the hell out of the scenery (so many wide eyed head tilts), the characters are unlikable and un-relatable, and the plot is silly and nonsensical for the sake of sounding profound.
Complete and utter rubbish
tohkwongweng12 September 2019
I failed to see how this movie could be anyway related to horror. An absolutely contrived storyline which made absolutely no sense throughout and wasn't scary in the least. Horror movies are not designed to be intellectuallized that's why they are called horror movies. They are designed to shock the audience, they are meant to instill fear in the viewer and at the very least they are supposed to be creepy. All of which were absent here. A total waste of time.
Waste of time
sirsmsm-2136611 August 2019
Another horror film with low intensity! Slow like hell! Bored to freaking death!
kwenchow17 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This film start with a man "Sanjay" dealing with some ritual artifact, and after he open a door, he completely disappear! Three years after, he send a package to a Professor Samantha! As turnout, Sanjay want Samantha to help him translate the ancient symbol for him to obtain alchemy power from a so called Egypt god! Entire film full of vision of Samantha! Bored to freaking death! Even show us how she poison herself to find Sanjay! Ridiculous! Barely intense scene is she imagine playing a game and vomit blood out of her mouth! At the end, Samantha's wife "Dawn" kill by Sanjay, Samantha kill Sanjay for revenge and prevent him to obtain the alchemy power! Have a post credit scene! The asylum patient "Colton" telling the professor assistant "Chloe", another seeker is coming! That's it! I really disappointed after watching the film to be honest! Just skip this film at all cost!
Worst of all
ThisisJimik7 June 2021
I was intrigued
nicci19729 June 2021
Despite the low budget and the meh acting, I was intrigued on where this story was going. This made it a better movie than what it was although I did feel the plot was convoluted. The after credits scene really adds to the movie - might want to move it to the end. But at least it tells you at the beginning. Unfortunately, I almost forgot in the attempts to make it through the film.
Listen to the bad reviews on this one!
omendata15 October 2021
Before I watch a movie now i always check a lot of the over 7/10 reviews to gauge if the movie might be a howler and EVERY single review on this with a value of over 3/10 has only done one review most of them on June 27-29th which did not bode well but I watched it anyway as the opening scene was quite promising!
Boy was I wrong such a load of pontificating reviewers on here; Hypnagogic to Hypnopompic lol
Terrible acting from virtually every cast member this was utter Piffle & Balderdash of a movie and no mistake; so pretentious it disappeared up its own hosepipe 30 minutes in!
Sorry but pretension and the "ever so clever" crew are at work here on the reviews; the types who thought Arrival was utterly profound and beyond us mere mortals ie a director and producer who got a bit butt hurt at the bad reviews and decided to traduce the few reviewers who actually gave this the meagre 3/10 it deserves!
Boy was I wrong such a load of pontificating reviewers on here; Hypnagogic to Hypnopompic lol
Terrible acting from virtually every cast member this was utter Piffle & Balderdash of a movie and no mistake; so pretentious it disappeared up its own hosepipe 30 minutes in!
Sorry but pretension and the "ever so clever" crew are at work here on the reviews; the types who thought Arrival was utterly profound and beyond us mere mortals ie a director and producer who got a bit butt hurt at the bad reviews and decided to traduce the few reviewers who actually gave this the meagre 3/10 it deserves!
Not very good
mjsreg12 September 2019
I was quite disappointed watching this. Even for an indie film I was expecting something better produced considering the cast and the budget.
Unfortunately, right from the start there was little atmosphere, and what there was reminded me of some cheap 1980s TV one-off.
The lighting was awful for most of the film and little attention seems to have gone in set preparation in-line with the story.
The acting was quite poor considering the experience of the cast, with one or two exceptions.
The story was good and could have been done better justice with more attention to detail.
Unfortunately, right from the start there was little atmosphere, and what there was reminded me of some cheap 1980s TV one-off.
The lighting was awful for most of the film and little attention seems to have gone in set preparation in-line with the story.
The acting was quite poor considering the experience of the cast, with one or two exceptions.
The story was good and could have been done better justice with more attention to detail.
Great indie film
kimdriggs27 June 2019
Creative and focused, but may not be everyone's cup of tea
sirchristopherlttleoflittleton22 June 2019
This picture is all about dialog and there is lots of it. The weakest part about this is the writing. It seems the authors suffer from the word salad affliction that a lot of new scriptwriters do, but the director and talent surprisingly make it work. Great creativity and framing. Purposeful and focused camera work. A valiant attempt at an indie production. Carry on, lads.
A dream within a dream
sarahannelovescats22 June 2019
I didn't know what to expect going into this, and it's not your typical horror movie. If you're expecting lots of blood or jump scares, you probably want to skip this one. If you like a slow burn that is something akin to reading an E.A. Poe story while drinking absinthe, than this may just be the movie for you. Great performances by a great cast. Colton steals the show!
Kept me interested, but left me confused
purpledragon-7789722 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I liked the overall movie. Acting was fine, some was even really good. It held my attention easily enough. Filming style was clean and not over the top or weird. I liked the idea of deciphering a few clues, but then idk, I guess all the clues were just right over my head or not actually for the audience to decipher. I felt like there were all these relics and passages and scripts but they were just...there, with no clear connections as to why.
I caught on real fast to the red-headed Chloe obviously being off and planted in there awkwardly, so at least I got that part right that she was involved and not telling the truth. Her acting/lines were a little too obvious but better than not obvious enough like the rest of the film, lol. I noticed the "post credit scene" text, so I didn't miss that part.
But in the end I guess I just didn't get it. I don't know if this is my fault or the writing/film's fault, but I'm gonna lean towards the writing/film. I thought it was kind of all in Rand's head, but then obviously it wasn't yet all clues were solved due to either a real/not real dream and then sometimes Chloe's intervention. Real people somehow got hurt/killed though and Chloe was involved (yet not). I don't understand how anyone knew where to go or how the clues worked together beyond the really obvious ones. Why a dog mask? They pursued the dice but then just moved on... How did the wife know where to find Rand with a crescent moon on a piece of paper and why was she killed instead of just left tied up. What was with the totally random monster things at the end (still confused if we were in her head here or it was real but at the same time I assume that's part of the point...).
I'm all for a thinking movie. Definitely wouldn't call it horror except for the two monster things at the end. Psychological thriller maybe. But it's REALLY frustrating to pay attention and watch it closely (and I even went back and rewatched a few little segments to see what I might have missed) and in the end...just not quite get it.
(And there's no reviews or critiques or fan-explanations for me to cheat and google it and see what someone else's explanation is to see if it suddenly clicks)
I caught on real fast to the red-headed Chloe obviously being off and planted in there awkwardly, so at least I got that part right that she was involved and not telling the truth. Her acting/lines were a little too obvious but better than not obvious enough like the rest of the film, lol. I noticed the "post credit scene" text, so I didn't miss that part.
But in the end I guess I just didn't get it. I don't know if this is my fault or the writing/film's fault, but I'm gonna lean towards the writing/film. I thought it was kind of all in Rand's head, but then obviously it wasn't yet all clues were solved due to either a real/not real dream and then sometimes Chloe's intervention. Real people somehow got hurt/killed though and Chloe was involved (yet not). I don't understand how anyone knew where to go or how the clues worked together beyond the really obvious ones. Why a dog mask? They pursued the dice but then just moved on... How did the wife know where to find Rand with a crescent moon on a piece of paper and why was she killed instead of just left tied up. What was with the totally random monster things at the end (still confused if we were in her head here or it was real but at the same time I assume that's part of the point...).
I'm all for a thinking movie. Definitely wouldn't call it horror except for the two monster things at the end. Psychological thriller maybe. But it's REALLY frustrating to pay attention and watch it closely (and I even went back and rewatched a few little segments to see what I might have missed) and in the end...just not quite get it.
(And there's no reviews or critiques or fan-explanations for me to cheat and google it and see what someone else's explanation is to see if it suddenly clicks)
Nice Indie Flick
jamesadamfoster21 June 2019
I think horror is probably the wrong category for this movie. It's more of an intellectual thriller and I think that's why so many people seem disappointed by it. Yes, it's a bit long and you have to pay attention to everything that's said for the movie to make any sense, but I think that's kind of the point. Like all indy movies, there are problems, but f you like cult movies that make you think, this is a good watch.
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