3 star gory and disturbing horror anthology.
Nightmare Radio: The Night Stalker is a 2023 horror anthology film, consisting of an ongoing storyline which links together a series of segments, each telling a different story and written and directed by different teams, with varying degrees of success.
It is available on UK Digital platforms from 24th April 2023 courtesy of Reel 2 Reel Films.
“Not bad Bob, but you were supposed to tell a story that actually happened to you. If it took place in your dreams it doesn’t count, but thaks for calling in.”
Candy (Paula Brasca – Into the Abyss, Focus) is a late night radio D.J. who presents a show called Nightmare Radio. On this instalmemt of the show, members of the public are asked to call in with tales of the wildest situations they have ever experienced.
Candy starts, with a tale about a woman and her husband who live in an almost deserted housing estate that they can barely afford. She is a photographer and when he tells her to find more work, she starts to photograph the neighbourhood foxes, with very unexpected results. This genuinely spooky and well thought out short is by far the best of the segments, directed by Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium, Nocebo).
Other stories from her callers include a tale of a film director in a disused mental institue, CCTV that can seemingly predict the future and a suspicious father and son wine making team.
She also has a persistant caller named Jack (Agustin Olcese – What the Waters Left Behind: Scars) with whom she has apparently already has an encounter about which he isn’t very happy. As the evening progresses, his calls become more and more threatening. How will her story end?
“What if the guy wasn’t as dumb as she thought? Imagine if she humiliated the wrong person. What if the girl is doomed and she doesn’t even know it?”
Nightmare Radio: The Night Stalker is a pretty good film. Most of the short stories are good, even the ones that aren’t brilliant are short enough not to really spoil anything. The acting is fine too and the framing story is a great idea, with an unexpected twist at the end.
Although it’s an anthology it does somehow still feel a bit disjointed and would maybe have benefitted from better editing. It loses the tension a bit in the transition between stories but ultimately delivers a solid horror experience.
It’s not earth shattering, but it’s gory and fun enough to be well worth a watch.
“You’re going to be sorry for this, you’ll see. I am going to get you.”
Nightmare Radio is available now on UK Digital Platforms.
| Director | Carlos Goitia, Ryan J. Thompson, Lorcan Finnegan, Nathan Crooker, Adam O'Brian, Mia Kate Russell |
| Genre | Horror |
| Starring | Paula Brasca, Agustin Olcese, Valeria San Martin |