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Dir. Rodney Ascher, 2015, USA, 90 min.
From Rodney Ascher (director of “Room 237”) comes a documentary about something widely experienced but rarely confronted - sleep paralysis. A living nightmare for some, Ascher interviews habitual victims of these paralyzing visions with the aide of theatrical re-enactments - shedding light on the potential causes & depictions of these common shadowy figures throughout history.
“Just as ‘Room 237’ reveled in the crazy dissertations on Kubrick’s work that have proliferated in a Web-enabled fan culture, so “The Nightmare” shows how the Internet has enabled the rise of an apparent sleep-paralysis cottage industry, where the legions who have wrestled with it worldwide can share stories, swap tips and generally contribute to each other’s paranoia. Ascher is particularly fascinated by the hold that movies maintain on the popular imagination in this regard: Excerpted films here include ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street,’ ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ ‘Natural Born Killers’ and the largely forgotten 1989 Christopher Walken alien thriller ‘Communion’ — all of which deal in imagery similar to what his subjects have seen in their visions. Whether it is the movies that have shaped our dreams or our dreams that have shaped the movies, it’s safe to assume that ‘The Nightmare’ will find its place in that eternally recurring cycle.”
- Justin Chang, Variety
All sales are final; no refunds or exchanges. Five minutes after the listed showtime, any unused tickets will be considered no-shows and released to standby customers.
Dir. Rodney Ascher, 2015, USA, 90 min.
From Rodney Ascher (director of “Room 237”) comes a documentary about something widely experienced but rarely confronted - sleep paralysis. A living nightmare for some, Ascher interviews habitual victims of these paralyzing visions with the aide of theatrical re-enactments - shedding light on the potential causes & depictions of these common shadowy figures throughout history.
“Just as ‘Room 237’ reveled in the crazy dissertations on Kubrick’s work that have proliferated in a Web-enabled fan culture, so “The Nightmare” shows how the Internet has enabled the rise of an apparent sleep-paralysis cottage industry, where the legions who have wrestled with it worldwide can share stories, swap tips and generally contribute to each other’s paranoia. Ascher is particularly fascinated by the hold that movies maintain on the popular imagination in this regard: Excerpted films here include ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street,’ ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ ‘Natural Born Killers’ and the largely forgotten 1989 Christopher Walken alien thriller ‘Communion’ — all of which deal in imagery similar to what his subjects have seen in their visions. Whether it is the movies that have shaped our dreams or our dreams that have shaped the movies, it’s safe to assume that ‘The Nightmare’ will find its place in that eternally recurring cycle.”
- Justin Chang, Variety
All sales are final; no refunds or exchanges. Five minutes after the listed showtime, any unused tickets will be considered no-shows and released to standby customers.