Review: Nightmare

New to Shudder is the Norwegian, psychological horror movie, Nightmare (aka Marerittet). The film – written and directed by Kjersti Helen Rasmussen – stars Eili Harboe and Herman Tømmeraas, and follows the story of a young couple who encounter something sinister in their new apartment.

In the movie, Mona and Robby are a young couple who have just bought their first home together. The property is an apartment, which they managed to buy for a very good price, after the previous owner – a young pregnant woman – suddenly passes away.

But shortly after moving into their new home, Mona begins to experience problems with her sleep. She has vivid nightmares, starts to sleepwalk, and has periods in which her waking hours and her sleep time blur into one.

With each passing day, Mona becomes increasingly more confused and agitated. She also witnesses some strange and troubling behaviour from the neighbours, and sees dark visions of her boyfriend, Robby.

Could Mona be going through a difficult period in life, which is impacting her sleep, or is there something more sinister in play? And what does this have to do with a dark force, and a series of women who have lived in her building and who have all fallen pregnant?

Set out as a slow-burning tale, with a slight hint of Rosemary’s Baby about it, Nightmare is a movie about sleep paralysis, a nightmarish dream demon, and the young woman caught in the middle. The movie takes an idea from folklore, about an entity who preys on its victims when they are at their most vulnerable, and uses this concept to form the backbone of this horror.

In the movie, it is suggested the route of Mona’s troubles could lay in a creature known as The Mare. This creature supposedly attacks a person in their dreams, and has a hidden agenda.

But with this being a psychological affair, the film is very much about implying the creature, rather than showing it. Nightmare is designed to unnerve or unsettle, more so than to scare, so don’t be fooled into thinking this is some Freddy Krueger-style film, with the lead characters battling a physical dream-creature.

Nightmare isn’t that type of film, and it’s more about an unseen horror. Mona is fighting something, it is causing her great distress, but it’s an entity which is kept off screen.

As such, some audiences may check out of this film early doors, when they don’t get to see anything particularly menacing or gruesome. However, if you do remain with the picture, and you can connect with what’s on offer, then you’ll find Nightmare works fairly well.

I don’t think Nightmare will become anyone’s favourite horror movie, but the picture is well presented, and parts of the story have the ability to get under the skin. Sure, it does lack a bit of bite, and some of it moves too slowly for its own good, but it conjures up plenty of atmosphere and the two leads are very effective.

Eili Harboe is particularly strong as the tormented Mona, and her journey from happy-go-lucky 25-year-old, to an irritated and paranoid shell of her former self is handled perfectly well. This film is very much about her story, and about the impact this sleep demon has on her life, and this keeps things moving along nicely.

Nightmare also taps into wider themes about pregnancy, and potentially about post-natal depression, and this adds something to the story. It doesn’t quite land some of its ideas as well as it intends to, but it’s clear all efforts are being made to bring everything together as best as possible, and this means it is certainly not bad.

So, while Nightmare isn’t must-see horror, it is decent stuff. It does feel a little hollow in places, but some audiences may like its understated approach.

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