Waking Nightmare Movie Review – Chasing After a Lethal Legacy

Independent horror films are often the most frightening. Not constrained by the mandates of studio executives, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, for example, became a terrifying titan of the movie houses for years. Something about the gritty, unpolished look can truly add an edge to the viewing experience. Waking Nightmare from Terror Films is definitely looking to chase that lethal legacy in the modern era, but with a more mind-bending approach.

Waking Nightmare from the writing and directing team of Brandon Farmer and Stephen Craig finds college student, Jordan (Shelley Regner) enduring a series of night terrors after the death of a friend. Prescribed Ambien to help with problematic sleepwalking issues, Jordan’s episodes turn deadly. But is she the only one leaving a trail of bodies behind her each night?

From the opening credits sequence, Waking Nightmare makes a full assault on the senses of the audience. Over-saturated, distorted images flicker and morph in disturbing ways that reflect the nightmares Jordan herself is experiencing. This stylistic choice seems to be announcing that the film is not going for the measured suspense of Rosemary’s Baby, but the surreal imagery of a Dario Argento fright flick.

Lacking the distinct and consistent style of that Italian horror auteur, Waking Nightmare still works against a comfortable viewing experience with editing that doesn’t seem to follow a linear path or theme. Eery sleepwalking segments and flashbacks are mixed with mundane daily life, family drama or quippy sitcom style dialogue scenes between friends. These choices work to keep the audience off-balance, never knowing what will come next or what is real.

Regner’s Jordan character is affable when awake, mostly hanging out with her friend, Zoey (Every Hart), who is trying to help her get back into the world after a traumatizing incident in college that led to her sleep issues. In these daytime moments, the film embodies a lighter, jokier tone that seems to ape the profanity laced teen girl dialogue from the Rob Zombie Halloween films. Your mileage may vary on whether or not you buy 20 something college students making Clarissa Explains It All references as part of their pop culture banter.

Of course things take a turn at night, when Jordan’s troubled, subconscious mind takes over and she ends up wandering the streets like a zombie with a brain set to slaughter. It’s here the audience gets the gore and violence delivered in grimy settings, that makes the “victims” look like serial killers themselves. Certainly you don’t feel sympathy for the victims, but if there is a greater message to be derived from their decision to take advantage of this detached female who approaches them, it’s never quite made clear. The same can be said of the murders being perpetrated. Are these incidents real or is this all part of the nightmare?

Jordan also spends many of scenes being talked at by her mother, played by 80’s film icon, Diane Franklin. It’s a performance that covers a lot of ground and takes Frankin miles away from her perky, French exchange student in Better Off Dead. Depending on the scene, Franklin is either a low key concerned parent, an abusive homemaker, a forceful caretaker or a demented mommy doing whatever it takes to “help” her daughter. Though Franklin’s character seems to transform based on her daughter’s level of coherence, she certainly makes an impression by film’s end. But could it be that this mother is actually struggling with her own grip on reality?

In addition to the trippy kill scenes, Waking Nightmare does have a police investigation subplot once the murders in the neighborhood seem like more than just coincidence. There’s a humor-tinged interrogation scene, a forensic crime scene with a quirky photographer and the ever present cop at the door scenario. The disjointed nature of the film works when Jordan’s grip on reality is being called into question, but the police scenes feel like a reel from a low-grade CSI knock-off. These moments somehow throw off the balance of the movie that’s already trying to mess with audience perception.

As for the effectiveness of these various murders, there seems to be something for everybody. One kill veers quickly into the ridiculous, with Yan Birch hamming it up while playing an inebriated idiot in a scene that is staged with many cuts, moody lighting and sharp camera work. This setup is in direct opposition to the psycho-sexual kill taking place in a car, with a verite camera style that plays more like a freaky sex fantasy about Samara from The Ring. All are very dream like and yet the film seems to be leaning towards saying that the violence is taking place in the waking world. Ambiguous reality is definitely Waking Nightmare’s bread and butter however, so for certain viewers this could still be up for debate.

The climax of the film does deliver on bloody torture that recalls Reservoir Dogs by way of the SAW films. You’ll either cringe based on your empathy for the victim or smirk if you love dark humor. It’s definitely the most memorable part of the film and cements the twist that you may not see coming. Or does it? The identity of the killer or killers can be called into question, even up to the final moments of  the film depending on the viewer’s perception of how much of the action was dream or reality.

Waking Nightmare isn’t a slasher or a thriller, it’s not exactly exactly torture porn or elevated horror, it’s fits more easily into a new category one might call “hodge-podge horror”. The film takes a little from of all these sub-genres, but never quite commits to one lane. That means depending on your horror preferences you might be entertained for 25% of the time at any given point. If you like the Russian Roulette approach to filmmaking, then Waking Nightmare is a roll of the dice that just might surprise you with a scare or two.

Waking Nightmare is available now on VOD from Terror Films and streaming on Tubi.

You can watch in interview with star, Diane Franklin on the Popgeeks YouTube channel here.