Nightmares

Nightmares (1983) is a four-story horror anthology you can watch online on iFILM. Director Joseph Sargent strings together short scary tales that share one idea: ordinary life veering, without warning, straight into a bad dream.

In the first, a woman drives out for cigarettes late at night while a killer roams the area, and the trip becomes a trap. The second follows a teenage arcade addict (Emilio Estevez) hooked on a machine called Bishop of Battle, a game with thirteen levels nobody has ever cleared, until his obsession spills off the screen. The third strands a priest who has lost his faith against a driverless black pickup truck in the desert, with Lance Henriksen in the role. The last turns a family's rat problem into something far worse than vermin.

It's a solid slice of eighties portmanteau horror — no connecting plot, but a different mood in each segment and familiar faces throughout, including Veronica Cartwright and a young Flea. The arcade story is the one that lands hardest, and it's why the film is still remembered. Stream Nightmares (1983) online on iFILM.