Have you ever had the feeling as you were falling asleep or waking up, that you couldn’t move? You’re between sleep and consciousness. You need to wake up but you can’t. You may have even felt like there was a presence in the room, either hovering near your bed — or even sitting on your chest. This is a phenomenon known as sleep paralysis. It may occur only once in your life. It may happen many times a year. Figures are unreliable and vary widely but 65 percent of the population may endure it at some point in their lives. Understanding the science behind the experience helps people feel less distressed after an episode. Believing the condition is brought on by the supernatural, on the other hand, makes people feel more unnerved. The latter course is how director Rodney Ascher has decided to approach this subject.
Rodney Ascher is best known for his 2012 documentary Room 237. In it he invited individuals to speculate about hidden meanings found in Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining. It was a speculative (read far-fetched) work that achieved some notoriety. Now Ascher has returned 3 years later with another work of non-fiction called The Nightmare. This time he has chosen the study of sleep paralysis and focused on 8 people who regularly suffer from the disorder.
There are valid scientific explanations for what happens during sleep paralysis. However The Nightmare chooses to ignore all that and just indulge in fantasy. As a horror flick it’s suitably eerie. After all, the fear is very real for some people. If you’ve ever faced one of these episodes, the film will certainly resonate. In fact, a common side effect in many cases is that victims were able to cause other people in their lives to experience the same condition simply by explaining what they felt. This gives the movie an almost viral like possibility to create genuine dread in the lives of those who watch. If that appeals to you, tune in.
What saves The Nightmare from lack of hard data, is the frightening recreation of the ordeals that the various subjects describe. There is a remarkable similarity to many of the experiences. Visions of shadowy figures, ghosts, demons, cats, even aliens are seen during these attacks. This makes the picture an extremely effective horror tool. However as a documentary on the topic, it lacks much factual information. There are some theories thrown about but no scientific information as to explain why people suffer from these incidents. Sleep paralysis has been around for centuries. An interpretation of a 1781 oil painting by artist Henry Fuseli attests to this. So where are the interviews with doctors who specialize in sleep disorders? Couldn’t they demystify these bizarre episodes? Perhaps that would take away from the movie’s real intent to simply scare the audience. It does a decent job.
07-05-15
Fast Film Reviews 
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