Too much of everything

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Firstly make sure you see the UNCUT version. There are clearly to many reviews on here from people who have been watching the cut version without realising it, then giving the film a bad review because all the shock gore is missing. Because the cut version removes most of the shocking scenes and bloody effects it really has damaged the reputation of the uncut original.I have watched almost ever horror film worth effort from the 1980's, and I can safely say that Nightmare ranks close to the top of the list.Atmospheric, quality performances, original script, nicely shot and the scenes of horror are at the top of there game and brutal. There are so many horror films from the 1980's that people talk about because they were the most mainstream, but real fans of horror will know about films like nightmare. Its an all round quality production and its no nonsense horror, unlike many films from the 80's where you laugh because of the bad dialogue, shoddy acting, poor effects or talentless script. Nightmare really delivers horror in a way other movies fail to do.Parts of the movie can seem a little slow, but if you hang in there you get the rewards. Unlike other horror of that period it has aged well in comparison. After watching I sat back satisfied and thought to myself "that's what a real horror movie should look like"

I've heard a lot about this movie that made me want to see it & when I finally got to watch it I never felt a greater sense of disappointment. I believe all the reviews are overrated this movie isn't that gory or creepy, the story is very slow, and I lost interest very early in the movie but waited for it to pick up & was very upset when it didn't. I don't recommend this to any die hard horror fan. This is more for the easily scared & grossed out or the easily amused seeing how the plot wasn't too interesting. The highlights of the movie are the little bit of gore & nudity it has but even that is not enough to bother going out of your way to track this movie down.

in 1981 i remember seeing this either at the cinema (doubtful) or on a VHS tape.due to its nature these types of films-video nasties-proved very popular amongst me and my horror film loving friends.here in the uk some of these films were easier to get hold of than others.this was a film i only vaguely remember seeing and its notoriety was not known to me at the time.so its been almost 30 years since i last saw it and last night i sat down to watch it once more..film stock is not very good so the picture is not perfect,in fact in some places its pretty awful....which just about sums the film up..the box has a quote on the front which reads.."the most repulsive,offensive,degrading,gory,depraved and horrifying movie ever made"..HAH !! only if you are a five year old child.like the evil dead and driller killer,its just terrible.it strives for horror but instead it bores you rigid.bad acting,some OK make up effects and hardly any gruesome deaths just make it tiresome...why this was EVER banned really is beyond me...

This is one of the most prominent films on the legendary video nasty list. For those who do not know, this was a list of videos that were considered obscenely violent by the establishment in early 80's Britain. Nightmares in a Damaged Brain was one of the first to be tagged as problematic and it's distributor even served six months in prison for releasing the thing. The question now I suppose is how does it shape up today? Well, on the one hand, it isn't at all hard to understand how it made the list in the first place. On the other hand, it still works pretty well as a sleazy grind-house slasher movie.The film in a nutshell is about a troubled man who is released from an asylum. Too early it seems, as he pretty much immediately starts committing brutal murders.The film's primary notoriety I am guessing comes from the very mean-spirited violence. There isn't an awful lot of it but when it does happen it's very gory and brutal. Particularly nasty is a knife attack on a woman in her home, while the carnage inflicted by the little boy near the end is pretty intense. The film also has some scenes in New York where the psycho visits sex shows and starts to lose his fragile mind - these sequences resemble an exploitation version of Taxi Driver. So the film is essentially well served on the violence and sleaze fronts. The biggest problem is that it drags in the middle section. In this part the story relocates to follow the goings on of a family, one which our psychopath seems to be stalking for some reason. The pacing takes a dive here when we focus on these none too interesting characters. However, the aforementioned parts that bookend the family drama are certainly not boring.Nightmares in a Damaged Brain is ultimately one of the better video nasties. Unlike many on the list it's actually pretty nasty at times. And that is kind of what you want really.