Josh Keown | Night Terror Novels 🧛🏻♂️’s review published on Letterboxd:
No dialogue.
- N/A (N/A)
Found on YouTube here.
A Nightmare offers another slice of short, silent scares, and whilst not quite as good as some of his later outputs, it is still classically Méliès through and through - neat ideas, wonderfully inventive effects and genuinely quite funny in its exaggerated theatricality.
A Nightmare is, as you would imagine, about a man having a nightmare. As was the norm, Méliès himself takes on the lead role as the restless sleeper, and he sees a variety of odd things in his fitful dream. I found it particularly funny to learn that the film was actually shot outside, in the garden of Méliès's property in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis with painted scenery standing in for the bedroom.
VERDICT; An early but no less fun entry into Georges Méliès expansive catalogue of films, A Nightmare offers insight into the techniques that he was to hone throughout his career as one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of the industry.
3/5 or 6/10