In The Nightmare, director Rodney Ascher (Room 237) has done just that. The film explores the condition commonly referred to as “sleep paralysis.” That’s a condition where someone is in bed, but totally physically immobilized. Some who suffer from the condition – including the eight subjects in this documentary – feel they are visited by something evil during these periods. Ascher lets these subjects tell their stories, then we watch them play out on screen. It’s absolutely horrifying, if not wholly rewarding.
In the backwoods of Ontario lies a town called Kinmount. This little hamlet of only a few hundred residents no longer has a gas station or a school; however, thanks to the singular vision of local septuagenarian Keith Stata, what it does boast is a five-screen cinema palace and memorabilia museum—one that welcomes upwards of 50,000 visitors every summer.
Follows the horrific event that has captivated the public's attention for almost 50 years, as well as a more comprehensive narrative about Los Angeles, the American dream, and the situations in which justice might or not be effective.