SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Iseerphia All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Theo Robertson I had great memories of watching this away back in the Spring of 1981 . With the legendary duo of Robert Holmes and Douglas Camfield , both best known for their work on DOCTOR WHO in the 60s and 70s this had all the hallmarks of being " The Quatermass of the 1980s " and watching it on its initial and sole broadcast in 1981 it didn't disappoint . Well until the last 15 minutes of the final episode when it's revealed that the antagonist isn't an alien fiend with a fetish for human flesh but a deranged communist serviceman from the Soviet Union . Perhaps knowing this plot revelation spoiled much of my enjoyment watching after a gap of over 30 years ? It's not dreadful by any means but doesn't lend itself to repeat viewings To be fair to the production team it doesn't have a Hollywood budget but the production team in general and Camfield in particular manage to bring a brooding , claustrophobic atmosphere to the proceedings . Okay it's achieved by very simple and clichéd means by smothering everything in fog and relying on monster POV shots . Indeed it's the horror aspects that work best and stick long in the memory such as the very memorable attack on the coastguard station that makes up the climax of episode three . Bare in mind also that this was broadcast pre-watershed on Friday nights so there's little gore but never the less it does show that you don't need gore to terrify an audience . The downside is that these aspects overwhelm the rest of the story , especially if you know how the story turns out and the characters come across as stock bland one dimensional cyphers No doubt if you're on the wrong side of 40 you might have vivid memories of this show . It works very well in segments but not enough to make THE NIGHTMARE MAN a satisfying whole . If you've not seen it before you might enjoy it but if you saw it in 1981 you might be left with a nagging sense of disappointment after seeing it again

houndtang75 Have just watched the DVD of this prime slice of old nonsense, the kind of obscure hokum that was churned out regularly in the 70s and 80s but is seldom seen in these dull televisual days. The cast is quite an amusing mix, with jut-jawed Agatha Christie adaptation regular James Warwick as the dentist/paratrooper hero and a youthful Celia Imrie as his busty girlfriend. Maurice Roeves is the wry, cynical cop and Jonathan Newth the obviously dodgy Colonel. One of the biggest giggles is the way Warwick constantly suggests outlandish explanations for the murders - 'Genetic experiments gone wrong' or Alien invasion. Of course it turns out to be even dafter, a Russian cyborg gone AWOL. It's a bit of a cheapy as well with a submarine so lightweight a couple of brawny chaps can carry on their shoulders and a cast of about 12. Still, worth a watch for novelty value.

chuffnobbler It really does feel like a Doctor Who story, this being helped by having one of the Doctor's best directors and writers on board. The lurking monster, isolated community, strange killings and impending doom are all textbook Doctor Who.The Nightmare Man is more adult than Doctor Who. Not just because there's a mention of cannabis, a hint of blood and the sight of the ever-glorious Celia Imrie in a low-cut dress. There's a real claustrophobia to it. The fog rolls in, and the gloomy little island really is cut off. Actually, when the fog lifts (very abruptly, at the start of part four), the island doesn't look nearly as barren and miserable as we've been lead to believe. It's all very well constructed: lots of brief mentions of bogs, cliffs, isolated crofts. We feel like we are at the end of the world, and there's a genuine mystery about what might be impinging upon it.Celia Imrie is, of course, magnificent. One of the strengths of the production is that her character is essential to the story. She's a cartographer, and raised on the island, so her knowledge of the area is vital to the investigation. She is not sidelined as could so easily have happened. Maurice Roeves and Jonathan Newth as The Inspector and The Colonel are perfectly decent, and James Cosmo utterly believable and likable as the occasionally Gaelic-speaking Sergeant.Occasional glimpses of the monster are very carefully done, although the gasping growl and red point-of-view are a bit OTT. At the end, when we finally see the killer, it's maybe on screen for a bit too long. More could have been left to the imagination, but that's only a minor gripe.The only significant grumble about the production is the final episode. I had expected it to be 6 episodes, not 4. Lots of time is spent standing around talking int he final episode. The production slows down enormously as we get caught up in info-dumping. When the monster makes its final attack, I couldn't help but feel it was all over a bit quickly, and there's a very rushed and perfunctory feel.That said, the production keeps up the suspense nicely for quite a long time. The viewer is never really sure what the killer may be, and there's a wonderfully claustrophobic, foggy, damp sense of doom throughout. And Celia Imrie.

alistair.bell It was a fitting title because I had nightmares for several months afterwards (I was only 10 at the time).You know there's something evil lurking on the deserted Scottish island,but of course you only see it's point of view before it attacks in the fog. It was a sort of Doctor Who for adults.Ultimately let down by far too much exposition and revelation of the Russian pilot in the last episode.When the fog finally clears, it is rather obvious that we're not in Scotland either.The late Douglas Camfield was a veteran Dr.Who director, so the similarities in style are many. Great to see early performances from Scotland's James Cosmo, Maurice Roeves and Celia Imrie.Despite it's failings,this was another of those one-off experimental series used to showcase new talent that is sorely lacking in todays ratings obsessed British Television.