PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist. PopHorror fully supports the WGA and SAG-AFTRA and their efforts.
Steve Craig (LA’s last Parking Spot 2016) and Brian Farmer’s (Blue Call 2021) Waking Nightmare focuses on the troubles of college student Jordan (Shelley Regner: Pitch Perfect 2012), who has to come home from campus due to the horrific nightmares and sleepwalking she’s dealing with in the aftermath of her roommate’s suicide.
Jordan’s parents, played by ‘80s horror alums Diane Franklin (Amityville II: The Possession 1982) and Jamison Newlander (The Lost Boys 1987), welcome their daughter home with open arms and offer their support and other resources, like trips to the family doctor (David Naughton from An American Werewolf in London (1981) in a cool cameo!) for Ambien pills to help Jordan sleep, which honestly was a plotline red flag for me. Doesn’t Ambien sometimes cause nightmares/night terrors? Why would a doctor prescribe it for such?
The young woman’s night terrors are only the beginning of her problems when unexpected murders begin happening in the area, leaving Jordan to wonder if she’s committing heinous acts of violence in her sleepwalking state after a scary episode involving a knife.
With a captivating plot, I expected to enjoy Waking Nightmare, and there are definitely some high points here. Franklin chews through every scene she’s in with aplomb, bringing the overbearing mom stereotype one step further.
I absolutely adore Franklin and have been following her career for years, and her dedication to this role brings the character to life, giving her depth and creating an interesting take on the tired trope of a nosy mom. I love her portrayal, and it’s the high point of this film for me.
The chemistry between Franklin and Newlander works well, with the age-old cliche of a bored married couple getting tangled up with their love and devotion to their daughter and their experience of years of being together. I enjoyed their relationship portrayal and the family unit as a whole and found it believable and genuine.
Jordan’s journey includes her best friend Zoey (Kelly Leon Guerrero: Baby Girl 2018), a free-spirited wild card who always has Jordan’s back. The actors in Waking Nightmare are truly the highlight, as I found the script a bit wanting in parts.
Though this movie only clocks in at a bit over 100 minutes, there are scenes that feel like they drag on a bit too long, and the camera lingers on some shots for a beat longer than necessary, giving the film an uneven feel and slower pace than desired.
The dialogue at times is a bit stilted and almost comical, so it’s a testament to these actors’ talents that they still pull you in and engage you with phrasing that seems a bit stiff, odd, silly, and unnatural at certain points.
The story itself is engaging, and up to the last act of the film, you really don’t have a clue who is committing the murders and if it really is Jordan during one of her night terrors. Though the first half of the movie feels a bit draggy, the last half with the reveal of the killer picks up the pace a bit.
Getting to the end of Waking Nightmare, I was also a bit thrown off by the closing scene and last shot of the film. I realize it’s meant to be artistic and I appreciate that, always, but I was a little confused by the meaning, and honestly, there were a lot more questions than answers for me by the end. It’s a bit vague.
I’d love to know more backstory about these characters, more information about the murders and killer, and just a bit more rounding out of the situations in this movie. It feels like there is a lot here to work with that wasn’t fleshed out quite properly.
Another problem for me was the weird visuals that popped up sometimes. I was reminded of watching MTV in the ‘90s, crazy colors and splotchy screens that didn’t seem super relevant to the story, or if they were, I wasn’t apprised of how or why.
Aside from those few issues with Waking Nightmare, what’s here is a great starting point. I wish there were about twenty more minutes of content here that filled out the story a bit more and answered some of the lingering questions.
However, if you are a fan of Diane Franklin, you will not be disappointed! She’s amazing and always riveting no matter the material she is given to work with, and it was really fun to see Naughton and Newlander again, too.
Waking Nightmare is worth a watch just to see her do what she does best, even though it feels a bit like a super-vague, artsy short with some alt videos thrown in from MTV’s old Alternative Nation series.
