History Film / Nightmares

* DaylightHorror: This the only story in the film to occur during the day.

* ''The Bishop of Battle'': The most popular of the four stories. Video game wizard J. J. Cooney (Creator/EmilioEstevez) is obsessed with beating an insanely hard video game at his local shopping mall called ''The Bishop of Battle''. [[NintendoHard The game is so difficult]] that not even the best players made it to the [[ArcNumber 13th level]], some people thinking that said level isn't even real. J. J.'s obsession with the ''Bishop'' has grown so strong that his grades are dropping, leading his father to ground him. He sneaks out after dark and breaks into the mall to play the game some more, and he actually manages to reach the 13th level. Unfortunately, this results in the game's enemies escaping into the real world, where they can do very real damage.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Frank was suffering a crisis of faith and was well on his way to a self-exile. If the driver of the devilish truck is truly Satan, he should've left Frank alone, especially since losing one's faith in God constitutes as a win for him.

* UpliftedAnimal: [[spoiler: The Devil Rodent is shown to have pretty powerful psychic abilities. She's also intelligent to the point that she is capable of differentiating between Claire's other dolls and a stuffed rat, and also telepathically communicate her thoughts to her.]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Frank was suffering a crisis of faith and was well on his way to a self-exile. If the driver of the devilish truck is truly Satan, he should've left Frank alone, especially since losing one's faith in God constitutes as a win for him.

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:Steven wanted to kill the Devil Rodent as a means of boosting hisego. In the end, he puts his gun down and the creature leaves the house, harming no one.]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Frank was suffering a crisis of faith and was well on his way to a self-exile. If the driver of the devilish truck is truly Satan, he should've left Frank alone, especially since losing one's faith in God constitutes as a win for him.

* WholePlotReference: Considering that our protagonist is hounded by a truck that has Satanic origins, this story is essentially a mashup of ''Film/{{Duel}}'' and ''Film/TheCar''

* CarFu: The truck is responsible for damaging and destroying the Priest's car.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Frank was suffering a crisis of faith and was well on his way to a self-exile. If the driver of the devilish truck is truly Satan, he should've left The Priest alone, especially since losing one's faith in God constitutes as a win for him.

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: [[spoiler:The only on-screen character who gets killed is Glazier himself. The police give the relieved Lisa a ride home, where she reunites with her concerned husband. What's even better, she ends up throwing the cigarettes she went to all the trouble she went to buy in the trash, implying the experience cured her smoking addiction. Or at least, she's working on it]].

TwistEnding: [[spoiler: As stated above, based on how the scene was played out, the attendant looks and even initially acted like a serial killer, but the real serial killer turned out to be someone else]].

* ''Terror in Topanga'': A nicotine addict named Lisa (Cristina Raines), against her husband's warnings, goes out one night to buy another pack of cigarettes. Meanwhile, a radio bulletin announces that serial killer and escaped mental patient William Henry Glazier (Lee Ving) is on the loose after having stabbed a highway patrolman. Things go FromBadToWorse when Lisa's car runs out of gas, and she starts getting paranoid of every man she encounters, believing them to be Glazier.
* ''The Bishop of Battle'': The most popular of the four stories. Arcade wizard J. J. Cooney (Creator/EmilioEstevez) is obsessed with beating an insanely hard video game called ''The Bishop of Battle''. [[NintendoHard The game is so difficult]] that not even the best players made it to the [[ArcNumber 13th level]], some people thinking that the 13th level isn't even real. J. J.'s obsession with the game has grown so strong that his grades are dropping, and his parents ground him. He sneaks out after dark to play the game some more, and actually manages to reach the 13th level. Unfortunately, this results in the game's enemies escaping into the real world.
* ''The Benediction'': Frank [=MacLeod=] (Creator/LanceHenriksen), a Catholic priest, suffers a crisis of faith after the pointlessly violent death of a young boy in the parish where he serves. Having lost his belief in the concepts of good and evil, he takes some holy water (which he views as ordinary tap water) and drives off to do some soul-searching. While driving on a highway, he encounters a black Chevrolet pickup truck traveling behind him. The truck soon disappears, but then reappears more and more frequently and even displaying some supernatural abilities. The truck is also revealed be Satanic in origin, and will stop at nothing to claim the life of the ex-priest.
* ''Night of the Rat'': The Houstons are a family suffering from a rat infestation. The father, Steven, (Creator/RichardMasur) wants to fix the problem himself. His wife, Claire (Creator/VeronicaCartwright), eventually gets fed up and calls an exterminator (Albert Kague). Despite thinking that a couple of rat traps can take care of the problem, the family can still hear sounds of scurrying paws in the walls and the attic. After discovering objects falling off shelves, power cables being chewed, holes gnawed in the walls, and the family cat having been torn to shreds, the Houstons discover that this particular rat is bigger, stronger, and more powerful than they thought.

* DangerTakesABackseat: [[spoiler: Turns out the backseat of Lisa's car was where the killer was hiding.]]
* GasStationOfDoom: A woman hears over the radio that a serial killer is on the loose. She naturally [[TooDumbToLive goes out to get a pack of cigarettes]] and stops at a gas station. The attendant perfectly matches the serial killer's description and she gets worried. The attendant drags her out of the car, pulls out a gun and [[spoiler:[[BaitAndSwitchGunshot shoots...the real serial killer]], who was hiding in her back seat]].
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:The attendant is not Glazier; the ''real'' Glazier is hiding in Lisa's back seat, only to be killed by the attendant.]]
* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: [[spoiler:The only on-screen character who got killed was the serial killer himself, and the female protagonist returned home, relieved and rid of the cigarettes she had purchased. What's even better, she ends up throwing the cigarettes away herself, implying that's she's been cured of (or at least trying to cure) her addiction to them.]]
* TwistEnding: [[spoiler:See RedHerring. Based on how the scene was played out, the attendant looks and even initially acted like the serial killer, but the real serial killer turned out to be someone else]].

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Cooney. It was implied that he was trapped inside the game as a player avatar, ready to be controlled by other players]].
* ArcNumber: The game has 13 levels. Guess what happened to Cooney when he reached the final level.
* {{Defictionalized}}: [[http://www.roguesynapse.com/games/bishop_of_battle.php Still a demo version]]. [[ParanoiaFuel Hopefully]], in the final version it won't come to life or harm you physically in the thirteenth level.
* TheBadGuyWins: See DownerEnding.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:It was implied that the Bishop traps Cooney inside the game. He becomes the new player avatar]].
* TheGameComeToLife: When Cooney finally succeeds (after having snuck into the arcade in the middle of the night), he realizes that beating the game [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou causes the threats and enemies from within to come alive]].

* SchmuckBait: It is better to lose on the twelfth level.
* StopHavingFunGuys: In-universe, with the players who are determined to beat the game, Cooney included. It doesn't end well.
* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Cooney leaves his gun behind when he enters the parking lot. Then the Bishop comes out of nowhere...]]

* AnimateInAnimateObject: [[spoiler:Averted. The pickup was driven by {{Satan}}, though he never appears on-screen]].
* CarFu: The pickup is responsible for damaging and destroying the Priest's car.
* CatapultNightmare: This story begins with Frank having a bizarre nightmare where a snake attacks and poisons a baby deer he was looking after, he grabs the snake and throws it through the air where it vanishes and then he screams at the venom that got on his hands, causing him to wake and sit up while holding his hands up.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The holy water the Priest took with him (He viewed it as mere tap water) ends up being the item that stops the pickup]].
* DarkIsEvil: The pickup is black in color, and is strongly implied to be [[spoiler:driven by the devil]].
* DaylightHorror: The story occurs during day-time instead of night-time.
* EverybodyLives: [[spoiler:None of the characters in the story were killed on-screen. The only shown death was that of a boy who was killed off-screen for reasons not related to the black pickup]].
* JumpScare: At one point, the pickup bursts out from the ground, complete with a [[LoudOfWar loud engine sound]].
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: So The Priest had a crisis of faith and was well on his way to a self-exile. If the driver is who the segment implies then it should've left The Priest alone. Especially since him losing his faith in God constitutes as a win.
* {{Satan}}: [[spoiler:The driver, as implied by the upside down cross hanging on the pickup's mirror.]]
* StuffBlowingUp: The pickup blows up [=MacLeod=]'s car after ramming it several times.
* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: [[spoiler:No one was killed on-screen, and it was strongly implied that the Priest had his faith restored following this harrowing incident]].

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:Steven wanted to kill the giant rat. In the end, he puts his gun down and the rat leaves the house, harming no one.]]
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:A minor case. The house cat was killed and the family's house was damaged from the conflict, but the family themselves were safe and sound, without any other injury or death.]]
* MonsterIsAMommy: [[spoiler: The normal-sized rat killed early in the segment was her baby, and its gigantic mother is looking for it.]]
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: [[spoiler: The mother rodent is about the size of a young human child.]]
* MamaBear: [[spoiler: The mother rodent starts wrecking the family's house when she couldn't find her baby.]]
* UpliftedAnimal: [[spoiler: The giant rat is so intelligent to the point that she is capable of differentiating between a rodent doll and other dolls, and also communicate her requests to a young girl.]]

* GasStationOfDoom: A woman hears over the radio that a serial killer is on the loose. She naturally [[TooDumbToLive goes out to get a pack of cigarettes]] and stops at a gas station. The attendant perfectly matches the serial killer's description and she gets worried. The attendant drags her out of the car, pulls out a gun and [[BaitAndSwitchGunshot shoots...the real serial killer]], who was hiding in her back seat.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: William Henry Glazier is a pretty cool name for a psychopath.

* ''Night of the Rat'': The Houstons are a family suffering from a rat problem. The father, Steven, (Creator/RichardMasur) wants to fix the problem himself. His wife, Claire (Creator/VeronicaCartwright), eventually gets fed up and calls an exterminator (Albert Kague). Despite thinking that a couple of rat traps can take care of the problem, the family can still hear sounds of scurrying paws in the walls and the attic. After discovering objects falling off shelves, power cables being chewed, holes gnawed in the walls, and the family cat having been torn to shreds, the Houstons discover that this particular rat is bigger, stronger, and more powerful than they thought.

* ''Night of the Rat'': A family has a rat problem. The father, Steven Houston (Creator/RichardMasur) wants to fix the problem himself. His wife (Creator/VeronicaCartwright) eventually gets fed up and calls an exterminator (Albert Kague). Little do they know that the rat is bigger than they thought.

* ''The Benediction'': Frank [=MacLeod=] (Creator/LanceHenriksen), a Catholic priest, suffers a crisis of faith after the pointlessly violent death of a young boy in the parish where he serves. Having lost his belief in the concepts of good and evil, he takes some holy water (which he views as ordinary tap water) and drives off to do some soul-searching. While driving on a highway, he encounters a black Chevrolet pickup truck traveling behind him. The truck soon disappears, but then reappears more and more frequently and even displaying some supernatural abilities. The truck is also revealed be Satanic in origin, and will stop at nothing to vanquish the ex-priest.

* ''The Benediction'': Frank [=MacLeod=] (Creator/LanceHenriksen), a Catholic priest, suffers a crisis of faith after the pointlessly violent death of a young boy in the parish where he serves. Having lost his belief in the concepts of good and evil, he takes some holy water (which he views as ordinary tap water) and drives off to do some soul-searching. While driving on a highway, he encounters a black Chevrolet pickup truck traveling behind him. The truck soon disappears, but then reappears more and more frequently. The truck is also revealed be Satanic in origin, and will stop at nothing to vanquish the ex-priest.

* ''The Benediction'': Catholic priest [=MacLeod=] (Creator/LanceHenriksen) lost his faith following the violent death of a young boy. While driving on a highway, he gets stalked by a black Chevrolet pickup apparently intent on killing him.

* ''The Bishop of Battle'': The most popular of the four stories. Arcade whiz J. J. Cooney (Creator/EmilioEstevez) is obsessed with beating the eponymous and fictional arcade game. [[NintendoHard The game is so difficult]] that not even the best players made it to the [[ArcNumber 13th level]].

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: [[spoiler:The only on-screen character who got killed was the serial killer himself, and the female protagonist returned home, relieved and rid of the cigarettes she had purchased.]]

* ''Terror in Topanga'': A nicotine addict named Lisa (Cristina Raines), against her husband's warnings, goes out one night to buy another pack of cigarettes. Meanwhile, a radio bulletin announces that serial killer and escaped mental patient William Henry Glazier (Lee Ving) is on the loose after having stabbed a highway patrolman. Things go FromBadToWorse when Lisa's car runs out of gas, and she starts getting paranoid of every man she encounters.

* ''Terror in Topanga'': A nicotine addict named Lisa (Cristina Raines), against her husband's warnings, goes out one night to buy another pack of cigarettes. Meanwhile, a radio bulletin announces that murderer and escaped mental patient William Henry Glazier (Lee Ving) is on the loose. Things go FromBadToWorse when Lisa's car runs out of gas, and she starts getting paranoid of every man she encounters.

* ''Terror in Topanga'': A nicotine junkie named Lisa (Cristina Raines), against her husband's warnings, goes out one night to buy another pack of cigarettes. Meanwhile, a radio bulletin announces that murderer and escaped mental patient William Henry Glazier (Lee Ving) is on the loose. Things go FromBadToWorse when Lisa's car runs out of gas, and she starts getting paranoid of every man she encounters.

* ''Terror in Topanga'': Smoking addict Lisa (Cristina Raines) goes out at night to buy new cigarettes, against her husband's warnings (and a radio news) that psychopath William Henry Glazier (Lee Ving) is on the loose. Things go FromBadToWorse when her car runs out of gas.

* GasStationOfDoom: A woman hears over the radio that a serial killer is on the loose. She naturally [[TooDumbTooLive goes out to get a pack of cigarettes]] and stops at a gas station. The attendant perfectly matches the serial killer's description and she gets worried. The attendant drags her out of the car, pulls out a gun and [[BaitAndSwitchGunshot shoots...the real serial killer]], who was hiding in her back seat.

* GasStationOfDoom: A woman hears over the radio that a serial killer is on the loose. She naturally [[WhatAnIdiot goes out to get a pack of cigarettes]] and stops at a gas station. The attendant perfectly matches the serial killer's description and she gets worried. The attendant drags her out of the car, pulls out a gun and [[BaitAndSwitchGunshot shoots...the real serial killer]], who was hiding in her back seat.

* ''Night of the Rat'': A family has a rat problem. The father, Steven Houston (Richard Masur) wants to fix the problem himself. His wife (Creator/VeronicaCartwright) eventually gets fed up and calls an exterminator (Albert Kague). Little do they know that the rat is bigger than they thought.

* ''Night of the Rat'': A family has a rat problem. The father, Steven Houston (Richard Masur) wants to fix the problem himself. His wife (Veronica Cartwright) eventually gets fed up and calls an exterminator (Albert Kague). Little do they know that the rat is bigger than they thought.