Man melds with machine in the horror-sci-fi thriller "Nightmare Code"
Mark Netter's "Nightmare Code" centers on Brett Desmond (Andrew J. West, "The Walking Dead), a genius computer programmer who has gotten himself in to some legal trouble and is facing a possible prison sentence. Brett is brought in by a high tech company that needs someone to finish the work of the former lead developer, Foster Cotton (Googy Gress, "Apollo 13"), who went on a psychotic killing spree, murdering several fellow employees before killing himself. Brett co-workers include the lovely Nora (Mei Melançon, "The L Word") and Alex (Ivan Shaw, "Get Him to the Greek").
Brett is eager to start his job and get himself out of the legal trouble he is in. However, as usual, things are never easy and rarely go as planned. The more time Brett spends working on the code, the more drawn in he becomes. As if the viewer wasn't already anticipating things to go wrong, we're told that basically, R.O.P.E.R., the secret surveillance program, is rewriting itself. The program seems highly effective and useful as seen via flashback in security camera footage, showing Foster Cotton able to know the emotions of others, such as whether they are lying, before killing them.
You will have to watch the film for yourself and find out what happens. "Nightmare Code" employs an interesting 4 screen display for a large amount of the film. At times you are given four different angles or point of views to watch what is transpiring in the movie. I thought the film was interesting and held my attention throughout. But I was a bit let down by the ending since I was hoping it was going to go in a different direction. The actors in the film did a really good job, giving fine performances. "Nightmare Code" should be of interest to science fiction and high-tech thriller fans. Horror fans may be a bit disappointed by the lack of blood and gore. Well, there is blood. But not as much as many would expect or prefer.
"Nightmare Code" won the 2015 Philip K.Dick Science Fiction Film Festival Award. It is scheduled to be released digitally on September 29, 2015 and on DVD, October 27, 2015 from Indie Rights.
RATING: 3 / 5
You can also read our previous article on the film and our DVD review.
Follow "Nightmare Code" on Twitter and Facebook. You can also visit the films official website.