Nightmares is a 1983 American horror anthology film directed by Joseph Sargent[3][4] and starring Emilio Estevez, Lance Henriksen, Cristina Raines, Veronica Cartwright, and Richard Masur.

The film is made up of four short films based on urban legends; the first concerns a woman who encounters a killer in the backseat of her car; the second concerns a video game-addicted teenager who is consumed by his game;[3] the third focuses on a fallen priest who is stalked by a pickup truck from hell; and the last follows a suburban family battling a giant rat in their home.

Nightmares was originally filmed as a two-hour pilot of a proposed television series to be broadcast by the NBC network during the 1983–1984 TV season.

During a routine traffic stop, a highway patrolman is viciously stabbed multiple times by an unseen assailant; though he survives and is taken to the hospital.

The perpetrator is identified by various TV and radio reporters as William Henry Glazier, a serial killer who escaped a mental institution and is currently terrorizing the Topanga area.

Meanwhile, Lisa, a housewife and chain smoker, puts her children to bed as a bulletin warning about Glazier appears on her television.

Her husband Phillip forbids her from leaving the house at such a late hour with a killer on the loose, and advises her to kick her habit instead.

J.J. and Zock then head to the arcade at their local shopping mall, where J.J. is hoping to use the money he got from hustling to try to beat The Bishop of Battle, a notoriously difficult video game where players fight off enemies and escape from a 3-D maze that features thirteen different levels.

At J.J.'s apartment, his parents also voice their concern with his obsession with gaming, primarily about how it is affecting his performance in school, leading his father to ground him until his grades improve.

The Bishop of Battle's voice rings out, commending J.J. for his skills and welcoming him to level 13, before the cabinet releases a wave of energy.

Ignoring the advice of a fellow priest, Frank resigns and leaves the rectory with some holy water, intending to search for a new purpose in life.

He soon encounters a black Chevrolet C-20 Fleetside with tinted windows on the road shortly after he leaves, and signals for it to pass, but it goes at the same time he does, nearly causing an accident.

Frank then has a flashback to his talk with the Bishop, where he reveals that he has been plagued with visions of anarchy, his lost faith convincing him that there is no God who would allow such suffering.

Having plans for a swimming pool to be put in, Steven does not want to spend any extra money and simply suggests that Claire set up a few mousetraps.

Eventually, Claire calls an exterminator, Mel Keefer, who discovers that the creature, which he has identified as a rat, has managed to gnaw through the pipes and get to the power cables inside, causing the flickering lights.

Claire then receives a phone call from Mel, who has made a breakthrough: he has looked in an old book he owns for information about a creature known as "The Devil Rodent".

Discovering more saliva-covered holes in the wall and hearing the radio suddenly turn on and off, Steven loads a shotgun and goes in search of the creature as Claire and Brooke hide upstairs.

The giant rat proceeds to demonstrate psychokinetic abilities, moving furniture, opening and closing doors and windows, and damaging the room repeatedly with a loud wail.

The Devil Rodent manages to telepathically communicate with Brooke, who tells her parents that the creature is a mother looking for her baby.

[5] It has been a long-held belief that the four segments of the film were initially conceived and shot for ABC's thriller anthology series Darkroom,[3] but were deemed too intense for television.

[6] In her review for the New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote, "Nothing spoils a horror story faster than a stupid victim.

"[7] Time Out praised The Bishop of Battle, but stated, "In general, though, the scripting is unimaginative, derivative, and desperately predictable as the film limps through its jokily cautionary tales.