I bought "Frightmare" for six bucks at Circuit City thinking that it was the early 80's version. Imagine my surprise when I pop in the DVD and find a straight to video horror film from the year 2000! I'm a fan of said independent films, so I wasn't upset. I decided to give the film its due diligence.<br /><br />The Good: <br /><br />- Some pretty good scares in this movie. A lot of them are "jump scares" and "loud music tomfoolery," but this film should give you a jump or two, at any rate.<br /><br />- Some decent atmospheric elements. The Haunted House is pretty cool. Some of the "stalking" scenes (the one at the beginning and the one in the middle) are suitably creepy and fairly well done.<br /><br />- The two main actresses are actually decent actors. The rest of the cast, however, are not very good at all. Said actresses also provide ample "eye candy," if you like tight outfits, leather pants, etc. =) - The killer's outfit/mask/demeanor is also suitably creepy.<br /><br />The Bad: <br /><br />- Really bad editing. The movie jumps around a lot. Some of the editing tricks are neat, but overall, it pulls you out of the movie. The editing also makes the plot confusing at times.<br /><br />- Soundtrack is suspect. The "creepy music" is good, but the soundtrack often relies on a drum machine/bad techno score to fill in the quiet parts. It doesn't work very well.<br /><br />- The "twist" at the end had the ultimate potential for coolness, but the aforementioned bad editing made it fall flat. This is the wasted potential I'm referring to.<br /><br />- Sub par acting. As I mentioned earlier, the two main actresses are good, but the rest of the cast comes off like a bad high school play.<br /><br />Other notes: <br /><br />Note the names of the main characters...Freddy, Jason, Norman, Michael and Hellraiser. Subtle.<br /><br />You can see a lot of "Scream" influence in this film. It's interesting to see what is inspiring the next generation of filmmakers.<br /><br />Overall: <br /><br />I give it a 4 out of 10. Lots of wasted potential here, but the movie is very watchable if you enjoy these types of low budget, independent films. I don't regret spending the six bucks at all.