5 directors team up for anthology Nightmare Cinema, hosted by Mickey Rourke

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The horror anthology NIGHTMARE CINEMA is a project we first heard about at the end of 2015, at which time producer Mick Garris revealed that the film would consist of five segments, each directed by a different established horror director. Garris would be taking the helm of one of the segments himself, with the other directors being Joe Dante, David Slade, Ryuhei Kitamura, and Alejandro Brugues.

I was hyped for this film as soon as I heard about it, since I had been a huge fan of the Garris-created Showtime anthology series Masters of Horror and NIGHTMARE CINEMA is an extension of the idea Garris had for that series, bringing together "visionaries of horror cinema from all around the world with their personal perspectives about what scares you".

It has now been announced that Garris's Nice Guy Productions has teamed with Cinelou Films and Good Deed Entertainment to make NIGHTMARE CINEMA happen. Garris's fellow producers on the film are Courtney Solomon and Mark Canton of Cinelou, Scott Donley and Lenny Shapiro of Good Deed, and Joe Russo. Cinelou's Scott Karol executive produced the film with Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones of The Fyzz Facility.

The anthology has the following synopsis: 

A series of down-on-their-luck individuals enter the decrepit and spine-chilling Rialto theater, only to have their deepest and darkest fears brought to life on the silver screen by The Projectionist – a mysterious, ghostly figure who holds the nightmarish futures of all who attend his screenings. By the time our patrons realize the truth, escape is no longer an option. For once the ticket is torn, their fate is sealed at Nightmare Cinema.

Mickey Rourke will be playing the character who guides the audience through these personal nightmares.

NIGHTMARE CINEMA will be a major presence at this weekend's Son of Monsterpalooza event, where Garris, Slade, Brugues, and Dante will be discussing the film on a panel and showing exclusive footage.

I'm excited about NIGHTMARE CINEMA, and I'm even more excited that the producers are planning to turn the Nightmare Cinema concept into an anthology television series… So isn't this basically the return of Masters of Horror? I've been waiting a decade for this!