I had great memories of watching this away back in the Spring of 1981 . With the legendary duo of Robert Holmes and Douglas Camfield , both best known for their work on DOCTOR WHO in the 60s and 70s this had all the hallmarks of being " The Quatermass of the 1980s " and watching it on its initial and sole broadcast in 1981 it didn't disappoint . Well until the last 15 minutes of the final episode when it's revealed that the antagonist isn't an alien fiend with a fetish for human flesh but a deranged communist serviceman from the Soviet Union . Perhaps knowing this plot revelation spoiled much of my enjoyment watching after a gap of over 30 years ? It's not dreadful by any means but doesn't lend itself to repeat viewings
To be fair to the production team it doesn't have a Hollywood budget but the production team in general and Camfield in particular manage to bring a brooding , claustrophobic atmosphere to the proceedings . Okay it's achieved by very simple and clichéd means by smothering everything in fog and relying on monster POV shots . Indeed it's the horror aspects that work best and stick long in the memory such as the very memorable attack on the coastguard station that makes up the climax of episode three . Bare in mind also that this was broadcast pre-watershed on Friday nights so there's little gore but never the less it does show that you don't need gore to terrify an audience . The downside is that these aspects overwhelm the rest of the story , especially if you know how the story turns out and the characters come across as stock bland one dimensional cyphers
No doubt if you're on the wrong side of 40 you might have vivid memories of this show . It works very well in segments but not enough to make THE NIGHTMARE MAN a satisfying whole . If you've not seen it before you might enjoy it but if you saw it in 1981 you might be left with a nagging sense of disappointment after seeing it again
To be fair to the production team it doesn't have a Hollywood budget but the production team in general and Camfield in particular manage to bring a brooding , claustrophobic atmosphere to the proceedings . Okay it's achieved by very simple and clichéd means by smothering everything in fog and relying on monster POV shots . Indeed it's the horror aspects that work best and stick long in the memory such as the very memorable attack on the coastguard station that makes up the climax of episode three . Bare in mind also that this was broadcast pre-watershed on Friday nights so there's little gore but never the less it does show that you don't need gore to terrify an audience . The downside is that these aspects overwhelm the rest of the story , especially if you know how the story turns out and the characters come across as stock bland one dimensional cyphers
No doubt if you're on the wrong side of 40 you might have vivid memories of this show . It works very well in segments but not enough to make THE NIGHTMARE MAN a satisfying whole . If you've not seen it before you might enjoy it but if you saw it in 1981 you might be left with a nagging sense of disappointment after seeing it again