‘Monsters are not under the bed, they are inside us’
A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio is a 2019 New Zealand horror film being overseen by Argentinean directors Nicolás Onetti and Luciano Onetti (Abrakadabra; What The Waters Left Behind; Francesca; Sonno Profondo) who curated the selection of short films which make up the Black Mandala Productions anthology. The brothers created a new wraparound story for the collection – scripted by Uruguayans Guillermo Lockhart and Mauro Croche – while Luciano Onetti created the soundtrack score.
The production showcases shorts by directors from all around the world: Sergio Morcillo, Joshua Long, Jason Bognacki, Adam O´Brien, Matt Richards, A.J. Briones, Pablo S. Pastor and Oliver Park.
Plot:
Rod leads a radio show dedicated to horror. Until suddenly the announcer begins to receive strange calls from a child who desperately asks for help. At first, Rod thinks that it is a bad joke until he discovers that this is not the case. These calls hide a dark secret…
Release:
Available in the USA On-Demand and DVD on September 1, 2020, via Uncork’d Entertainment
Reviews:
“The short films don’t really have much commonality, although the theme of women being terrorised is pretty consistent and over the course of the feature a little wearing. But each short is never less than well crafted and some, notably ‘Post Mortem Mary’, ‘The Smiling Man’ and ‘Vicious’ are nastily effective.” Dark Eyes of London
“One of the more enjoyable attempts at creating the shorter story brand of anthology film instead of the longer-format storytelling, this one was a lot of fun regardless of the genre format.” Don’s World of Horror and Exploitation
“The overarching storyline with Rod didn’t really work for me and the shorts felt more random than they did properly themed. A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio is an interesting enough idea but it could have been a lot better executed.” Entertainment Focus
“The main downfall of anthologies is the inconsistency that happens when not all of the short films are as strong as each other. A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio mostly manages to avoid this. As the Onetti brothers have shown us, a night of horror is an entertaining night indeed.” Fear Forever
“It’s an admirable showcase for some interesting voices within horror and, hopefully, it will push some of these shorts further into the attention of the masses. However, as a film in its own right, it’s deeply unsatisfying and just too muddled to fully deliver on the terrific chills it occasionally provides.” Flickering Myth
“Highlights include the opener, ‘In The Dark, Dark Woods’, ‘Post Mortem Mary’, and ‘The Disappearance of Willie Bingham’. I suggest you seek those out and enjoy them without having to put up with the rest of this film, most of which is horribly below-par.” For It Is Man’s Number
“The shorts themselves are varied, covering all sorts of creatures and spooky goings-on. This is great as it gives us ghosts, killer mermaids, creepy mime’s, a new whirl on body horror, a reason to fear the hairdresser, and a sinister shadow monster. The problem though is that because there isn’t a linking theme or idea to the shorts, the overall film lacks cohesion.” The Hollywood News
“There are no huge effects or even much in the way of blood in any of the featured shorts but they all have great ways of getting the horror across be it a few jump scares or just a very suspenseful or twisted ending. You may have seen a couple of these shorts elsewhere but they all fit together really well. It flowed incredibly well and sailed along at a great pace so you don’t realise it’s almost two hours long.” Horror Screams Video Vault
“Three very good segments in it helped the overall experience and made it worth watching, at least in my opinion. However, most of the instalments are either very bad or dull and uninspired.” Horror World & Reviews
“As an anthology, it is just all over the place. However, James Wright impresses tremendously as Wilson. It is easy to envision him becoming a genre stalwart based on his work here. Like a mixed bag full of mixed bags, Night produces highly mixed reactions, but the good parts are very good.” J.B. Spins
“As a whole, it doesn’t hold up, its better parts not quite sturdy enough to hold the center. I can’t entirely discount this anthology outing, but I’d say you’re better served searching out the individual pieces than putting yourself through 95 minutes of inconsistent thrills.” Killer Horror Critic
“I enjoyed this one way more than I expected to and it was due solely to the immaculate production quality from Black Mandala. Horror Radio is really a film you can’t miss.” Mother of Movies
” …a typical horror anthology, populated by some good, bad and ugly shorts. Aside from Post Mortem Mary, none of the films are particularly memorable, but they’re all well constructed enough to serve as showreels for emerging filmmakers.” The Movie Waffler
“One of the most extraordinary things about these magpied shorts is the way their disparate ideas and associations (of abuse and justice, monstrousness and mortality, repression and revenance) have been remixed and repurposed by the DJ-like Onettis to highlight the hidden reality in the recording booth.” SciFiNow
“There are just enough really good segments to make A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio worth a watch. Short films can be hard to see so take the opportunity this anthology provides. But the selection process needed to be better, and the stories themselves more focused for the film to be truly successful.” Voices from the Balcony
Release:
A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio premiered at Cannes Film Festival as one of the seven films selected to participate in the ‘Upcoming Fantastic Films’ section of Blood Window.
