‘Nightbeast’ – The Wacky Troma Release That Was Scored By a 16-Year-Old J.J. Abrams
Nightbeast’s reputation precedes it with two claims to fame that have little to do with the content of the movie. It’s most notable for having a score co-composed by a 16-year-old J.J. Abrams (credited as Jeffrey Abrams), who went on to make a few sci-fi movies of his own. More recently, an eccentric clip from […]
Nightbeast’s reputation precedes it with two claims to fame that have little to do with the content of the movie. It’s most notable for having a score co-composed by a 16-year-old J.J. Abrams (credited as Jeffrey Abrams), who went on to make a few sci-fi movies of his own. More recently, an eccentric clip from the 1982 creature feature captivated Nicolas Cage’s character in Mandy.
Beyond that, however, Nightbeast serves as the epitome of a lost era of regional horror filmmaking for the home video market; a legacy that feels right at home with Troma, who distributes the film.
Nightbeast is written and directed by Baltimore-based cult filmmaker Don Dohler, who sporadically produced no-budget genre fare until his passing in 2006. Coining the phrase “blood, boobs, and beast” as the three elements necessary to sell a film, he practices what he preaches; Nightbeast delivers all three in spades — and not much else.
A loose remake of Dohler’s own 1978 effort The Alien Factor, Nightbeast is far from a good picture, but there’s an incontrovertible charm to its do-it-yourself ethics and homegrown aesthetic. As is evident when watching the movie, it was shot in Dohler’s backyard with the help of a revolving door of friends and family members, and that camaraderie translates onto the screen.
