THE NIGHTMARE NEVER ENDS (1980)
aka Cataclysm
Article 3406 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-30-2010
Posting Date: 12-10-2010
Directed by Phillip Marshak, Tom McGowan and Gregg C. Tallas
Featuring Cameron Mitchell, Marc Lawrence, Faith Clift
Country: USA
What it is: The devil in the flesh

A policeman investigates the murder of an old Nazi hunter who thinks he found the man who killed his family. Meanwhile, a woman worries about the fate of her husband, who has written an atheistic book; she’s been having dreams of devils and demons for a warning. These have something to do with an arrogant young man living in a mansion nearby… who may not be as young as he looks.

With a title like THE NIGHTMARE NEVER ENDS, I had two thoughts. The first was that it might make a handy self-review if the movie is really bad and really long. The second was that it probably had a downbeat ending; otherwise, the nightmare would end. Well, the movie isn’t really that long, but it is pretty bad; the central idea is workable, but the script is silly and muddled, and the acting is pretty weak throughout. Even the usually reliable Cameron Mitchell isn’t very good. It’s basically a variation on THE OMEN, albeit one that isn’t a clone. In the final analysis, the movie consists mostly of endless philosophizing about God and the devil interspersed with people getting killed. And though I won’t tell you how it ends, let’s just say that I wasn’t surprised.