Michael_Elliott
Alice Cooper: The Nightmare (1975) **** (out of 4) If you're an Alice Cooper and horror fan then there's no way that you couldn't love this television special. This here was basically a promotional movie for Alice Cooper's first solo album 'Welcome to My Nightmare' and as an added bonus the rock star managed to get Vincent Price on board. If you're familiar with the album then you'll know the songs. The plot here is basically Cooper playing Steven, a young boy who finds himself in a nightmare where Price plays the Spirit.ALICE COOPER: THE NIGHTMARE is a great, great little movie on so many levels. For starters, the album itself is a terrific one with a number of great and menacing songs. Another major plus is that all of the "videos" are extremely well done and there's just a surreal nature to many of them that really makes this something great to watch during Halloween. Of course, one of the best thing about the special is the fact that you get to see Cooper and Price working together.If you're a fan of Cooper then you'll already know that he loves horror movies and loved Price. You can just see the joy in him getting to work with someone he admired and this really bleeds into the film and helps the entertainment value. Again, there are some truly great songs on the album including Welcome to My Nightmare, The Black Widow, the wonderful Only Women Bleed and the use of The Ballad of Dwight Frye from the 'Love it to Death' album.
Christopher T. Chase
Some people might remember this (or not), but back in the Seventies ABC had a late night variety series called "ABC's Wide World of Entertainment." It showed after prime-time, mostly on Friday and Saturday nights, and featured a rotating roster of specials, series and concerts. It was this show that first introduced me to "ALICE COOPER: THE NIGHTMARE." I don't think I had bought the "Welcome To My Nightmare" LP yet, but "Only Women Bleed" was already a Top 40 hit. I was sort of familiar with Alice as one of those Gothic rock figures that made anything BUT sunny-happy pop music, and I'd heard some songs of his I'd liked ("School's Out", "I'm Eighteen", "Elected.") But when I found out that my childhood horror hero, the one-and-only Vincent Price was involved with this "video movie," I was completely sold.Time has dimmed my memory of that initial experience somewhat, and I'm sure that if by some happy twist of fate that this program were to be re-released at last on DVD, the images would look pretty dated, even cheesy by comparison with today's videos. Nevertheless, there are still images that stick with me: Alice as the fly stuck in a glittery web with glistening, black body-stockinged beauties during the "Black Widow" segment; the cool and chilling dance with a dead lover in "Cold Ethyl," and the spooky ballerina of "Only Women Bleed." But best of all was Vincent Price lending his ghoulishly gleeful presence as the "Spirit of the Nightmare" from which there is no escape for Alice as "Steven." And someday I have to thank Alice personally for that particular number, should I ever be fortunate enough to have the chance...I was so inspired by the song and the performance, that I recreated "Steven" in high school drama class. And got an 'A'.Which, in spite of its age, I would give to ALICE COOPER: THE NIGHTMARE. If it were available on DVD.I hope that someone heard me say that...like the folks at ABC, or Dark Sky Films, who seem to specialize in finding this stuff.
Volger
This is NOT the concert film "Welcome To My Nightmare," but rather a prime-time special from 1975. "The Nightmare" is sort of a revue of the songs from the popular "Welcome To My Nightmare" album within the loose framework of Steven (Alice Cooper) being taken on a tour of his nightmares by The Master Of The Nightmare (Vincent Price)."The Nightmare" lacks the strong, cohesive plot of "Tommy," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Hair," and other rock musicals, and some of the "monsters" look cheesy and dated in this day and age, but it's still a lot of creepy fun, like an EC Horror comic book set to music. Linda Googh is frighteningly sexy as Steven's necrophile lover, Cold Ethyl. Perfect for rainy autumn afternoons.
riddler_1138-3
This is by far one of the Great Alice Cooper concerts. If there ever was a showman who was able to cast murder, mayhem and some damn good rock and roll into one thing then Alice Cooper was that man. From Guillotines to stranglings, Alice knows what the crowd is wanting he gives them that ten-fold.I have had the honor of actually seeing Alice Live not once..but six times in concert. Better to see the show live but video is almost just as good.Out of 10..........10/10!