on the plot.
Nightmare Cinema is a horror anthology film directed by five different directors: Mick Garris, Joe Dante, David Slade, Ryuhei Kitamura, and Alejandro Brugués. The film follows a group of strangers who find themselves mysteriously drawn to the Rialto theater, a rundown movie palace that is seemingly abandoned. Once inside, they are greeted by the Projectionist, a dark and foreboding figure who shows them a series of chilling and disturbing films that reflect their deepest fears and darkest desires.
The first story, directed by Alejandro Brugués, is about a young woman who is terrorized by a group of killers who are hunting her down in a deserted hospital. The second story, directed by Joe Dante, follows a high school student who discovers that her dream man is not what he seems to be. The third story, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, is about a successful executive who is forced to confront the sins of his past when he is mysteriously transported back in time.
The fourth story, directed by David Slade, is about a woman who discovers that her beauty is a curse when she becomes obsessed with an experimental surgical procedure that promises to make her perfect. The fifth and final story, directed by Mick Garris, is about a man who is haunted by the ghost of his dead wife after he commits a terrible crime.
Throughout the film, the Projectionist weaves in and out of each story, taunting the unsuspecting victims and turning their nightmares into reality. In the end, the survivors realize that they are trapped in the Rialto theater, and must find a way to escape before they become part of the Projectionist's twisted collection.