My Nightmare is just one of many excellent Super 8 short films directed by the original goth Richard Kern. His style of film making serializes the transgression between extreme perversion and sado-masochism. Just one of his broad filmography conveniently packaged in a DVD collection - The Hardcore Collection - this short materializes slowly into being one of his more graphic and in-your-face short films.

The non-linear plot features one man waking from a peaceful slumber. He rolls over in his nude posture and begins to vigorously masturbate in his pseudo-dream state. He dreams of a beautiful muse pleasuring him in graphic detail. These fantastical masturbatory daydreams escalate in passion and roughness. Spanking and various activities begin getting fiercer and fiercer along with his movements.

He finishes, puts his pants on, walks to the door and greets the very same model he dreamed of. After numerous hopeful sexual attempts that are denied embarrassingly, it is obvious how pathetic this loner is. A vast character portrait of a man who might have taken his profession in hope for a royal lifestyle. A photographer should be swimming in women, right?

This is a masterful erotic short which conveys a deep sadness relevant to all humanity. In Kern’s eyes, Women exist to tease men of any soul left in their body. He creates these embarrassing, sadistic, or tortuous shorts that shouldn’t arouse a normal man, but they do. Although, I would have rather seen Kern-ette Lydia Lunch in all these uncompromising situations, I cannot complain for this piece of gutter art. A must-see, along with all of his other Super 8 shorts. Except You Killed Me First. Jesus, I hate that film.