The Nesting

(1981) **

Lauren Cochran is a mystery novelist who has recently developed agoraphobia. After experiencing another panic attack Lauren’s therapist encourages her to take a trip to the countryside so she can recharge her batteries. While traveling through the countryside Lauren spies an old Victorian house and immediately feels a connection with it. Fortunately the house is for rent and she decides to live in the country for a while in order to cure her writer’s block as well as her agoraphobia. Before long, Lauren is plagued by strange noises and visions of a woman in red walking around the mansion. When acquaintances begin dying violent, horrible deaths she is forced to use her talent as a mystery writer to uncover the dangerous secrets of her new home.



Every year I am surprised when I stumble across more 80s horror movies that I’ve never seen before. I mean, there’s only a finite amount, right? The Nesting came out in 1981 but still has the look and feel of 70s horror. I don’t think that “80s horror” really started until A Nightmare on Elm Street.



Overlong and badly paced The Nesting has difficulty finding its tone. Is it a horror movie or a psychological drama? The Nesting wants to be both but fails miserably on both accounts. The “scares” are mostly laughable and the violence is surprisingly vicious. One chase scene went on for a ridiculous (boring) 15 minutes. Additionally, Lauren’s “agoraphobia” is presented inconsistently. If she is afraid of crowded places or large open spaces than why can’t she leave the house? If she is not afraid of crowds why did she leave the city to begin with? At times she travels to remote parts of the town to investigate people yet at other times the moment she steps outdoors she has a panic attack and runs back into the house - again, inconsistent. Given that her agoraphobia is supposed to be a key point of tension, the director fails miserably in conveying this fact. Perhaps the greatest crime this film commits is that it is simply not “scary”. It’s a prime example of early 80s horror.