User Reviews

The movie has a television budget, and it shows throughout the whole movie. The story itself isn't that bad, even though not entirely new either, but the execution just needs alot of improving. A story with twists and turns, it's always good, unless the twists are so obvious that they take away all the suspense. In Her Worst Nightmare that's exactly what you get, you know that the obvious suspect won't be the criminal, and the one they try to make look sympathetic will be guilty at one point. It's all too obvious and it makes you lesser interested in the movie. Add on that the weak mumbling acting of Bryan Lillis and others and you can't be nothing else than disappointed.

In "Her Worst Nightmare" (a.k.a., "Degrees of Fear"), the best line in the film is spoken by the protagonist Dakota Haggerty at a point when she has been drugged and kidnapped by a psychopath. But she confidently asserts to another woman who is also in captivity that the mama's boy is just an "amateur." That statement reveals the courage and tenacity of a protagonist using her mind and her will in order to survive.

In her past, Miss Haggerty had been kept in bondage by the deranged Kurt Weber. Along with Minda and Terri, Dakota was finally rescued and Weber sent to prison. But a copy-cat has emerged and is now stalking Dakota, who is a student at the university.

Dakota comes to suspect her psychology instructor Dr. Campbell of orchestrating a scheme to instill fear into her and perhaps repeat the horrific crimes committed by Weber. But one of the most intriguing characters turns out to be Dr. Campbell, himself a victim of trauma as a child, due to the predatory acts of a nefarious family friend known as his "uncle."

The film develops a special bonding between a young journalist, Addie, who befriends Dakota. It is the connection of the two women, who combine forces to eventually get to the bottom of who has been tormenting Dakota.

A point made by Dr. Campbell in one of his lectures on trauma is the importance of "breaking the cycle" in order to move forward out of the horrific past. We actually see the growing strength of Dakota, as she grapples with the issues in the classroom and feeds off of the support she receives from Addie.

The film appeared to be shot at the University of Louisville, and it included an excellent cast, especially the performer playing the lead. One of the best scenes is the brief denouement in which Miss Haggerty addresses her class at the end of the course taught by Dr. Campbell. She stresses to the group the importance of feeling that "you are not alone" in dealing with PTSD.

The film offered an incisive depiction of the stress of a traumatic experience. By the end, it would appear that for Miss Haggerty, the worst part of her nightmare is finally over.

Since I started grad school, this is the first movie I've watched all the way through without multitasking. It was so intense, I didn't want to miss a thing. I was fascinated by the fragility of trust throughout the storyline. With her life on the line, Dakota has to decide whether she can rely on her new female friend, or her male professor, or the new male teaching assistant. With a nod to a familiar dilemma for many ladies, Dakota has to decide: are the men in her life dangerous-creepy or just regular-creepy? Powerful female lead, and a totally engrossing mystery!