… "Battleground" (to be followed by another King story) is a luminous chunk of sparkling dark crystal, a devilishly haunting gem polished to near-perfection by director Brian Henson and adapting writer Richard Christian Matheson. … The special effects, which really do make or break the thing, are delightful -- in a sinister sort of way. One could recommend the film to older, thrill-seeking children, but with a caveat: There are long, gruesome close-ups of Hurt's growing garden of wounds. Pretty soon, his face has so many scars he looks like the evil Chucky doll from the most recent "Child's Play" movie. Hurt throws himself into this captivating nuttiness and is even obliging enough to turn a Coca-Cola bottle so that its logo faces the camera (and another product placement is thus consummated). "Battleground," which will air without commercials, doesn't rank as some impressionistic TV masterpiece, but at least it shouldn't leave you cursing the name of Stephen King and the fortunes he has made. …

The New York Times says:

… The series is an excellent reminder that what makes Mr. King’s visions so fascinating is not their uniqueness or their artistry, but exactly how much they’re like ordinary nightmares. Which are plenty scary. And good for him for writing them down. … “Battleground,” appears tonight, and it’s ingenious … When trigger-happy toy soldiers come seeking revenge on him, his wordless indoor showdown with the intrepid inch-tall infantry — a reworking of Gulliver and the Lilliputians — is a minor masterpiece. … The second episode tonight, “Crouch End,” starring Eion Bailey and Claire Forlani, has a simpler charm. Both actors are gorgeous, even when their eyes are ringed with kohl for maximum scariness, and Ms. Forlani has wonderful hollows to her face that work well for horror. Mr. Bailey and Ms. Forlani are cast as an American couple in London — most of these movies are set outside Mr. King’s old New England haunting ground — whose transgression is nothing more than getting lost. But they’re lost not in Victorian London, with its horror clichés, but rather in contemporary Clerkenwell-heyday London, with its cool, vacant neighborhoods and their fixed-up warehouses. That the setting offers few landmarks that are familiar to movie viewers makes the couple’s vertigo more palpable, and the existential anxiety that can surface between a handsome man and a beautiful woman who have lost their way makes, as always, a grand subject for horror.

TV Guide says:

… As always in this genre, the results are uneven, but King's spooky hooks are as simple and effective as the production is impressively elaborate. …

The Boston Herald gives it a “B-plus” and says:

… OK. So assume we cut Maine word processor Stephen King some slack and agree there are only seven original ideas in the world … It all comes down to execution - how the stories are cast, produced and filmed. In this, “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” excels. … Upcoming episodes (two every Wednesday) star William H. Macy, Ron Livingston, Jeremy Sisto, Samantha Mathis and Kim Delaney. The production values are exceedingly high, and you could find worse excuses to stay up past your bedtime. Just leave all the lights on.

Variety says:

… despite some highlights, this foray into "The Twilight Zone" territory mostly lacks the requisite punch Showtime's "Masters of Horror" delivered, primarily owing to episodes with inadequate payoffs. … The two best hours come during the second week: Bowman's "Umney's Last Case," featuring William H. Macy playing a pulp-fiction detective as well as the gumshoe's emotionally damaged real-life creator; and "The End of the Whole Mess," a chilling sci-fi premise directed by Salomon about good intentions gone awry, starring Ron Livingston. … The opening, meanwhile, is visually clever but not particularly engaging. In a commercial-free hour shot dialogue-free, William Hurt stars as a hitman who rubs out a toy impresario, only to have a collection of green army men ("Small Soldiers," as it were) seek to return the favor. That's followed by "Crouch End," with Claire Forlani and Eion Bailey as newlyweds who venture into a creepy hamlet outside London that apparently resides at the portal to another dimension. … King is prolific and inventive, and he's enjoyed ample success as a TV brand. Creatively, however, this venture with promise is yet another in which his work ultimately fails to shine.

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" might not single-handedly save anthologies from extinction, but it likely will produce the kind of ratings that programrs can't ignore. …"Battleground" is adapted from King's 1978 anthology, "Nightshift." Five of the remaining seven episodes, including "Crouch End," which follows "Battleground," came from the 1993 collection of short stories, "Nightmares & Dreamscapes." The other two, "The Road Virus Heads North" (July 26) and "Autopsy Room Four" (Aug. 2) are from 2002's "Everything's Eventual." …

9 p.m. Wednesday. TNT.

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