D V D C R Y P T

BAD DREAMS

Directed by Andrew Fleming
Written by Andrew Fleming and Steven E. De Souza
Cinematography by Alexander Gruszynski
Music by Jay Ferguson
Cast: Jennifer Rubin, Bruce Abbot, Richard Lynch, Dean Cameron, Harris Yulin

1988/84 mins/Color/Dolby Surround Sound
1.85:1 Anamorphic/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from Anchor Bay DVD

In the mid-70s a hippie-love cult called Unity Fields committed mass suicide via, self-immolation using gasoline. Thirteen years later, the sole survivor, Cynthia (the lovely Jennifer Rubin) awakens from a coma, in a mental hospital. Soon, she haunted by images of the maniacal Jim Jones/ Manson type cult leader, Harris (Richard Lynch), coming to her now hideously burnt; and seemingly causing her fellow patients to die via horrific suicides. Could Harris have returned from the grave to take her with him?

It has been years since I revisited this one, but this film is, in some ways, even better than I remember it being. First off, the acting is excellent. Rubin is excellent in her role. It is a shame that she does not get more work, because not only is she gorgeous, but very talented as well. Lynch plays an awesome villain. The rest of the cast does a good acting job as well.

Fleming crafts (pun not intended as he did direct THE CRAFT, as well) a well made horror movie. Sure, it seems like A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PT. 3: THE DREAM WARRIORS, PT 2: BAD DREAMS, even more so because they both take place in a psychiatric hospital and both feature Rubin, but the film is really an underrated horror movie. Aside, form the aforementioned great acting, the movie manages to hold one’s interest, through its fairly well done plot. It also features some very shocking moments of gore.

BAD DREAMS comes to us on DVD, for the first time, from Anchor Bay. The film is presented in its original 1:85:1 presentation, which is enhanced for 16x9 TVs. The color is rich and has no artifacting. In fact, the film does not look a day old, much less it’s actual eighteen years of age. The sound features great dynamic surround, with some active action sounds.

In the extras department, we get a bunch of old featurettes: “The Making of Bad Dreams” which has interviews with producer Gale Ann Hurd (who was quite good looking back then) and Fleming. This one is really nothing special. “The FX of Bad Dreams” has make-up artist Michele Burke interviewed while she does some make-up work. This one is definitely the best of them, as it has some pretty cool stuff in it. “Behind the Scenes of Bad Dreams” has some behind-the-scenes footage, but is again, nothing really special. The original ending is also included as an extra, and let me tell you, thank God, they did not use it, cause it sucks! But it is still very cool, that they included in as an extra nonetheless. In the end, I would have preferred some more recent extras, like brand new interviews, instead of just having these very short and old featurettes.

The big plus, in the extras department, is the running commentary by Fleming. It is all very relaxed and laid back sounding. Though, at some points, it drags a little most of the commentary is very interesting and revealing. It is fascinating to hear just how young he was when he made this film. He has some very cool stories to tell about the making of this film, including one involving 80s hard rock/ heavy metal legends Guns N’ Roses. Their classic song “Sweet Child O’Mine”, by the way, is used on the end credits.

Also, included is the film’s trailer as well as trailers for other Twentieth Century Fox owned Anchor Bay releases: WARNING SIGN, QUICKSLIVER HIGHWAY, FREAKED, and THE ENTITY. It is broken into 16 chapters. It comes in a keep case, with a pretty cool cover, but no inlet card.

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