As a fan of horror films it’s a rare treat to find one that you missed somewhere along the way. Either the movie was never released to theaters, didn’t make it to the local video store back when or it simply never found a home anywhere. Arrow Video once again resurrects a forgotten film that many will enjoy and discuss not that they’re releasing it. That movie is DREAM DEMON and comes from director Harley Cokeliss who directed BLACK MOON RISING and MALONE.
The movie revolves around Diana Markham (Jemma Redgrave), a
London school teacher about to marry Oliver (Mark Greenstreet), an upper class
war hero who seems more preoccupied with his fame than his upcoming marriage.
Living in a building her fiancé has bought for them she continues to have
nightmares most of which involve him treating her cruelly. Her therapists
insist this is just nerves before the wedding but they nightmares increase in
frequency.
Returning home one day Diana is sideswiped by journalist Paul (Jimmy Nail) and his photographer Peck (Timothy Spall) who act innocent before launching attack style questions at her. Out of nowhere pops Jenny (Kathleen Wilhoite) to her rescue fending off the duo. Inviting her inside Diana and Jenny become quick friends. Jenny is visiting from LA looking to find information about her biological parents who were from London. This house was their home back then.
Diana has another nightmare involving Peck attacking her
involving the basement and then dying. The next day she tells Jenny about her
nightmare and the two go downstairs to prove it was all just a dream. All seems
fine until they come across Paul hiding there and letting them know that Peck
has gone missing. After kicking him out, Jenny agrees to stay with Diana to
help protect her. Later on Diana falls asleep and has another nightmare, this
time pulling Jenny into it. Waking her from the dream the pair realize that
Diana has the power to pull others into her dream world.
The series of dreams and realities combine to reveal the true story of the house, Diana, Oliver and of Jenny. All are tied together in a puzzle that comes together nicely and provides a satisfying story told with great visuals by performers giving some great performances. The special effects were quite well done and the set designs and cinematography were much better than one would expect from a genre film like this. These efforts provide a movie that should have received more attention when it was released. Thank Arrow for saving it.
As with all Arrow Video releases this film is chock full of
extras and presented in the best way possible. To begin with this release is a
2K restoration from the original camera negative supervised and approved by
Cokeliss. It also offers both the director’s cut and the original theatrical
version. The other extras include a new scene-select audio commentary track
with Cokeliss and producer Paul Webster, a new interview with Cokeliss, a new
interview with Webster, a new interview with Jemma Redgrave, a new interview
with actor Mark Greenstreet, a new interview with actor Nickolas Grace, a new
interview with actress Annabelle Lanyon, a new interview with composer Bill
Nelson, “Foundation of Nightmare: The Making of Dream Demon” a behind the
scenes look at the production of the film, image galleries, the original
theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with original and newly-commissioned
artwork by Christopher Shy, for the first pressing only a collector’s booklet
with new writing on the film by Anne Bilson the author of the novelization of
the film and Cokeliss and also for the first pressing a reversible poster
featuring exclusive newly-commissioned artwork by Christopher Shy.
If you’ve not seen this one it’s worth seeking out. And compliments once more to Arrow for a superb job.
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