The idea is fantastic. Can you imagine being able to get into other people's dreams, watch them, interact with them. The problem is, the plot is inconclusive and becomes kind of a TV movie along the way. It would make a fantastic remake with a stronger cast and director. However, movies about dreaming are always scary because they touch on something so close and yet inexplicable to all of us. I saw recently a short movie from Italy entitled "Xchange" which is the closest to this one in terms of innovation insofar as the subject is concerned. Not an easy area to tell a long story about. Dreams are often used as omens or hints of psychological discomfort in movies. Instead, it would be great if they could be regarded as something different: a world of their own, a parallel state of mind no less real than real life itself. Someone should redo Dreamscape!
Reviews
2 Reviews
Xchange
(2004)
Better than Freddie Krueger
25 July 2005
Most films about dreaming and nightmares are very predictable. Even the idea behind the Nightmare on Elm Street series, while very intriguing at the beginning of the saga, ends up relying on Freddie Krueger and his violent entries rather than on subtly suggesting new hints as to why and how we experience nightmares. This movie, that I saw on Italian TV, and then more recently at Deepcon, uses exactly the opposite approach. No one and nothing is inherently terrifying. As a matter of fact the atmosphere exudes calm and reassurance. But when the notion underlying the story becomes clearer (I won't tell you what that is!) you realize you are walking on totally unfamiliar ground. Too bad these guys didn't have the resources to develop it into a long running movie. It would have been anxiety nonstop. When we dream the feeling of fear does not come from what we recall of the nightmare itself, but from the inexplicable sensation of anxiety as we wake up. The recollection is so fragmented, but the anguish is all there. I think this short interprets the phenomenon of night terrors very well, in a realistic way. Freddie Krueger stopped terrifying me from episode 2 of the series. Xchange - I can't watch it by myself. And it's only a short!
Tell Your Friends