Even though his quality isn’t what it used to be, Stephen King has put out some pretty mean material over the years. Probably the best to this reviewer is either the Tommyknockers or the Shining; coming up second would be Pet Semetary, and Thinner, Kujo, the Stand, and Nightmares & Dreamscapes – excellent reads.
Where is Dreamcatcher on this list? Sadly, somewhere near the bottom. Although clearly ambitious and with plenty of driving ideas, its erratic structure and jittery composition totally outweigh its imagination. And without a Stanley Kubrick to work any magic, its movie adaption only leads to worse.
Four childhood buddies on vacation become overwhelmed by lethal space invaders who seek to spread themselves as an infection upon the face of the earth. Using people as hosts, they attempt to break out of their quarantined zone imposed by the US military and crush humanity as we know it.
The first 30 minutes is a depressingly muddled introduction. These friends are immediately revealed to have telepathic powers, earned by a moment of courage as children. As adults, they’ve also racked up a plethora of personal problems, which unfortunately must now include dealing with sadistic mind-controlling aliens.
While the production is generally okay – with doable CGI, and perhaps the lighting and direction being too homely and warm for a convincing horror – the script is so filled with eye-rolling one-liners that a viewer is liable to cringe whenever someone talks longer than 4 or 5 seconds. Being over two hours, it’s a crushing level of difficulty to tolerate. And no, flatulence isn’t scary either.
Not everything is terrible. Morgan Freeman is a worthy antagonist. The helicopter slaughter part is a thoroughly watchable scene. The ruthless cruelty of the grays is both mysterious and surprising too; their use as such savagely bloodthirsty beings is tentatively unique, in dark contrast to their usual representation of things as harbingers of peace, technology and wonder.
Finally, if there’s something the director couldn’t have accomplished better, it’s capturing how desperately confused about what Dreamcatcher ever wanted to be. Because there isn’t one premise – there’s several. Telepathy, invasion, childhood, war, suicide, split personalities etc. competing for the top importance in the same territory, leaving little room for authenticity or space to breathe.
Then mashing all these paranormal themes to leave them festering in a chamber of testosterone pumped action dialogue simply feels so out of place. As a movie? Bleh. And it’s always left me wondering if this was a bunch of drafts or brainstorms than a truly completed novel, where all were pursued, yet none of them finished satisfactorily in the end.
3/10
Possession Media 