{jatabs type="content" position="top" height="auto" skipAnim="true" mouseType="click" animType="animFade"}

[tab title="Movie Review"]

Deadly Dreams (1988) - Blu-ray Review

Movie Review

3 beersSometimes surreal horror involves a gnarly sex scene on a rotating bed. Other times it involves knifing someone in the face through a pillow while they sleep. You know what they say, though, if you die in your dreams then you die in real life. For the dude at the center of this creepy tale of paranoia, that tall tale can’t come true soon enough. Maybe then he’ll be able to sleep and stop the Deadly Dreams.

You see, every night Alex (SpaceCamp’s Mitchell Anderson) dreams about a hunter. This isn’t an ordinary hunter either. This dude wears a hollowed out wolf’s head as a mask and, quite honestly, he looks all sorts of horrifying. He’s tall, sports a rifle, and is decked out in the latest camouflage. The wolf pelt covers his entire head and when he lifts his rifle to blow a hole clear through Alex and the people Alex cares about, he does not miss.

And this movie, Deadly Dreams, a straight to VHS clamshell classic, is all about how Alex completely loses control thanks to a killer named Perkins who slaughtered his mother and father when he was little boy.

Alex doesn’t look well. Hell, with dreams like these, it is safe to say that he isn’t well. At all. His friend, who is studying to become a doctor, keeps him loaded with all sorts of mood stabilizers, but they don’t stop the dreams. And his brother, The Walking Dead’s Xander Berkeley, doesn’t help him out at all, especially when he’s making eyes at Alex’s girlfriend (Juliette Cummins).

Alex, on a slippery slope into suspicion and paranoia, begins seeing the hunter everywhere. On every corner, on every street, the hunter follows him. Ruthlessly. There is no escape. Deadly Dreams, is a movie that twists and churns in unexpected ways. Filmed for Roger Corman’s Concorde Pictures, the film disappeared quickly and it is easy to see why. The story is paper thin and our four named characters just aren’t too incredibly likable.    

But all is not as it seems. Alex is being set up for something far more heinous. If only he could free himself from his own mind…

Deadly Dreams, directed by Kristine Peterson (Body Chemistry), has some great kill sequence but it loads up on the filler in trying to flush out a story where, quite honestly, not a lot happens. This is a subconsciously driven narrative where, as we already know, nothing is as it seems. The bloodied deer in the shower is a nice touch.

Lo-fi through and through, this film feels all sorts of made-for-television until the sex and nudity kicks in – and that spinning bed – but it retains a cult following thanks to a deadly serious vibe that is knifed by comical scenes and lines of dialogue again and again and again.

Make yourself go crazy with this b-movie marvel. Deadly Dreams, made new again with a brand new 2K scan of the original interpositive, is now on blu-ray thanks to Code Red.

[/tab]

[tab title="Details"]

Film Details:

Deadly Dreams (1988) - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 79 mins
Director
: Kristine Peterson
Writer: Thom Babbes
Cast: Mitchell Anderson, Juliette Cummins, Xander Berkeley
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Some are haunted by their dreams. Alex is Hunted By His.
Memorable Movie Quote: "I keep dreaming about this hunter."
Theatrical Distributor:
Official Site:
Release Date:
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: March 13, 2018
Synopsis: Alex is caught in a web of distrust between his brother, his best friend, and a beautiful stranger, all while plagued by recurring nightmares of the slaugher of his family by a hunter wearing a fox mask.

[/tab]

[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Deadly Dreams (1988) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Code Red
Available on Blu-ray - March 13, 2018
Screen Formats: 1.78:1
Subtitles: None
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Offered courtesy of Code Red DVD in 1.78:1, the AVC-encoded 1080p transfer of Deadly Dreams is a relative goldmine of previously unseen details and colors. The details in the rooms and the clothing and some of the bedroom furniture items are a reason to appreciate the visual “pop” throughout the high definition transfer. The crisp image quality is the best you’re going to get with a film like this and, admittedly, even a bit better than expected. Some stuff from the same era hasn’t made the HD transition quite as well, but this one looks pretty solid. Colors are perfect. Blacks are solid. Skin tones are detailed and appropriate. The sound – offered here in a strong DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo track – presents the terror in an engaging manner.

Supplements:

Commentary:

None

Special Features:

On top of the new 2K scan of the oriignal interpositive, fans get a great series of interviews with Director Kristen Petersen, Actor Thom Babbes and Duane Whittaker. A trailer and reversible cover is also included.

Interview with Director Kristen Petersen

Interview with Actor Thom Babbes

Interview with Duane Whittaker

Theatrical Trailer

[/tab]

[tab title="Trailer"]

[/tab]

[tab title="Art"]

Deadly Dreams (1988) - Blu-ray Review

[/tab]

{/jatabs}