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In dreams

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Movie propaganda

It was her dark illustration of childhood fables that lured him. It was her dreams of deadly premonitions he would come to own. As Claire Cooper frantically tries to convince a cynical world of her mind link with a madman - bent on avenging his childhood lost - she realises she has but one choice:

To stop the killer, she must become him... once and for all.

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

B+. As opposed to B-grade. Sigh.

Why do I sigh so poignantly? It's because I'm getting a little weary of studios spending millions of dollars on second rate films. In dreams is nothing if not second rate.

The plot is dodgy from the start - someone who can send you dreams about the future? Puh-leeze. And there are a whole lot of things going on that have no reason to be there, like Claire's husband dying. Sure, it's a nice gruesome scene but that's all. There are also more clichés than you can shake a stick at. The mental institution, the ramshackle old house, the dark shadows, the dog... sigh.

Aidan Quinn as the husband gives the best performance I've ever seen him give (although that's not too difficult as he could hardly get worse), especially when you take into account the fact that his character dies. Gruesomely. The woman who plays Claire (I've yet to receive the production notes, so I'm doing this review from memory) is actually very good, moving easily from happy mother to distraught mother to vengeful mother from hell. Robert Downey Junior is the bad guy (Vivian) and has collected more clichés than should ever be put in one basket. His character is a long-haired, unkempt, cross-dressing, overcoat-wearing, hunched-up, super-human, unpredictable nutter who is prone to outbursts of violence. Can't imagine where that one came from.

The most real part of the film is the children's performance of Snow White - they are exactly like children presenting a performance of Snow White. It's great to see such honesty in performance, even in a mediocre film such as this one.

So, if you're a die hard horror fan, see In dreams by all means, otherwise, there are plenty of other films to spend your money on.

Security censorship classification

MA 15+ (Adult themes, medium level violence)

Surveillance time

100 minutes (1:40 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 15 April 1999

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