Caffeinated Clint
Like the similarly conceived “Masters of Horror” series – in which several name directors direct a vastly different episode each – “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” is a bit of a hit-and-miss situation. Some hit, but most miss.
William H.Macy, Tom Berenger, William Hurt, Claire Forlani, Eion Bailey, Steven Weber, Bruce Spence, Henry Thomas, Ron Livingston, Jeremy Sisto
In the supplementary materials on the DVD, one of the producers mentions that “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” already has a built-in audience because of the fact that it’s a ‘Stephen King’ series. What he’s saying is that they don’t need to really try or do anything fancy with the show, because it’ll sell on name anyway. And therein, lies the problem with a lot of the film/TV adaptations of King’s books. As far as the producers are concerned, why should they put more into something that’ll sell anyway?
We’ll, how about the fact that we’re all becoming a little aware of the situation and wary of anything that has the name ‘Stephen King’ – just as we are anything with the name ‘Wes Craven’, now that he’s all about money over merit, on it – scrawled across the top of a DVD sleeve?
Sure, there’s been some great adaptations of King stories – “The Shining”, “It”, “The Stand” and “Desperation” were all pretty well done – but there’s been just as many that are as bland as bran. This new one, whilst not as bad as some of the earlier King book-cum-films, suffers from the same hindrance: There’s been no special effort to do anything other than to take the words from the stories and put them on film. That’d be fine if the stories were great in first place, but they weren’t.
Though the 8 episodes in the “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” series are entertaining enough – well, bar a couple, which are so slow you’ll be tempted to press that stop button – there’s just something missing from them. Overlooking the fact that the show did need a bigger budget (considering the effects and locations look like cast-offs from the old “Dr Who” days), the main problem with the show is that the episodes aren’t very gripping. For the most part, they’re very average and without motivation. Sure, King’s short-stories were never his finest pieces anyway – in some ways, they seemed to be a way for him to make a few bucks until he could come up with an idea for a new hard cover – but knowing that, you’d think the filmmakers might’ve added a bit more enthuse, or even re-wrote a couple of them so that they would grip a little more than they do. As my wife muttered after sitting through the episode title ‘Crouch End’ – which centres on a young American couple honeymooning in London who find themselves trapped in an alternate world – “So? What? What’s the twist? Is that it?” Yep, that’s it. And no, sorry, I can’t give you back the hour of your life that you just lost looking for the killer twist.
One thing the series does have going for it – and for that reason, you’d think they would’ve given them all a little more to work with – is a fantastic cast. Among the huge names that flew to Australia (the series was filmed in Melbourne) to feature were William H.Macy, Tom Berenger, William Hurt and Ron Livingston.
Like the similarly conceived “Masters of Horror” series – in which several name directors direct a vastly different episode each – “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” is a bit of a hit-and-miss situation. Some hit, but most miss.
Hopefully the soon-to-be-film adaptations of “The Cell” – with Eli Roth at the helm – and “The Mist” – with Frank Darabont directing – serve better.
Rating : 
Reviewer : Clint Morris
