Dreamscape (1984)

 

Would you take a look at this cast? Absolutely insane how many heavy-hitters are present in this film and yet few people remember this one, save perhaps those few that managed to get hold of a copy through the good old video rental store.

You kids even remember video rental? It was glorious, as mostly you had to pick films based on their covers alone. 

Anyway...

Dennis Quaid plays a young man with legitimate psychokinetic powers. He mostly uses it to read minds so he can have numerous illicit affairs or he can perfectly predict which horse is going to win a race, which provides him with cash. Things change when he is approached by a professor (Von Sydow) who back in the day did experiments with Quaid. There is a new project by which certain telepathic people are sent inside the dream of another person. The idea behind this is that this could be beneficial to therapy. 

Of course you feel a 'but' coming on. 

This project is also overseen by a shady government agent (Plummer), who of course funded it all and who is rather close to the president. Said president is having nightmares about nuclear apocalypse and wants to sign a treaty that will greatly reduce the number of nuclear missiles in the world. 

This of course doesn't sit well with our agent. So there is a plot hatched to kill the president in his dreams through another telepathic man who is so clearly an absolute psychopath; it's rather strange that the good professor didn't see this sooner. 

So now it's on between Quaid and the psycho to see who will emerge victorious in the dreamworld...

Stuff like telepathy and telekinesis were pretty much the rage during the 80s. Heck, take a lot at some of the books that were published back then and discover how often stuff like this popped up. Sure, 'Firestarter' by Stephen King is probably one of the best examples, but you get the idea. So naturally, various films were made on the broad subject. 

While this might not be the best film you never saw, 'Dreamscape' does offer some interesting stuff. The dreamscenes are actually fairly well done, having that surreal atmosphere and feel. Especially the German expressionist decor of the nightmare with the Snake Man is great.

Speaking of the Snake Man: this is probably thé image everyone remembers about this film. 

Because the actors are all decent to more than decent, there's little to criticize, even if the dialogue and some of the delivery can be just a tad underwhelming. In a lot of places, it is just a little too pedestrian to really have an impact. 

While this in no shape or form is obligatory viewing, it is a fun 80s timecapsule and a film that has some merit in the fuzzy retro sci-fi thriller department.