Rish's Reviews
When this came out, back in ‘88, the ad campaign made it look like something very similar to A Nightmare on Elm Street, as the title suggests. So I really expected an "Elm Street" ripoff here. It ended up having a similar story to Dream Warriors (which incidentally, had at least two of the same cast members), but wasn't close enough for me to warrant branding it "Ripoff." Maybe tyranist should decide.
Thirteen years ago, Cynthia was involved with a religious cult (when she was a--what, little girl? teenager?) that all committed mass suicide, leaving her the only survivor, but in a coma. Well, when she wakes up (the sleep did her good, as she's now played by Jennifer Rubin), she is stuck in a psychotherapy ward for the mentally ill. She doesn't think she's crazy, but her visions/nightmares say otherwise. Only when other members of her therapy group begin to commit mysterious suicide does anyone suspect something else might be involved.
This should have been a superior film, ‘cause the story isn't bad, and man, just look at the talent involved: Jennifer Rubin, looking real cute and quite believable as Cynthia. Richard Lynch, oft-seen TV villain, is the Jim Jones-type religious leader whose powers may stem beyond the grave (always a pleasant surprise, as he's a scary-looking dude in any role). Re-Animator's Bruce Abbott is Cynthia's counselor and maybe love interest. Dottie from Pee Wee's Big Adventure plays one of those in the therapy group's (I always point her out when I see her, bad habit, I know). And Dean Cameron, who I'm a big fan of (I'd like to call this guy my friend), plays the disturbed, nutty, and always-funny mental patient, Ralph. Plus, Gale Anne Hurd produced it, and Steven de Souza wrote it (he wrote Die Hard, if I recall . . . maybe the first two).
Unfortunately, in the end, it was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. I don't know what to say. It should have been incredible, a classic, one to watch all the time. But it isn't, it was just sort of . . . blah. It was not awful, no, but in one of those cases where the sum is less than its parts, Bad Dreams included a lot of work, nice faces, and good writing, but ended up being only a fair movie.
I'd Recommend It To: The kind of people who like to see the movies that they want to see and this one is included on that list of those.