Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Kerry Harris, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
Dreamkatcher has a clash of science versus supernatural dilemma and is not your typical horror movie. A young boy steals a dreamcatcher from a mysterious neighbour in order to stop his bad dreams, forcing his family to rescue him from a nightmarish entity.
Manhattan therapist Gail (Radha Mitchell, Pitch Black, Silent Hill, Melinda and Melinda, The Crazies) hopes a remote mountain retreat will not only help her relationship with fiancé Luke (Henry Thomas, The Haunting of Hill House), but also with his troubled son Josh, who is still struggling to come to terms with the death of his mother.
Soon, however, Luke a composer-songwriter is called back to the city, leaving Gail alone with Josh to deal with his increasingly erratic behaviour. Gail is forced to come to terms with eight-year-old Josh (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong), her new stepson, at a remote country home. After stealing an evil talisman from a mysterious neighbor, Josh has sinister dreams of his late mother Becky (Jules Willcox), who commands Josh to murder Gail.
After meeting Ruth (Lin Shaye, Insidious), a vendor of handcrafted pieces of supernatural quality, she feeds Josh’s obsession with dreams and ghosts in ways Gail does not. Luke and Gail suspect their son has been possessed by an ancient, bloodthirsty spirit.
Dreamkatcher might not leave you with nightmares, but it does have its moments of spook. Every character, except Gail, comes with secrets and the inherent dark tone leaves an imprint of danger lurking in nearly every corner of the house. Even the musical score by Joseph Bishara (Insidious, The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2) lends itself to creating a chilling atmosphere.
Harris’ debut project should not be confused with the 2003 science fiction horror film from Lawrence Kasdan’s Dreamcatcher based on Stephen King’s 2001 novel of the same name.
