Dream Demon – Traumdämon (1988)

Dream Demon – Traumdämon: Directed by Harley Cokeliss. With Jemma Redgrave, Kathleen Wilhoite, Timothy Spall, Jimmy Nail. A young woman about to be married begins having terrifying dreams about demons. When she wakes, however, the demons are real and begin to commit gruesome murders.

“The last thing you expect from a low-budget 80u0026#39;s horror film with the word u0026#39;demonu0026#39; in its title is complexity and confusion, and yet all you get from u0026quot;Dream Demonu0026quot; is complexity and confusion. This British production tries to be more intelligent than the classic it obviously imitates (Nightmare on Elm Street) with a very intricate u0026quot;whatu0026#39;s-a-dream-and-whatu0026#39;s-realityu0026quot;-structure. The highly ambitious script (co-written by director Cokeliss) intertwines the premarital nightmares of young virgin Diana with the blurry childhood traumas of punk-girl Jenny and, most of the time, you havenu0026#39;t got a clue whatu0026#39;s really going on. Dianau0026#39;s dreams, revolving on dark secrets inside the mirrors of her house, connect her to Jenny, who lived there as a kid and returned to Britain to find out who her real parents were. In the meantime, Dianau0026#39;s dreams cause the violent deaths of some persistent journalists that are interested in her upcoming marriage with a local army-hero. Maybe if he had a little more budget (or talent…), director Cokeliss might had worked out the interesting ideas more carefully. The story really does have potential and there are obvious moments of ingeniousness, but the wholesome is shaky and unappealing. Too bad, because u0026quot;Dream Demonu0026quot; definitely has style! The atmosphere is often uncanny and the camera-work is very inventive. The acting performances are far above average and the gruesome make-up effects (although nearly not enough in my opinion) look very convincing. All in one…not recommended.”