Sunday, December 21, 2014

Quick Reviews: Dreams in the Witch House (Masters of Horror)

You know that old expression 'One Stuart Gordon Film deserves another?'  Of course you do!
To be honest with you, I've had this one for a while, but never saw it.  No good reason.  It is even on the same Disc as Cigarette Burns!

Oh well, doing it now!
In this Tale, a young man goes to a cheap Building to live in while he works on his Grad School Thesis.  The subject: Dimensional Planes.
It isn't long before he starts to notice some weird things.  There are the rats, the freaky neighbors and the fact that the corner of his room appears to be the same shape as 3 Dimensional Planes intersecting to form a Portal.
In spite of that, he makes friends with the lady next door and her young baby.  Will this Miskatonic University Student manage to get some on the side?
Unfortunately, his titular Dreams are a bit freaky.  They include a Witch that goes from Hot to No F#$%ing Way in seconds and this Rat with a face on it.
It appears that someone or something has plans for our hero as they keep visiting him, which always come from that corner and accompanied by some purple light.
When he finds out what they are (which I won't SPOIL), he makes this face (as you would too).

Will he fall to darkness or escape into the light?  I won't say.
As a bonus, here's the OG Version of the Necronomicon.  Is that in Fiction or Non-Fiction?  The End.
Easily one of the better Lovecraft adaptations.  The Story is great, giving you quiet moments and shocking moments.  It is a bit bloody, but...well, it is Lovecraft.  Alot of his stuff is about madness and despair (as this one is too), but there's no making these things PG as far as blood goes.  You don't get a whole lot of gore, so it has a bigger meaning when it appears.  The Acting is quite good too, making you feel for all those involved.  Gordon re-uses his lead from Dagon, which was a good choice.  You really see his ups and downs- especially downs!- and understand how he feels about what is happening.  He ends up in a terrible situation and goes from denial to acceptance.  What the Film does especially well is use their effects wisely, making the low-budget nature of it (and all Masters of Horror 'Films') not noticeable. The make-up work is as great as you'd expect from Greg Nicotero and his people.  All in all, this is a dark and moody Tale that is quite good.  It even gives you a splash of Nudity...although I won't.
A dark and eerie tale for sure.  For me, it just shows again how to do Lovecraft right (and on the cheap)!

3 comments:

  1. Ugh! I really didn't like this one.
    Dreams In The Witch House is one of my favorite Lovecraft stories... scary and creepy and weird. But this filmed version, just like other Gordon efforts, struck me as having no subtlety at all. That's fine for ReAnimator and From Beyond but I guess I was hoping for something slower and less gonzo for this tale.
    Oh well.

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  2. I love Stuart Gordon! Nice review. Not the best episode of Masters, but still good. Visit my blog when you get a chance, thanks!

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  3. I remember that episode! Not the best, but still good for me..

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