Bad Dreams

Bad Dreams

“Bad Dreams” opens with a scene where a crazed guru pours gasoline on his teenage followers and then lights them on fire.

A young girl miraculously avoids instant death, but spends the next 13 years in a coma in the hospital. She is placed in a psychiatric hospital for treatment when she wakes up, only to be preyed upon by another twisted fiend, a psychiatrist who intentionally gives her drugs that will make her want to kill herself.

What is the point of making movies like this? The film starts off hypocritically with its grotesque imagery and violence, earning itself an R rating while the main audience it targets is under 17. This is just another one of those nasty teen vomitorium’s where the only lesson taught is that life sucks and people are terrible. In this world there are very few adults who don’t want to murder teenagers and all healing professions are filled with sickos.

The whole thing has been given top flight production values by some successful Hollywood types. Gale Anne Hurd, producer of two films I admire (“Terminator” and “Aliens”), has produced this one. Andrew Fleming makes his feature debut as a brilliant NYU film school graduate. Solid performances come from Jennifer Rubin as the tortured girl, Bruce Abbott as the good doctor Richard Lynch as cult leader Harris Yulin as demented shrink and one cleverly crafted screamer at climactic scene.

I praise production just so I can suggest these people should do better jobs on worthier projects than this film itself which isn’t surprising since it’s not shocking to see violent teenage films exploiting lowest common denominator preaching nihilism despair or using latest special effect technology supplying lingering closeups burnt flesh other horrors may be nice people would want wade sewer again anyway but maybe I’m naïve maybe don’t completely understand power money justify all ends “nightmare elm street” movies (which bad dreams obvious clone) made lots bucks probably too big hit derail career years Sean Cunningham nice man devised Friday the series typecast shock blood nausea never get chance anything worthwhile trapped professional nightmare longer characters trapped theirs.

What was said at the story meetings for this film? Were there any reservations expressed or did everybody take a whack at it like when the girl is hanging by one hand from the roof and the psychiatrist is stabbing that hand with a needle full of poisonous drugs? Did anybody wonder if maybe there were some creative happy life-affirming screenplays floating around? Did the filmmakers even know they were making a commercial for death? Do they know any teenagers, especially younger troubled ones like those in their movie and in their potential audience?

Are they aware of the national epidemic of teenage suicides? Do they even think about things like this or was this simply a mindless exercise in technology on their part? I ask such questions because I sat through this movie with an increasing sense of unease. There is hardly a shred of hope anywhere in it. It sinks to such depths that even the heroine’s group therapy session becomes a grisly lottery whose first winner and then another kills himself.

I understand teenagers go see these films and “like” them. So do I know many similar films with teenage audiences so don’t give me any R rating business because every honest person in show business will tell you that this is aimed at high school and junior high students. Almost all teenagers have somewhere within themselves low self-esteem, self-doubt, despair. Most learn how to deal with it and grow more confident, more mature. “Bad Dreams” poisons that process.

Like the doctor in the film who makes people sick or dead by caring too much; so are we supplied by those who make this “entertainment,” which celebrates doom.

I’ve mentioned before that Hollywood needs an A rating for adults only to fit between R and X. “Bad Dreams” is an obvious candidate for A but again A would kill its box office potential exposing hypocrisy of whole system by cutting off under 17 access to kids but could however be godsend for makers encouraging them to use talent toward more positive purposes.

Watch Bad Dreams For Free On Gomovies.