Dreamcatcher (2003)

[AndrewHoltWilliams 0]

The time has come to bump this topic. Just in case. Because this movie needs doing, and would fill the Stephen King quota. Screw Maximum Overdrive (which I think I suggested elsewhere)... THIS.

 

First off, any movie with an AC/DC soundtrack that features fights against trucks, sentient lawnmowers, a Coke machine shooting a guy in the nads, and a machine that calls Stephen King an asshole...wait, it's perfect.

 

I loved Halloween III, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't mind seeing it roasted.

 

As for Dreamcatcher: I watched this movie at a friend's cabin up in the mountains. I bought it thinking it had the potential to still be good even if it falls short of Green Mile or Shawshank. I don't think we spoke about it again after the Donnie Wahlberg...performance. Ever heard Dan Van Kirk do his Mark Wahlberg impression where he talks about trying to help out his sad sack brother? This is the image I have of Donnie whenever I hear him do that. I can't even remember anything else from this movie except that and the aliens. Ugh.

[Quarky 9]

Holy shit this movie was such a disappointment. i cant believe how much i hated it

 

This is hands down the worst movie ever made.

 

Wasn't that the point? Were you entertained?

 

This movie is a mess as others stated but i watched it late at night and loved it the same.

 

This movie has an identity crises, it starts out as horror with the supernatural backstory. Then it goes into military mode and finally becomes a thriller where they have to stop the bad guy. Yet this movie is so creative and unique that I feel compelled to enjoy it. Seeing the fight inside someone's brain is truly original.

 

This guy gets it.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

I was just going to bump this movie, because, seriously, have you fucking seen this movie?

 

I think 'Dreamcatcher' IS entertaining in a way, but it is not creative or unique. It's a desperate hodgepodge of ideas that somewhere, in some other venue, might have made a good movie. Throwing everything and anything at the screen does not make one creative. This is a clusterfuck. Sure, sometimes a clusterfuck can turn into a great movie (I am an unashamed lover of Francis Ford Coppola's 'Dracula,' which is wacky and all over the place), but this is not one of those times. It's like the Hudson Hawk of horror movies; it tries so many different tones but pulls off none of them successfully. I mean, it's so cliche that it even incorporates Stephen King tropes that, at this point, are tired unless utilized very skillfully (psychic kids, childhood traumas, reuniting those kids as adults as they still deal with said traumas, etc.), The movie's jokes fall flat, its tension never builds, and its scares are never frightening. But should it be seen? HELL YES!

 

Also, another totally nutballs Stephen King horror adaptation that actually works is 'The Mist,' so it can certainly be done. All you have to do is hire Frank Darabount, I guess.

[MadderMartigan 2]

Trevor Holyoak via a Google Group says:

 

"The alien aspect in Dreamcatcher was certainly a lot more credible than

in the new Indiana Jones movie..."

 

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.books.stephen-king/HUQvXs1ehRM

[tone17 0]

Yes please do this movie.

[schadenfreudian 27]

I'd like to cast my vote for this one, too.

Holy shit, it's phenomenal.

[chaplinatemyshoe 46]

Bumping for the butt weasels.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

I watched this movie because Jason Lee was in it. He was one of my favorite pro skateboarders back in the day, and his part in the Spike Lee-directed Blind: Video Days is still amazing all these years later:

 

 

That being said, Dreamcatcher is absolute, Grade-A garbage. I remember aliens exploding out of a character's asshole, and I was done. This movie completely deserves the HDTGM treatment.

[nate d 32]

I defy anyone to read the following description and not immediately abandon all other recommendations and jump on the Dreamcatcher bandwagon:

"

Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Henry (Thomas Jane), Pete (Timothy Olyphant), and Beaver (Jason Lee) were four friends who, as schoolboys, rescued a boy with Down's Syndrome, Duddits (Donnie Wahlberg), from a savage beating at the hands of bullies. Their experience with Duddits left the boys profoundly changed, as they

discovered they had developed psychic powers which allowed them to wordlessly communicate with one another, read the minds of others, and see events in the future. The four remained close friends into adulthood, and meet every year for a weekend get-together at a remote hunting lodge. However, one year Jonsey is approached by the spirit of Duddits, which leads him into a severe auto accident, though his wounds heal with mysterious speed and are gone by the time he and the guys get together a few months later. As the guys drink and swap stories, a desperately ill hunter makes his way into the cabin, whose body has become the host for a horrible wormlike creature, which breaks free and soon goes on a killing spree, leaving only Henry alive. In the wake of this attack comes a massive snowstorm, and Henry learns that these events are the first signs of a major attack by a powerful alien force which can assume any form it wishes. As duplicitous military leader Col. Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman) comes in to quell the menace, Henry finds himself in communication with the late Jonsey, whose previous near-death experience gives him an unexpected advantage in stemming the alien tide."

 

You could make an episode from the description alone. Seriously, what is going on? Why is this not happening? Every time a new episode is announced and it's not Dreamcatcher, I am literally dumbfounded.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I agree with everything mentioned. This movie needs to be covered!

[Bob Drillboids 181]

I watched this movie because Jason Lee was in it. He was one of my favorite pro skateboarders back in the day, and his part in the Spike Lee-directed Blind: Video Days is still amazing all these years later

 

Man I really wish Video Days was a Spike Lee joint.

[jarrycanada 2483]

Here is a little thing I like to call the dreamcatcher car. for some reason this car made me think of this movie. this is the most messed up ride I have ever seen, on so many levels. see how many items you can find hanging in the windows and places of this car.

[timpostor 0]

This movie has no business being so batshit crazy given the cast and crew involved.

 

It's crazy, insane. I can see Jason likening it to "fever dreams" right now! Must review!

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

 

Man I really wish Video Days was a Spike Lee joint.

 

Sometimes I get Spike Lee confused with Do The Right Thing director Spike Jonze.

[Lando 2019]

So I finally got around to watching this, only doing so because this thread is so popular. I don't think I would have ever thought to check it out if this thread didn't bounce to the top every so often.

This feels like it was written by a 12 yr old boy in so many ways, ass monsters, fart jokes (I mean were they jokes? They seemed so out of place, but they were written like jokes), the banter between the friends as adults, the nature of their friendship, etc.

I'm not so sure that Morgan Freeman's character is as insane as the filmmakers want you to think, I mean I am certainly glad that he has been keeping vigil against the turd aliens for 25 years. If all that it takes for the entire world to be infected with butt slugs is one single infected corpse into a major water supply and with their clearly advanced technology it been prevented the entire time Freeman has been at this post then he has to be doing something right. What was the red staining anyway? All I can figure is that it's just a misdirect so that we as the audience could know that it really had nothing to do with the butt slugs but have everyone else in the film think it's the source of the contamination.

[crosetastic 1]

For the love of all that is terrible and bonkers, please watch Dreamcatcher! I don't even care if it makes it on the podcast. Do yourself a personal favor and watch this abomination immediately. Never have so many talented actors come together to make a movie as insane as this. Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Damien Lewis, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Tom Sizemore. You want plot? This movie has about 40 different plots. You want action? Alien genocide. You want horror? Ass aliens. You want a Wahlberg? You get Donnie going full retard. You will never find a more convoluted movie in your life. The director is actively trying to make multiple movies at the same time. The end will literally take a gun to your head and blow your mind. Watch this garbage as soon as possible!

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

There is already a very, very long thread for this.

[Lando 2019]

Can anyone explain the powers? The more I think about it the more confused I become:

- Olyphant got the clunky finger swirl power

- Jane got the mind reading power that in 20 years he seems to be ignorant that he's getting sensitive info from people's heads

- Lewis also seems to have gotten mind reading or some kind of resistance to mind control, or the power to turn guns into telephones

- Did Jason Lee not get a power?

[Snake 165]

Can anyone explain the powers? The more I think about it the more confused I become:

- Olyphant got the clunky finger swirl power

- Jane got the mind reading power that in 20 years he seems to be ignorant that he's getting sensitive info from people's heads

- Lewis also seems to have gotten mind reading or some kind of resistance to mind control, or the power to turn guns into telephones

- Did Jason Lee not get a power?

 

All I can say is, at least that part is supposed to be magic and mysterious. I thought Jane was tormented by the powers at first since he almost kills himself after using it in the beginning when he was making fun of his fat patient (WTF was that by the way???), but then later it seems like he has no idea he is a psychic. This can't be downplayed enough in this thread: this screen play was written by the guy who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back, plus was nominated for two Oscars for writing The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist.

[Lando 2019]

I know, Thomas Jane can read people's fucking minds and the best he can do is becomes a pretty terrible therapist?!?!

 

Maybe Lewis is supposed to have Wolverine healing or something like that since he gets mangled by a car and a few months later he is hanging out like it was NBD.

[rapta 1]

Please do this film! Such a ridiculous film - I love Damien Lewis, the shitweasels...haven't seen it in years but I used to watch it all the time. Duddits...

[Lando 2019]

I have been rethinking Stephen King quite a bit lately. This had been brewing in the background for a while, especially after having rewatched Children of the Corn and Christine within the past couple of years and not having them hold up, but what really kicked this off was that I watched Dreamcatcher, and then I watched the miniseries The Stand. We all acknowledge that Dreamcatcher is bad, but The Stand is generally regarded as a good miniseries coming from a good book, however it's essentially Left Behind from a horror author minus Kirk Cameron. Honestly, the dialog is really cheesy, there is a strong Christian overtone to it, and it's overall just not good. When I look back, there are a lot of terrible King adaptations, but there are also a few really really good ones. It has me wondering if King is good at broad ideas and bad with execution (especially dialog) and that the farther the adaptation strays from the original the more potential it has for greatness.

[liebot 55]

This was great. Fart jokes and "Mr Gay" earn 5 stars alone.

[PedroEliz 0]

this one should be on the show its a realy bad movie

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

These are literally the shittiest aliens in film history.