Stephen King is often mistaken as being a writer who writes only horror and shamelessly uses shock value in every one of his works. This, though, is not at all true; he's actually a diverse writer with a wide range. But "Dreamcatcher," based on his 2001 novel, isn't about to show the world that he's doing anything revolutionary.
This is alien mayhem and gross-out effects. To its credit, it delves into the characters about as deeply as the film's tight structure allows. But overall, it leaves the viewer stunned and sickened.
The plot is complex, but here's the simple version: four friends, all possessed with unique mental powers, go on a weekend hunting trip, where they find themselves in the middle of a particularly ugly alien invasion.
Government bad guys come in to "quarantine" the area and games of good cop/bad cop ensue to decide how to fight the alien plague.
Morgan Freeman gives a feverish performance as the lead government bad guy, who isn't above shooting his own soldiers and exterminating civilians to achieve his goals. It seems that every few years, Freeman plays a bad guy, just to keep things fresh. More power to him. He does it well.
Jason Lee gives the same performance he's given a dozen times, Tom Sizemore does fine, and the rest of the cast is in good form, but not remarkable in any way.
An interesting note is Donnie Wahlbergh's brief but important role as Duddits. Between this and "The Sixth Sense," the man's carving out quite a niche for himself with freaks taking up limited screen time yet significant plot relevance.
I own every King book, but I have to admit that I didn't think this was one of King Steve's better works. It's scatterbrained and it really shows that he wrote it in a haze of pain after his 1999 car accident. It's bitter, ugly and abrasive.
The film captures the novel's key events and atmosphere very well and even portrays some aspects better by simplifying them. But that doesn't make it a great effort.
The nature of the aliens themselves is a major stumbling block. They look exactly like large hunks of excrement, and the fact that they emerge from people's rectums doesn't do much to conceal this fact. This makes for a lot of sick situations and humor that make the audience laugh and gag rather than feel suspense or tension. Still, I heard several loud screams in response to some of the more frightening moments.
"Dreamcatcher" is decent on its own (probably a 3 ?star effort), but being a theatrical film, the movie-going experience as a whole must be evaluated along with it.
After suffering through 25 minutes of commercials for Chrysler (enough with Celine Dion already!), Coke, Fandango, and M & M's, and even some actual previews for one stupid film after another (none of which would appeal to a "Dreamcatcher" audience), the movie still doesn't start.
It was advertised ahead of time, so I can't accuse the lame "Final Flight of the Osiris" as arriving without warning. But this computer-animated short is just as pointless, shamelessly mercenary, and unnecessary as the "Matrix" sequel it's promoting.
There once was a time (about 50 years ago) where a short film or cartoon would play before every film in the theater. This would be a welcome return to that era, but for the fact that "Osiris" is nothing but another commercial (promoting "The Matrix Reloaded") to add to the 25 minutes the audience already had to endure.
Furthermore, it's disruptive to the tone "Dreamcatcher" seeks to establish off the bat. The film begins low-key and psychological, setting up the characters, their habits and their history before plunging them into the gory alien mayhem.
"Osiris" is all empty flair and over-the-top effects, numbing the audience with meaningless stimuli before they get a chance to take in the cinematic experience they paid nine bucks for.
The fact that "Dreamcatcher" runs about two hours and fifteen minutes doesn't help. With the short film and the advertising added, this is an intense theater experience that seems to take forever.
It's worth a look for anyone in the mood for a few good scares who can handle some particularly gooey gore. "Dreamcatcher" doesn't cover much ground that alien movies or countless "X Files" episodes haven't already conquered, but it's an honest effort.
It could have been a lot worse, but don't go taking a first date to it -- it must certainly be faulted for its crassness, inconsistency, and vulgarity.
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