Why is it that so many modern horror movies make a mess of their final minutes? This is always an aggravation due to the fact that we have invested a substantial amount of time getting into a plot and characters only to be let down. I think the most obvious reason as to why this occurs is because writers and directors are trying too hard to be innovative rather than letting things flow naturally. Moviemakers in the 60's, 70's, and 80's for the most part were given the freedom to do whatever they wanted and that kind of freedom let flow some stimulating and sometimes shocking films where many rules were broken. Today, I understand that there is a lot more studio involvement where plot decisions are made in boardrooms rather than in a traditional creative sense. This writing by committee explains why so many major studio movies have lame endings with a big silly action sequence and a weak twist that often seems to be tacked on. Independent filmmakers, however, can't use the excuse of studio involvement and they need to start taking a look at how their films are seen by audiences rather than trying to be more clever than the next guy. The one thing that all of the great filmmakers understand is that you always need to remember your audience and how they are going to respond to what transpires onscreen.

Thora Birch stars as a happily married woman named Susan who is attempting to get pregnant with the help of fertility treatments. She lives a normal life other than the fact that she has intense nightmares that look like a cross between The Cell, Saw, and the trippy sequences in "Criss Angel: Mindfreak". In the nightmares, she has an brunette alter-ego who works in a funeral home and is surrounded by a bizarre cast of characters that includes midgets and creepy kids. In the nightmare world, there are a number of effectively freaky occurrences such as a corpse with sewed-up facial features rising from a slab and a series of confrontations with a serial killer called Needletooth. This is a big dude who files his teeth and dresses like the albino in The Da Vinci Code. As the movie progresses, we begin to see some crossover between Susan's dreams and reality. Sadly for us, we are so confused by the end that the movie stops making sense.

It's too bad that this movie gets lost in itself because it looks fantastic. In particular, the dream sequences have a style to them that is like a goth kid's wet dream filled with shadows, askew angles, and general weirdness. We also get a variety of interesting and quirky supporting players (with the exception of the "nice guy" husband) that have some added substance in comparison with the usual horror stock players. In the non-dream parts of the film, there is a liberal older office worker who befriends Thora and spouts off some nasty talk about her nether regions that only a certain kind of actress can pull off. We also get an intense psychiatrist (Toby Stephens - Severance, Die Another Day) who attempts to help Susan get over her nightmares. In the dream world, we have a funeral home director with some Karloff-like qualities and a mortician assistant who shows us how to perform a cock-break on a corpse who died with an erection. These two seconds will surely make all male viewers visibly wince.

The fact that this movie looks so good and held my interest throughout is what earns it a slightly higher rating that some films that I have reviewed from this sub-genre. I just don't understand why these flicks always seem to resort to the same twist endings in an effort to outwit the viewer. I have complained about this before and it makes me avoid movies that are promoted as "in the tradition of Lost Highway" because I know I am going to end the night frustrated. It is also a mystery to me why Thora Birch is regularly appearing in direct to video movies and not having a more successful career. She is cool and is a great actress. (Josh Pasnak, 7/9/11)

Directed By: Ray Gower.
Written By: Ray Gower.

Starring: Thora Birch, Toby Stephens, Christien Anholt, Joanna Hole.