From the time Carrie hit theatres in 1976 until about the end of the 80's anything Stephen King wrote was instantly turned into box-office cash. Movies based on his writings literally flooded the local multiplex with new titles coming two or three a year it seemed. I remember reading a blurb at the time that King could write a check and they'd instantly make a movie out of it. Then something happened. His novels started being made into overlong television mini-series, King went into a "not really" retirement after a car accident, and my (and lots of other people's) interest in his writing dropped off.

This past year TNT network commissioned an eight episode anthology series entitled Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From The Stories Of Stephen King and took a selection of tales from King's collection of the same name. It started off quite well with the William Hurt starring, "Battleground" (this was one of my favourite tales from the book, so it was nice to see included here) and ended with the rock 'n' roll fantasy tale, "You Know They've Got A Hell Of A Band". As I write this I'm not sure if TNT is planning on adapting any more stories or continuing the series but, if they do, I'm hoping the next batch is a little bit better than this mediocre one.

"Battleground" is a fun story that builds mood well, has Hurt effective in his role of a little-speaking hit man, and has neat effects making plastic army men come to deadly life to attack him (as vengeance for killing a toy maker). Plus it has a wink to Trilogy Of Terror and its Zuni fetish doll as well as being directed by Brian Henson (Jim's son) of Muppets fame.

"Crouch End" was next and it was a sketchily plotted riff on the works of H.G. Lovecraft that has a couple getting stuck in the ghost town of the title with all sorts of throwaway characters and a really bad CGI monster in the finale.

"Umney's Last Case" has King plundering the "writer in peril" plotline he seems to love to use as William H. Macy plays a writer who finds himself in the pulp detective universe of his novels trying to switch places with his fictional hero. It captures the setting and mood of the 30's well and Macy is decent, it's just not overly interesting.

"The End Of The Whole Mess" has Ron Livingston counting down his own death on video while telling a story of how his genius brother manages to accidentally create a plague. This one did have the nugget of an interesting story, but was just too dull.

"The Road Virus Heads North" isn't a bad 'cat and mouse' story with writer (again) Tom Berenger buying an eccentric painting at a pawnshop only for the vampiric-like baddie in the painting to come to life. This offers an alright slasher-like villain and plays fine until its overly confused twist ending.

"The Fifth Quarter" takes a darker, almost crime noir, tone with Jeremy Sisto as a petty thief caught up in a scam involving a map (and revenge). Probably the grittiest of the tales here, it still suffers from what the others do as it's quite dull.

"Autopsy Room Four" takes an old hat premise and overdone story as a businessman lies on an autopsy table paralyzed from a snakebite trying to convince people he's alive. The story is stale, there's a weak CGI snake, and it all ends with a sappy 'happy ending'.

Finally, "You Know They've Got A Hell Of A Band" ends the set and it's story of Steven Weber and his wife getting caught in the town of Rock 'N' Roll Heaven with the malicious ghosts of many famous dead rockers (including Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix) try to get them to stay for a "concert" that might last a very long time. Oozing with nostalgia and not taking itself seriously, this is the most watchable episode after "Battleground".

Filled with more thriller type stories than outright horror, Nightmares & Dreamscapes is watered-down King at it's most skippable. The stories never feel original and fail to really capture the mood of King's work and despite having a few name actors attached to it, the series just doesn't deliver the kind of enjoyment other anthology shows like Tales From The Crypt and Twilight Zone have in the past. (Chris Hartley, 1/7/07)

Directed By: Various.
Written By: Various.

Starring: Various.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: While it does suffer from a few jagged lines and has a hard time handling really bright colours (like the blue sky in the last episode), the transfer here is generally good and clean with solid clarity.

Extras: Warner has put a bunch of features in this set but, unfortunately, they're mostly under five minutes clips that offer nothing of interest.

We get a featurette on the making of the series, a quick look at King's stories, a featurette about adapting the stories to screen, a bunch of "Inside Look" featurettes for each episode, interviews with certain episode stars and a featurette on the effects of "Battleground".

Like I said, there's nothing here to get your teeth into and it's not even really worth checking what's here out.