Diagonaldi Very well executed

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

tdrish How do I begin to describe this? I have seen this title one time in my life, and that was one time too many. How do I describe that mess I saw? Okay, so we jump in the car, and take that trip down memory lane. I was 14 years old when I watched this...I suppose I was expecting a lot of suspense. What I got, was under and hour and a half of implausible chaos. Right around 1975, a bizarre cult that would talk you into suicide, led by Harris ( rest in peace, Mr. Lynch) leads his sheep into his world of belief. One girl survives, chickening out of the suicide ritual, when a fire erupts, leaving many casualties, and burning Harris alive. Now 13 years have passed, and the only survivor awakens from a long coma, only to awaken to a continuing nightmare...she is haunted by Harris, who still wants her dead. He won't kill her, he wants it to be a suicide. Wow! The high rating, people must be entertained, thinking teen suicide is a joke! What's a joke, is the fact that this was a successful movie back then. On the plus side, I admire that something new was tried here, back in 1988, when this was released, the market was battered by countless slasher and horror movies similar to its genre, Bad Dreams was at least something new. Almost 30 years later, I won't give this movie the time of day. It's uneven, I thought the story line was lacking, and it just depended way too much on soap opera drama. Not to mention...I thought everybody in this movie was weird, especially Dr. Karmen. What was there to like, when you can't even like a character in the movie? Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not convinced of it. There was more bad then good, from what I remember. All in all, I would encourage you to bypass this one up, it's not one of the better films, it's certainly not the worse, but just to save you some time if you're the average person...4 out of 10 stars from me. ( PS: THE ENDING OF THE MOVIE IS A MAJOR LET DOWN!)

Mr_Ectoplasma "Bad Dreams" has Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin) awaking from a thirteen year-long coma that she was put into when the leader of a cult which her mother was a part of led a mass suicide by fire in a remote farmhouse. As Cynthia tries to assimilate into life again, those around her in the hospital begin dying in mysterious suicides— and the fact that Cynthia is beginning to see the ghost of the cult leader lurking around doesn't make things look all that great.This was one film that has been on my "to watch" list for a long time, but I have to say it was a pleasant surprise and far exceeded my expectations. Surprisingly high-gloss, the film, directed by Andrew Fleming (who later found success as a mainstream Hollywood director) was released in 1988 by 20th Century Fox with the expectation that it would become a blockbuster and ignite a franchise of sorts— neither of these things happened, and for understandable reasons, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this is a really well-made horror film, especially by '80s standards.The comparisons to "A Nightmare on Elm Street" are fair enough, although the truth is that this film really doesn't have all that much to do with dreams at all— it's really about the traumatic effects dealt onto a young woman who spent her childhood in a sinister cult, which makes for grim subject matter as is. It is a slasher film in an unconventional sense— that being that the deaths are suicides— but the setups for each of them are based on the maneuvering hand of Harris, the malevolent cult leader's ghost. Lots of great special effects here that should be taken note of, and really nice photography. The film has a polished studio look that isn't particularly common for slasher films of this era. Jennifer Rubin plays the doe- eyed, flighty Cynthia convincingly, and "Re-Animantor's" Bruce Abbott plays her psychiatrist/eventual love interest; Richard Lynch is in stark opposition as the wild-eyed cult leader, who spends half of the film covered in gruesome fourth degree burns.Overall, "Bad Dreams" is an effective thriller and is a surprisingly classy oddball of the late 1980s slasher crop. While the film's victim count feels by-the-numbers, it is still an entertaining watch bolstering some solid performances and a visibly adept craftsmanship behind it. It's no surprise that Fleming found success with his later more mainstream pictures given what he was able to pull off here. Worth some attention from any fans of eighties horror. 7/10.

videorama-759-859391 I had just recently viewed this again, and I must say, it was another fun view. Bad Dreams is like another side of Elm Street. What I dig about, is it's intriguing storyline. Surviving a mass cult suicide, beautiful, innocent, virtuous Cynthia, Jennifer Rubin, wakes up after a thirteen year coma, (apparently we learn the longest is 37 years). She starts off her recovery in a mental ward, still clinging to her dead friends, one big happy family at the beautiful Unity Fields, out yonder, where they swallow all of that, you know. And one thing you'll never forget about Unity Fields, the devoted cult leader, Harris, played by the evil faced, Richard Lynch, an ugly Rutger Hauer'ish looking guy, the one true acting standout in this. Cynthia strikes up a kind of relationship, with her principal psychiatrist, Alan (Bruce Re-animator Abbott) the only one who really agrees this is the wrong environment for her. Cynthia's sanity isn't really helped, or convincing to others of the medical field, when starts seeing things, mainly a resurrected Harris, who keeps reappearing, sometimes in not the most the healthy states. Or poor young Cynthia could be delusional. And why are the patients, suiciding, one by one, some of them in pretty gruesome ways, a couple making a death pact, choosing to go through a mini turbine creating a blood shower, as you will. Is it Harris, taking them, for Cynthia not holding up her end of the bargain. I don't want to give anymore more away, just to say, Bad Dreams works just as well as a horror as it does a thriller. The familiar actors, though you would have to be more of a eighties type to know 'em, give their mentally unbalanced characters, spark and oomph, especially Dean Cameron, a comedic asset to this slick horror, that will surprise and appease gore hounds who hasn't vide'd this one. Harris Yulin, an acting treasure again gives a fine, performance, as a shady veteran shrink. You wouldn't think this film of b grade appeal, barely making a showing at the cinema back in 88, would surprise you with such an effortful storyline, but Bad Dreams does, it's title indeed one of sarcasm. It's a short nifty horror, that's bloody entertaining, especially thanks to that handful of patients, and Harris.

Toronto85 Bad Dreams is a fun late 80's horror film that feels a lot like The third part of A Nightmare on Elm St. Like that movie, Bad Dreams takes place in a hospital setting. The story goes that a girl named Cynthia was the sole survivor of a mass suicide in a cult community named "Unity Fields". She ends up in a coma for thirteen years, but when she awakes, several of her fellow patients at the psychiatric hospital start dying. It appears like they are committing suicide, but could it be murder? The film is a lot like A Nightmare on Elm St 3, which also stared Jennifer Rubin. There is a burned man seemingly going after the patients, the doctors believe the people are killing themselves are refuse to think otherwise. Although it is similar, Bad Dreams is a decent horror flick with some gruesome moments.The hospital setting in a horror film is always fun to me. You would think it's safe, but it almost never is. The acting is pretty good in this as well. There is also a nice little twist to the story as well. The DVD is hard to find, I own the VHS. So if you come across this, I say buy it.8/10