Fever Dreams

Fun, reminds me of the old Twilight Zone series. Looks great, stories are great. Leaves you thinking.

I remember watching TZ when younger and getting that slightly creeped out but fascinated feeling - I just couldn't look away but wasn't sure I wanted to see what came next. Well, Fever Dreams brought all that back and that sensation increased as the film unfolded. The emcee character from the first short is great at helping the viewer change gears from one short to the next. And a couple of the later shorts have unique stories that went to unexpected places. Really great suspenseful evening!

What we have here is a collection of 4, short,"creepy" stories (if you'd have been sitting in front of me when I said creepy you'd have seen me using air quotes). The premise of each story is sound but the execution is awful.

The opener has our protagonist going off his mind in record time, which gives the story a rushed feel. The second story has you asking, "why?". It's nonsense from start to finish. Between each story we meet, "the bum". His task is to enigmatically introduce each tale, Rod Sterling like. It misses the mark.

Moving on to act three, pretty soon the story has one wondering how the central character is under the impression that his chosen subject for a documentary is going to make him rich. We've got an overbearing mother, a cliche bad boss and a potential love interest thrown in. Only the relationship with the mother is explored, as for the others? They needn't have bothered.

And so we arrive at the final story. Again we have the bad boss but at least there is a some back story to this one. We meet a new start at a firm who is shoe-horned in to get to the denoument in an attempt to make it make sense. It doesn't work.

You'll get a few laughs along the way but they'll be unintentional and mostly come from the chronically bad acting along with some badly directed scenes.

I'd give this 1 star, but it's clearly an indie effort and that's always worth an extra star no matter how bad.... and this is bad.

Shoo-wee! This is a major step up from most anthology horror films. Quality cinematography, writing, effects, acting, it's all here. Each tale is both gripping and palpable. There are elements of humor too. It's even got its own host between segments! Another great touch are the subtle nods to other segments that connect the different shorts together.

Honestly, it's a good grab bag of shorts wherein anyone will find something that tickles their fancies.

No idea what these shorts are titled as, so I came up with my own titles lol. Here are brief synopses:

1. The Agent: A screenplay agent with a deadline breathing down the back of his neck desperately searches for a quality screenplay to offer to his impatient client as a mysterious unkempt man keeps pushing a peculiar screenplay on him.

2. Entertainer: A man is interviewed about the loss of his wife: what of her estate; how will he go about dating again; and what about the family's lawsuit? Oh! That's quite the coffee table!

3. The Cameraman: A young man living at odds with his oppressive and denigrating mother strives to great lengths to create his own horror film.

4. It's My House: Showing up late for work again, a frazzled stock broker with performance issues discovers that he's on his last leg with his boss. To make matters worse, some strangers seem to have moved into his new home.

Found this based on the recommendation of a friend. The collection of suspenseful thrillers will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat. Strong performances throughout, led by the host of the show. Clearly well-loved and and well-made production.