Illicit Dreams

"Illicit Dreams" is not the first film to feature the premise of a woman who has recurring nightmares (remember "Still of the Night"?), and it certainly isn't the best, either. But this being an erotic thriller that fails both with the eroticism and with the thrills, we have to content ourselves with whatever interest the plot holds. And it does hold some, mainly due to the metaphysical angle (psychokinetic connection, or something like that, bonds the two leads) that's rare for a Shannon Tweed flick. Andrew Stevens directs, and he gives an unusually bright, richly colored look to the film. But he can't do anything about the ludicrous, hard-to-swallow final "twist". (*1/2)

This appears to be a low-budget film with B-list actors, a story where Moira Davis (Shannon Tweed) is married to an adulterous, abusive husband (Joe Cortese). Her only haven is a reoccurring dream where she meets a mysterious lover, not knowing that the lover, Nick Richardson (Andrew Stevens), is having the same dream. Soon, they both meet and begin an affair, but faces the threat of her husband.

The movie plot of the abusive husband almost resembles that of "Sleeping with the Enemy" with Julia Roberts, with the erotic dreams angle making it different. The story can be suspenseful at times, especially the plot about the crazy abusive husband, but the love affair between Davis and Richardson takes a long while to develop and the chemistry between them is a little awkward. The couple actually looks mismatched.

The acting wasn't very good, but the overall plot was a bit intriguing. At an hour and a half, the movie can be engaging at times and they aren't much boring fillers. It can be a good one just to pass the time with, but don't expect a masterpiece or an award-winning material.

Grade C+

This film is for people who like to fantasize about passionate erotic relationships. Unfortunately, the storyline revolves around a cheating wife and so for those of us who do not condone infidelity, it may be difficult to fully embrace this movie one hundred percent. If you make it to the end though, I think you will be glad that you did.

This film isn't half the original script I read, that Jim Fitzpatrick wrote. This film is more about Andrew Stevens fantasies than the audiences. Everything was about him, including screen time...brooding moments...with a lot of useless confusing moments he threw-on the screen to separate himself from Fitzpatrick's romantic piece. Fitzpatrick's original script was more about the soul and the spirit of love and desire, than screwing and personal fears. In my opinion, Stevens ruined what could've been a classic film, if he just would've stuck to the original storyline. Unfortunately, when you take someone's script and mess it up with your ego...you're already dead in the water.

If you are a romantic then this film may have something for you. As Shannon Tweed plays a woman married to Joe Cortese a man so loathsome you can understand Shannon's infidelity. Her husband has affairs with his secretary and other women and treats Shannon like dirt. Shannon has dreams every night about a mystery lover, who turns out to be real and whats more he dreams of being with her also. When her husband begins to suspect that She is having an affair he has her followed. I think you can probably guess the rest but I won't spoil it for you if you can't. To be honest though I would be surprised if you made it to the end of this Shannon Tweed offering. The best thing in it is the cameo by Rochelle Swanson who is a Seriously Stacked Brunette, very beautiful (reminds me a bit of the actress who played Wonder Woman, if they made a remake Rochelle would be ideal). I think Shannon Tweed is quite attractive but to be honest there are far more attractive actresses out there, even among the erotic B movies Shannon Whirry & Lisa Boyle are much more attractive. The acting in this movie is quite bad although it is reasonable light entertainment for hopeless romantics. Personally though I didn't think much of this even among Shannon Tweed films I thought Forbidden Sins, Body Chemistry 4, Indecent Behavior 1&2 & A Woman Scorned were all better, this was however better than the incredibly bad "Singapore Sling"