Picturesque and technically sound but abysmally boring Ozploitation 'thriller' attempts to leverage the contemporary popularity of Penny Cook (fresh from 'A Country Practice' duties), but fails to excite. It's reminiscent of 'The Omen' in some imagery, and whilst the basic plot (concerning possession) is coherent, the pacing is tedious and the characters shallow.
Peroxided surgeon Penny Cook spends most of the film confused by the apparent apparitions she's begun seeing, the result of her archaeologist father's (Arthur Dignam) selfish (almost megalomaniacal) obsession with the excavation of an ancient Aboriginal burial ground. Gary Sweet also featured as Cook's legal eagle husband, becoming increasingly concerned by his wife's hysteria as it starts to impact both their apparently successful careers.
The water bill from the rain-making machines must've accounted for half the film's budget, trying in vain to cultivate a mysterious ambience which the laboured plot can't conjure. Heavy-handed symbolism denies the film any momentum, whilst cliched and over-used audio-visual cues (squeaky doors, creaking floorboards, howling winds) attempt cheap thrills which leave the film looking superficial and amateurish.
I'm not sure if the makers were attempting to make a deeper statement on colonialism, but the only dreaming I found myself doing was wishing I'd watched something else.
