The Dreaming

Snappy as any Hitchcock film.

Beautiful as a retro Maxell cassette ad.

Acted so subtly that I KNOW those people from my life, even though most people only get a few solid moments to establish their character.

This one's good. Don't skip it.

(skip the first 3 minutes of intro credits though, gd)

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.

The Dreaming is a very boring and uneventful Australian horror/thriller. The whole film is basically loads of dream-like sequences which a woman has, as she attempts to uncover what lies behind it all. There is one good scene where an x-ray of a skull starts moving about and screaming, but other than everything is boring. There is no gore or suspense, the acting is limp, and the rather obvious conclusion is pathetic.

Don't even bother trying to seek this out, there are tons of more interesting films out there, even the really low budget ones.

2/10

This film is one of the most impressive films ive ever bought for less than £3. It really shocks on all levels then spirals towards an incredibly tense finale which will leave you wishing to take stock of what is important to you in life.

And theres a bit where an X-ray starts screaming. Genius.

The Dreaming stars Penny Cook as doctor Cathy Thornton, whose father, archaeologist Professor Bernard Thornton (Arthur Dignam), disturbs an Aboriginal burial ground on a remote island, which causes all sorts of strange occurrences. Before long, Cathy is experiencing bizarre dreams in which centuries old whalers slaughter indigenous people with metal hockey sticks. Seeking answers, she visits her father on the island, only for dad to turn into a deranged killer.

A large percentage of this film consists of confusing hallucinations and nightmares, but even the stuff between the dreams is difficult to fathom; by the end of the film, I was none the wiser. There are a couple of cool visual moments - an animated x-ray and a cloud of mist clearing to reveal a kid impaled on scaffolding poles - but the film is, by and large, a boring and impenetrable mess.