Dreams in the Witch-House

Stuart Gordon looks like a grizzly bear, but in watching interviews with him he seems like a big teddy bear. And it really shows in this.

Of course the Lovecraft story is updated a bit but it does capture the heart of it.

The story is a collage student rents a room in an old boarding house and encounters a slob of a landlord, on old guy who seems a little off of his rocker, and a very likable single mom with a baby who's just trying to get by. The student befriends the mom and baby only to find out the house has a dark secret. And of course the student looks for the answers.

This is really creepy. I guess it goes back to childhood stories about witches that creeped me out when I was four years old. So, I think of it as an adult fairy tail.

If you like classic horror stories, this should grab you!

The university student Walter Gilman (Ezra Godden) moves to a very low-budget room in an old house. He becomes close to Frances Elwood (Chelah Horsdal), his next door neighbor, and her baby son Danny after saving them from a huge rat. While studying for his thesis, Walter listens to noises in the first floor, and finds the tenant Masurewicz (Campbell Lane) praying and hitting his head on a chair. The old man advises him about a rat with a man's face and a witch that would be after him, and offers a crucifix for his protection. Walter ignores the advice, and has nightmares along the night. When Frances asks Walter to be the babysitter of Bobby for a couple of hours, Walter is lured by the witch, who pretends to be Frances, and he is marked on his back. Later he realizes that the evil witch is Keziah Mason (Susanna Uchatius) and the rat is her assistant Brown Jenkin (Yevgen Voronin), and they want him to sacrifice Bobby in an ancient ritual to the devil.

This episode of "Masters of Horror" is a gore witch tale, with a good story and performances. I like this kind of horror movie that is not corny and in this case does not spare a baby and the lead character. It was good to see Stuart Gordon, the director of "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond", back in a good horror movie. I only regret that the show is less than fifty-five minutes running time and was released in Brazil in an expensive DVD. The series "Masters of Horror" is not aired on cable television in Brazil, and the viewer must rent or buy the DVD to see this series, and each episode is released in one DVD. Therefore, why not a box with all the episodes? My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sonhos na Casa da Bruxa" ("Dreams in the Witch-House")

A college student (Ezra Godden) moves into a boarding house to write his thesis. He soon wishes that he'd stayed on campus when a mysterious portal opens in his room, unleashing a witch and her bizarre "familiar".

Horror and much weirdness ensue.

Director Stuart Gordon once again employs the world of H. P. Lovecraft to create one of the better MASTERS OF HORROR entries. Gordon infuses the classic story with his signature brand of gushy gore and humor, while retaining the Lovecraftian gloom.

A pleasantly bleak experience...

Stuart Gordon put this hour of horror into a fine piece of work. A little disappointed with the finish but hey Lovecraft stories are always strange. Some decent splatter and gore here too. The wrist wounds were a bit much considering what caused them. The witch looked very demonic and spooky which added more flavor to the already catchy film. It is a good concept of a movie which was delivered exceptionally well though the eyes of a Lovecraft patron, Gordon. I commend the masters of horror for seeking out the true masters of horror and letting them shine. We all need a breath of fresh air in the horror genre.

Clocking in at just under an hour, Stuart Gordon's adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams In The Witch House is one of Gordon'e better films though not his best adaptation of the author. That particular honour goes to Re-Animator which will probably be the best Lovecraft film ever. Certainly, Gordon and coscripter Dennis Paoli have figured out over the years what makes a Lovecraft film work and what doesn't. Dreams does manage to make for some enthralling viewing. There's some updates to the storyline from the original short for sure, but they always figure out how to do these things and still make the film close to what Lovecraft wrote. Ezra Godden returns to the Gordon camp after his stint in Dagon and appears to be setting himself up to be the next Jeffrey Combs who would probably have played this role had it been made back in the mid eighties when Combs was Godden's age. All in all a good adaptation.