Fever Dreams

Not made in Hollywood, and it doesn't matter: "Fever Dreams" is a surprisingly good film.

The stories are tight and focused, fresh and engaging, and provide a perfect balance of tension and humor as they move briskly along and deliver the knockout payoffs.

In "The Agent", Donald Sill and Jeff Briggs deliver stellar performances - authentic, edgy, tense - playing off each other in just the right balance to keep the viewer completely reeled in.

"The Entertainer" has a delightful twist and satisfying payoff, with Jason Caselli turning in a very solid performance.

"The Cameraman" is creepy good fun that's been masterfully shot and color-graded for a timeless Hitchcock feel.

And in "It's My House", R Keith Harris is really on top of his game in this ghoulish little vignette.

Other notes:

The exceptional musical score builds tension and emotion and is well-matched with the intentions and tone of each story.

The photography is outstanding, providing high production value on a limited budget. The camera angles, movement, and unexpected perspectives keep the viewer off-balance and uncomfortable - exactly what's needed to deliver a creepy and unsettling viewing experience.

Edit and Sound: top-notch, on-par with many high-dollar Hollywood productions.

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.

Four tales of suspense and tragedy. The outline of the plot seems obvious, but there is a curveball arcing in for each.

Personally, I watched each of these stories on a different day so that I could digest them fully. A rare treat.

The production qualities are obviously spare in places, but the team makes good use of what they have. The scenes with the police are especially well shot and portrayed.

The first story should have a trigger warning for mental health. The material surrounding self doubt and hallucination is disturbing, as it should be.

The set piece of glass for the second story was effective. It was also macabre. Brace for that.

The third tale was... difficult to watch. Trigger warning for elder abuse, though Karma comes round eventually.

The fourth tale snaps into place abruptly. An unsatisfying ending, but that's the modern mortgage market for you.

If you've got an hour and you want something new, give it a try.

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