In Dreams

Ran across this obscure 4-cast Dominican Republic thriller and gave it a whirl, mainly out of morbid curiosity to see Bianca Van Damme. The first 30 minutes were the roughest to get through, but eventually it rolls into its basic premise with a plot device spotted a mile away. The acting was OK, but not always convincing. Truthfully, a little above what I was expecting for this lower budget category. It tries to be clever with surreal story effects (dreams, I guess) but doesn't really land. For its budget, the sound design and audio are good, however, it would have scored better with me if it wasn't for the over-used camera/editing gimmicks. Dark filters, blur filters, bouncy/shaky cam, and even in this case, upside-down scenes, which in my opinion, worked against it and became distracting if not annoying. It is not completely void of intensity or good shots, so it did have its moments. No, Bianca does not do the splits and clobber opponents in the groin with a banshee wail, but she does rough it up, in more ways than one, even if upside-down.

No pun intended - the movie is quite simple. But it may have a twist or two that you may find intriguing. That said, the characters are easy to spot. The couple seems to have issues ... how can one refuse the advantages of the woman of his life? Well if that ain't a red flaf, I do not know what is.

The thriller aspect of it does concentrate on what the main character feels - not the best in acting, but also not the worst. They have to work with what they got in front of them. The action is decently choreographed. There is also a small amount of nudity - in case that matters to you one way or the other. Just be aware what this is - do not blame the movie for not holding to a standard you may set for it ...