In Dreams (1999)
Directed by Neil Jordan
A suburban housewife learns that she has psychic connections to a serial killer, and can predict this person's motives through her dreams.
5 connections found
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5 connections, in both directions
What critics compared In Dreams to
Simply put, the story idea has been run into the ground and without a sufficient subplot to support the proceedings (think of the dual stories in "The Silence of the Lambs"), the film quickly sinks as the story plummets into further -- and progressively less frightening -- silliness.
After 1991's "The Silence of the Lambs" took audiences by storm and won five Academy Awards in the process, a blitz of serial killer thrillers became the latest trend.
WITH ECHOES OF "THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS," "NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET" AND "PSYCHO," NEIL JORDAN'S OFTEN CAPTIVATING "IN DREAMS" IS LESS THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS.
From the completely faultless masterpiece that is “The Silence of the Lambs”, through the dark twisting imagery of “Seven”, to the slick writing and performances in “Copycat”, for the most part these have been immensley enjoyable and watchable films.
Downey Jr. doesn't manage the chilling bizarreness of Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs," which this movie resembles in its pedigreed cast and psycho-killer territory.
It's better than most of them, but doesn't reach the depth of The Silence of the Lambs (1991) or the style of Seven (1995).
It’s not unlike the jarring effect of Kubrick’s use of “Midnight, The Stars and You” in The Shining, or “In Dreams”in Lynch’s Blue Velvet, which both play on the cheap, crooning romance of balladeer Americana.
The bad news is that when it comes to flaws, The Mothman Prophecies seems to have lifted one too many from In Dreams .
The cinematography, by Darius Khondji (who blessed us with the haunting and unforgettable look of 1999's "In Dreams"), does not disappoint in capturing a beach that is supposedly one of the most pure and beautiful patches of land on the Earth.
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It's just by the time you figure out what it is you've already discovered several other films ("Twelve Monkeys," "American Psycho," and "High Tension") that have done the concept better.