Main Cast: Jennifer Rubin, Bruce Abbott, Richard Lynch, Dean Cameron, Harris Yulin
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 84 minutes
Plot
The sole survivor of a psycho-led mass suicide awakens from a 13-year coma and begins having visions of the cult leader who was also killed in the fiery death scene. She resists his efforts to have her join him in the hereafter, and soon members from her therapy group start dropping like flies. ~ All Movie Guide
Review
Though its obvious Nightmare on Elm Street 3 comparisons are undeniable, Bad Dreams is a neat little horror flick that's surprising only in the fact that it actually tries to be scary. With inventive use of music underlying the entire flick, the technical aspects of the picture are something to admire not only because they were attempted, but also because they're so effective. The fake-out fright technique does tend to get a little stale by the end, but it doesn't sour what the filmmakers were trying to accomplish. Sadly, not as much can be said about the script, whose most jarring problems stem from unbelievable situations within the mental institution setting. In addition, star Jennifer Rubin is more than a bit stiff in her role, taking her whole emotionally scarred performance to a whole new wooden territory. Main baddie Richard Lynch makes for a creepy villain in and out of juicy burn-faced makeup, while the rest of the recognizable cast does a fine job for what they're asked to do. Not recommended for those who love massive body counts and inventive kills, Bad Dreams might be considered a rip-off Freddy flick, but those who bother to go back to it will find that its ambitions far outweigh its rather derivative nature. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Susan Barnes - Connie; Sy Richardson - Detective Wasserman; Missy Francis - Young Cynthia; John Scott Clough - Victor; Damita Jo Freeman - Gilda; Louis Giambalvo - Ed; Alba Francesca - Reporter #3; James Bershad - Unity Member #9; Charles Bouvier - Ralph's Policeman; Elizabeth Daily - Lana; Ellaraino - Reporter #2; Charles Fleischer - Ron the Pharmacist; Sarina Grant - Nurse; Chip Johnson - Reporter #5; Ben Kronen - Edgar; Kristina Loggia - Unity Member #5; Evan MacKenzie - Unity Member #10; Coleen Maloney - Unity House Nurse; Maria Melendez - Reporter #4; Jon Menick - Night Guard Anthony; James Purcell - Paramedic; Romy Rosemont - Nurse; Susan Ruttan - Miriam; Sheila Scott-Wilkinson - Hettie; Don Sparks - Policeman at Fire; Steve Whiteford - Reporter #7; Tony Cecere - Fireman; Julianne Dallara - Unity Member #8; Philip Granger - Male Unity; Brian Katkin - Physical Therapist; Thomas Oglesby - Cynthia's Policeman; Tim Trella - Male Unity; Rex Lee Waddell, Jr. - Male Unity; Annie Waterman - Female Unity; Steven Anderson - Reporter #1; Julianna McCarthy - Nurse
Credit
A. Rosalind Crew - Art Director, Ginny Nugent - Associate Producer, Mindy Marin - Casting, Deborah Everton - Costume Designer, John Woodward - First Assistant Director, Andrew Fleming - Director, Jeff Freeman - Editor, Jay Ferguson - Composer (Music Score), Budd Carr - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sheri Short - Makeup, Michele Burke - Makeup Special Effects, Ivo Cristante - Production Designer, Alexander Gruszynski - Cinematographer, Charles Skouras III - Production Manager, Gale Anne Hurd - Producer, Ginny Nugent - Producer, Michele Burke - Special Effects, Fantasy II Film Effects - Special Effects, Roger George - Special Effects, Gill Mosko - Special Effects, Lise Romanoff - Special Effects, Richard Snell - Special Effects, Tony Cecere - Stunts, Tony Cecere - Stunts Coordinator, Andrew Fleming - Screen Story, Steven E. de Souza - Screenwriter, Andrew Fleming - Screenwriter, Yuri Zeltser - Screenwriter, Richard L. Anderson - Supervising Sound Editor, Michael Dick - Short Story Author, P.J. Pettiette - Short Story Author
It is the mid-70s. A sinister cult called Unity Fields commits mass suicide in a horrific manner - by fire - at the behest of its psychopathic leader, Clayton Harris (Richard Lynch). Only one young woman named Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin) survives to tell the tale. Now, 13 years later, Cynthia is having grim reminders of the mass suicide, as people around her begin to die one at a time. Cynthia finds out quickly that the ghost of Harris is back... to claim his 'love child'.
