FROM THE BACK OF THE BOX:
BAD DREAMS
In the mid-70s, the members of the love cult Unity Fields sought ‘the ultimate joining’ by dousing themselves with gasoline and committing mass suicide. A young girl blown clear of the fiery explosion was the only survivor. Thirteen years later, Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin, Screamers) awakens from a coma inside a psychiatric hospital with only buried memories of that horrific day. But now, her fellow patients are each being driven to their own violent suicides. Has the sect’s leader (Richard Lynch, Deathsport) returned to claim his final child? Bruce Abbott (Re-Animator) co-stars in this intense shocker from director Andrew Fleming (The Craft) and producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, The Walking Dead).
VISITING HOURS
Academy Award® winner Lee Grant (1975: Best Supporting Actress, Shampoo) stars as outspoken TV journalist Deborah Ballin, whose crusade against domestic violence enrages a creepo loner (a truly disturbing performance by Michael Ironside, Scanners) in Visiting Hours. He brutally attacks the anchorwoman in her home, but Ballin survives and is hospitalized. Her assailant is further enraged: He is haunted by a horrific childhood trauma…and now he has hidden himself inside the hospital to finish what he started. Can anybody (including her concerned boss (William Shatner), a frantic nurse (Linda Purl, Homeland) or Deborah herself stop the psycho’s killing spree before it reaches sick new extremes? Time to find out!
FROM THE BACK OF MY BRAIN:
“Bad Dreams” was one of the first horror movies that I watched on repeat. I used to pick it up from a local Mom and Pop store and run that video to bits. The reason being is that I was led to believe that it was “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors”. There’s a group scene, a burned up guy is stalking a survivor and they had a previous relationship. Nevertheless, you can see why my eight year old self couldn’t pick up on such a carbon copy being the original recipe. The rest of the film is a horror action mix, but it works for what it is.
“Visiting Hours” always bordered more on a thriller for me. Michael Ironside keeps the film afloat, as he plays this slasher flick along the lines of an X rated sex fueled violence ramp. There a lot of things tying it to “Vice Squad” and “Act of Vengeance”. But, William Shatner and Lee Grant keep trying to make it a thriller that just happens to stick a toe into the grit. It’s schizo for a Canuxploitation flick, but it works. What’s really fun to do is watch this with “Halloween II” back-to-back.
The Blu-Ray comes with a commentary, featurettes, original ending and a trailer for “Bad Dreams”. “Visting Hours” gets an interviews and some radio/TV spots. The A/V Quality is pretty strong for two films of this age. The DTS-HD master audio mono tracks really propped up these releases, but shouldn’t “Bad Dreams” have been a 2.0 mix due to its late 80s release? The 1080p transfers are much more cleaned up than the Anchor Bay double feature DVD. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to fans.
RELEASE DATE: 02/18/2014