Very well executed

Am I Missing Something?

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Dream Lover is not a high body count, stab at the air with a knife movie, so back off if that's what you're expecting. This film is 100 percent psychological horror. This is gaslighting at its best. James Spader plays Ray, a very successful business man who has just gone through a very painful divorce. From there, he meets Lena, and at first, she seems like everything that he has every dreamed of. They begin to have a family together, and then everything starts to come apart at the seams. Slowly. When i say slowly, you must have patience with this movie. It very slowly, unveils Lenas ultimate plan, a secret plan that will turn Rays life for the worst. Her plan goes undetected at first, and by the time he realizes what is really going on, it is much too late...and he can't go back. If you think that this is a boring movie, rest assured, it is NOT! The film is very strategic, very cunning, and very clever with the dialouge, the acting, and the script altogether. Dream Lover is obviously not a movie for everyone, but those that who will dig it, I must warn you....this one is going for your head, and it is going to stay there. You will be wary of women for the rest of your life. Just be assured, they are not all bad. I know. I married one.

This is a usual setup, unwitting guy has married a woman who might not be who he thinks. Paranoia ensues. As we go through it all, we come to understand that he had his dream woman all along and blew it for capricious human nature, it opens with him being divorced from her.It sits for a while on an edge I like. What if she reinvented herself as we find out, Texas girl who run away from a redneck life, and was determined to pursue him like a man would? What if she isn't manipulatively evil but he is controlling and wants her to be at home waiting for him? We get the notion that he might be a crank and it may have played a part in his first marriage.She would then be anchoring a world where you can be troubled and determined both, self is fluid and we have to suspend judgment until the dragon flies in the sky. Amick is sensitive and bold enough in her poise to facilitate this double perspective.But of course the anchor is moved to calculating ruthlessness and we collapse to devious narrator who has been weaving a story that entraps all along, complete with actors, props and backstory. It becomes the garish fun where she won't tell him if their kids are his own, and the hapless stooge is dangling on strings of what she controls. I give it a positive mark because of how watchable in that video thriller sense of sardonically invented storytelling for the pleasure, but we're watching a cartoon by the end.Noir Meter: 2/4 | Neo-noir or post noir? Neo

I first saw Dream Lover on television, the movie did not catch my full attention. It seems that sometimes when a movie is viewed on television with all the interruptions of commercials, something seems to be taken away with from the total enjoyment of the movie. This is what was missing when I first viewed Dream Lover on television. Once I saw Dream Lover on the Cable Network, I viewed the movie with my full attention and no interruptions. I then realized that Dream Lover was a picture filled with twists and manipulation and suspense that was worth watching over and over again. James Spader (Ray) came off as a sincere husband who was totally manipulated by a woman Madchen Amick (Lena) whom he loved and trusted in spite of many suttle lies that he became aware of throughout their marriage. Unfortunately he had to pay a heavy price for love. This is a movie worth watching, it makes one wonder if they really can know a person.

A late night boredom trip became quite a spectacle. Not only did the performances from Madchen Amick and James Spader feel realistic and genuine, the actions of the two seemed based more in reality as opposed to the Hollywoodized version of revenge and anger. While some might call this senseless trash, I call this a spectacle of the human condition, one that portrays the hidden evils within every person. With a solid B-cast, this film was certainly worth the time and money put into it. Also, the ending proved to be one of the best `revenge of the cuckold scenes ever.'