Dreamcatcher (2003)

Dreamcatcher (2003)

So recently IFC Center in NYC was doing a Stephen King movie series for their weekend midnight movies.  I have expressed many times before, that most of the Stephen King horror movies, with a few obvious exceptions, are pretty damned awful.  I've been told how scary both Cat's Eye and Pet Semetary are (they aren't), and how enjoyable Christine and Cujo are, but none of those were good in my opinion.  Some in this series were ones I had never even heard of, like Needful Things, which was even worse than some of the others!  So each week as I knock off another dreadful Stephen King adaptation, I wonder if this will be worse than the last one.

I had literally never heard of Dreamcatcher before, the book or the movie.  The movie flopped, so I guess that is to be expected, but oddly enough I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Even my girlfriend, who dislikes the Stephen King adaptations even more than I do was entertained.  I went in expecting very little, but that has been my default feeling going into each one of these.  With a decent cast including Morgan Freeman, Tom Sizemore, Jason Lee and Damian Lewis, and a director that at least had made a few movies before, like The Big Chill, this movie seemed like it might do well.  Why people didn't like it I have no clue, except it may just be one of those times where people who read the book didn't like the way the movie came out.  Since I had not even heard of it and the book is not one of his most loved, I am guessing it just fell off the radar for most other people.

The story is sort of like a sci-fi thriller version of Stand By Me, where a group of young kids meets a developmentally disabled kid and help him with some bullies.  He in turn help them by sharing his special powers, one of which is the ability for them all to converse without speaking.  As adults, they have all gone their separate ways, but meet once a year to go to a cabin.  Once there some weird things start to happen.

Without giving away too much plot, I will say this.  If this were not a Stephen King book first, and was just a random movie that came out with this plot, I think it would have done much better.  The cast is good, although it borders between A class actors and TV actors, but that does not hurt the appeal.  There is also a very special appearance by Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids On The Block, and he is pretty amazing in it.   The movie does end up being a bit gross at times, and a bit goofy too as well, but none of that detracts from the decent story and good acting and fun times. 

All in all I was entertained, though abused after by the fans of the other Stephen King movies I do not like, as they all claim this is the worst Stephen King adaptation ever.  Well to bad guys, I do not agree with you.

7 out of 10 stars.