Dreamcatcher (2003)

Dreamcatcher (2003)

- written February 2004

4 life-long friends are going for a trip into the woods for some vacation time but what happens could exterminate the whole world. An alien species has landed and is infecting everyone it can and the U.S military is there to stop it. But these friends are on the outskirts of the quarantined area and the military will be chasing one of the friends who has been possessed and only one of his friends can track them. And a 5th friend, a mentally-retarded friend from years ago, holds the secret to everything that could save the world.

Overall: If one film has gotten pounded in recent years for being very bad as well not living up to the book, this film probably takes the cake. Regardless of whether or not you saw this film, the basic idea of the film’s story is this: 4 friends meet up in forest, meet a guy affected by the alien - he spends a long time in the bathroom before excreting the alien in a bloody mess, the friends fight the alien but most lose as the military comes in to kill everyone instead of saving them but the one friend not affected, grabs his mentally-retarded friend who can’t talk properly and he (spoiler) turns into an alien himself and kills the bad alien. What? Huh? Yes, that’s the film’s plot but not the book’s plot. The first hour is very closely associated with the book but after the 60 minute mark, the film just goes off on it’s own. The problem is that the book if properly filmed, would be 6 to 8 hours in length and the big failure of the movie is it incorporates some of the unique intricacies of the story but never gives you enough to support them. You hear/see the childhood phrases ("No bounce No play," "SSDD," story of Josie R., etc.) but in the film they never mesh well together for it all to make sense. There’s so much time spent with childhood flashbacks and the bathroom scene that once that’s over the film flies into aliens, military coups and it’s over.

Book storylines, kept out of the movie:

1) The detail of Mr. Gray learning about Jonesy and his friends

2) Jonesy spending a lot of time inside his head trying to figure out how to communicate and manipulate his own body once Mr. Gray took it over

3) Any mention of Freddy

4) The history of Duddits prior to the childhood incident or the communication he has with other people before they all meet up - the older version doesn’t even show up in the film to basically 100 minutes in but he’s in the book from basically start to finish

5) All the aliens die with Mr. Gray being the last one because they are killed off by cold weather

6) The entire history of Kurtz (Curtis in the movie) and his relationship with the troops and the gradual insanity that overtakes him being close to the aliens

7) What the true history behind the phrases, the singing, and the “made-up” words

The theatrical ending is just downright ridiculous and that basically ruins the entire film-going experience. It isn’t in the book and really given how the film transpires in it’s plot hole-d venire, it doesn’t remotely make any sense. The “original” ending,, that’s what should have been included, although it’s not as “uplifting” as producers may have wanted it. Basically the book has a good story - it seems silly at first but Stephen King is great with flashbacks and uniting life-long friend at older ages (It, Sometimes They Come Back, etc.). The book is very tight and meshes well and everything connects. The film grabs the most obvious of ideas from the books and throws them together and never truly attempts to make it work. I don’t think though that this film ever could have worked. It’s too complex a story for 2 or 3 hour film but still, this attempt was really poor. Read the book, ignore the film.

Comparison: Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets It

P.S. This was ranked as the 2nd worst film of 2003 by Richard Roeper of "Ebert & Roeper."

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