Studio:   The Horror Section
Director: Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, Alex Lee Williams
Writer:   Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, Alex Lee Williams
Producer: Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, Alex Lee Williams, Thomas Chambers
Stars:    Mallory Drumm, Alex Lee Williams, David Richard, Robin Akimbo, Dainty Smith, Jay Drakulic, Brittany Hayward, Sade Green, Kelly Williams

Review Score:

Summary:

A woman’s video recordings document her boyfriend’s frightening sleepwalking episodes, gradually exposing a dark history linked to an ancient demon.

Synopsis:

Documentary filmmaker Mallory calls 911 when her boyfriend Alex Keita, who suffers from parasomnia, experiences a frightening bout of sleepwalking where he badly bleeds from a broken window and cryptically refers to someone trying to get inside the house. One week later, the couple drives to a remote cabin in the snow for a 10-day holiday to celebrate Alex’s upcoming 30th birthday. On the advice of Alex’s doctor, Marsha Snape, Mallory records the getaway so she can capture Alex’s mysterious sleepwalking episodes on camera.

Mallory finds Alex talking to himself on their first night in the cabin. The following morning, the couple has a video call with Dr. Snape about the incident. Mallory becomes additionally concerned when she finds a piece of paper scrawled with strange symbols. After midnight, Mallory again finds Alex acting oddly while entranced and claiming someone is underneath the house.

In another sleepwalking episode, Alex tells Mallory that the unseen entity is now in the house with them. During this incident, a crystal dreamcatcher that Mallory got Alex for his birthday shatters.

Alex describes a creature with tentacles on its face that he sees in his nightmares. From Alex’s details, Mallory’s research identifies a similar creature described by others suffering from the same condition.

During a daytime trance, Mallory has to stop Alex from putting his hand in the garbage disposal. That night, Alex sleepwalks outside and interacts with an invisible presence.

Even though Alex asked her not to do so, Mallory has a private video call with sleep therapist Dr. Armitage, whose book identified the dream creature. When Mallory recounts Alex’s experiences, Dr. Armitage becomes concerned. Armitage explains that the creature Alex sees is Phobetor, who is the personification of nightmares according to Greek mythology, and can devour a person’s soul by possessing them through their dreams. Armitage adds that Phobetor targets family members in the same bloodline. Mallory reveals Alex grew up in foster care, so his blood relatives are unknown. Armitage warns Mallory to not let the demon get her alone in the dark, which Mallory dismisses as an indication the doctor is delusional.

Mallory admits to Alex that she spoke with Dr. Armitage. Upset that she went behind his back, Alex storms outside alone. When he returns to apologize, Mallory notices a black substance on Alex’s hands.

Alex experiences another bizarre sleepwalking episode. Mallory also finds Alex trashing the kitchen in a feral state.

Mallory has a video call with Alex’s foster sister Tammy to inquire about Alex’s biological family. After some prodding, Tammy reveals Alex’s birth mother was named Catherine Thorne, who reportedly belonged to a cult.

Following more of Alex’s troubling sleepwalking experiences, Mallory researches Catherine Thorne. Mallory finds an old episode of “Unresolved Mysteries” in which Catherine is identified as the sole survivor of the Shadowy Nights Disciples, a cult that targeted women suffering from parasomnia so they could be used in an occult breeding ritual. Presumed to be sleepwalking at the time of the murders, police arrested Catherine for slitting the throats of the other seven cult members, including her husband Jerry, the cult’s leader. Catherine went into labor and gave birth to Alex while in custody. After claiming she was raped for the breeding ritual, Catherine was found hanged in her cell from an apparent suicide. The words “endless night,” which Mallory has heard Alex repeat, were found scrawled on the wall next to Catherine’s body.

Alex excitedly tells Mallory he talked to the cabin’s owners and extended their stay for another week. Her worry elevated, Mallory contends they should return home, prompting another argument between the couple.

Alex disappears outside in the darkness. Mallory finds Alex naked and entranced in the crawlspace beneath the cabin. Terrified when he comes toward her, Mallory flees back inside.

On Alex’s 30th birthday, Mallory tells Alex the truth about his mother and his birth. With Mallory confessing she is now afraid of him, Alex agrees they should leave. However, after packing up, Alex falls asleep and Mallory is unable to wake him.

Mallory has another video call with Dr. Armitage to discuss the cult. Armitage explains the cult targeted parasomnia sufferers like Alex’s mother because they worshipped the dream demon Phobetor, and they believed when the child born from their breeding ritual turned 30, he would become the “Dream Walker,” a permanent host for the demon to possess. Armitage reveals the process was called “The Black Sun Rising,” another phrase Alex previously muttered while entranced. The call ends with Armitage warning Mallory that Alex’s possession is now complete, and she needs to get away from him for her own safety.

At 9pm, Mallory finds unsettling sketches Alex drew of the dream demon. Acting feral once again, Alex stalks and attacks Mallory. Mallory defends herself by stabbing Alex in his chest. Mourning his impending death, Mallory pleads for Alex to stay with her, prompting him to say, “You’ll never lose me.”

Six weeks after Alex’s death, a home pregnancy test reveals Mallory is pregnant. Upon receiving the result, Mallory sees a terrifying vision of Alex, who repeats his dying words, “You’ll never lose me,” in the demon’s voice before attacking.

Review:

A major challenge facing “found footage” beyond the year 2025 is that the formula is so familiar to everyone by now, the storytelling must be executed almost perfectly on a structural level for the fiction to melt into the format. Viewers seeking immersion will always ask questions like, “why are they still recording this?” The person positioning the camera has to consider things such as, “does it make sense for someone to put this here?” If producers too closely mirror the movies that made big splashes in the subgenre, without accounting for how “found footage” has been trampled into the ground in the 25+ years since “The Blair Witch Project,” they’re liable to mimic common mistakes made when a film simply settles for going through basic horror movie motions.

Mimicking common “found footage” mistakes by merely going through the motions is the curse afflicting “Dream Eater,” a derivative horror film formed from mostly uneventful videos that a worried woman, Mallory, records of her boyfriend Alex’s sleepwalking episodes. Following a concerning incident where Alex’s chronic parasomnia results in him badly bleeding while rambling about an unseen entity in the house, the couple agrees a getaway might do them some good.

Mallory and Alex’s 10-day trip coincides with Alex’s upcoming birthday. And what better place is there for a nightmare-plagued pair to holiday in a horror movie than by booking a remote cabin in snowy woods? And what better ways are there to unwind and celebrate than by chopping firewood, shoveling the walkway, taking video calls with medical professionals, and listening to a random record found in the rental? Did Mallory and Alex have nothing planned for what they’d do once they got to the cabin? What kind of romantic vacation is this?

Per doctor’s orders, Mallory has instructions to regularly record Alex in hopes of catching his sleepwalking experiences on video. This is how “Dream Eater” explains why Mallory’s camera is usually on. The movie then gives Mallory a background in documentary filmmaking, which explains why she’s so much better than an average haunted asylum investigator at keeping objects in frame and holding her camera steady.

It doesn’t explain how Mallory also has an uncanny knack for finding optimal angles by happenstance, like when Alex’s first onscreen episode of somnambulism shows him in the dead center of the screen, perfectly shadowed in silhouette by the light of a doorway surrounding him equally on all sides. It ends up being a distraction that so few shots are canted or out of focus. Maybe Mallory is just that good at dropping her camera right where it needs to be?

Since “found footage” is too often dogged by blurry, jittery, or poorly lit imagery, “Dream Eater” can be pardoned for applying so much polish that it looks too clean for what’s supposed to be an off-the-cuff effort. Just as often, “found footage” can have trouble with actors improvising lines based on a rough outline and sounding unprepared as a result. “Dream Eater” has the opposite issue of its script being too rehearsed, making it difficult for its two underexperienced leads to find forgiveness for reciting memorized lines on cue instead of seeming like they’re engaged in natural interactions.

That problem of robotic conversations gets compounded by baking awkward exposition into dialogue. In an early scene, Mallory says, “Look, this year’s been tough on the both of us. We need this trip, Alex. And we have savings we can pull from if needed. Plus, the doctor said some time away might be good for you.” Why does she speak like Alex just woke from a coma and has no knowledge of what’s been going on in his own life?

Not that anyone would blame Mallory for treating her boyfriend like a tool. He behaves like one every chance he gets, either by being dismissive about his girlfriend’s career goals or overreacting to any innocuous suggestion.

Mallory has clearly made her concern for Alex more of a priority than he has. Every offer of help is met with condescending rejection. Alex even downplays his condition as no big deal, even though he’s still wearing a bandage on his arm after an experience where he woke in puddles of blood and urine. Mallory had to call 911, presumably involving police or EMTs, yet he remains dickishly insistent that nothing is wrong like he’s a moody teenager dealing with an overbearing mom.

After nearly losing his hand in a garbage disposal while sleepwalking, maybe it’s a bad idea on both of their parts for Alex and Mallory to immediately drink a glass of fireside wine. Then again, maybe the two of them can finally take a break from performing repairs on their Airbnb for a tender moment Alex won’t spoil with a crass comment about whatever way he currently wishes to sexually defile Mallory. Nope, even then, Alex can’t resist describing how he would “stump” Mallory if he had cut off his hand. Part of “Dream Eater’s” plot involves Alex showing signs of demonic possession, except he’s an unpleasant personality to begin with, so how can Mallory tell if he’s more of an a-hole now?

Using rotted wood that includes a deadly anniversary date, an ancient entity, a cult, and timely explanations from an expert who can detail everything, “Dream Eater” lights a big bonfire of horror cliches. Pointless timestamps denote each new log’s lumping on the pile. It’s 7:14am. Now 12:22pm. 11:52pm. 8:47am. What’s the intention behind this?

It's hard to appreciate a movie that doesn’t appear to fully respect its own fiction. Filmmakers are never as clever as they think when they brand an in-movie street or business after Craven, Romero, or whomever. Presumably paying homage to Lovecraft, “Dream Eater” names one of its doctor characters Armitage. Another has the name Snape. Unless someone is going to explicitly say, “Isn’t it strange how our doctor has the same weird name as a Harry Potter professor,” maybe it’s not worth the joke to actively take a viewer out of the movie. When that same movie also has an “Unsolved Mysteries” clone called “Unresolved Mysteries,” an impression forms that people got too carefree with cheekiness for their movie’s own good.

Filling the marketing function of his role as an executive producer on the project, Eli Roth said, “I believe ‘Dream Eater’ will be the scariest film of the year and truly has the potential to break out to be the next ‘Paranormal Activity’ or ‘The Blair Witch Project.’” There’s a much better chance of this hyperbolic hucksterism cooking Roth’s credibility, as “Dream Eater” doesn’t demonstrate the scariness or the skills to break out of a wet paper bag.

Review Score: 30