Arts & Entertainment

Gory 'Dreamcatcher' fails to scare viewers

By Erin Scoggan
The Daily Cougar

Dreamcatcher, directed by Lawrence Kasdan and based on the Stephen King novel, is a disappointing movie. Despite boasting several big-name actors, the movie fails to deliver.

Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

The plot revolves around four friends who all have the unusual ability to read minds. They attribute this ability to another friend, Duddits, whom they met as youngsters. The four buddies have a yearly tradition of vacationing in a cabin, but this year thereis one problem: The aliens are coming. 

Once again, an alien theme is milked to death. These arenit cute aliens, and they unleash a nasty eel-like specimen with three rows of teeth to infect their victims. This isnit a pretty thing to watch; there is a lot of blood and gore involved before it passes through the colon. So donit plan on wasting your precious money on overpriced theater food during this movie -- eating is out of the question.

Jason Leeis character, Beaver, is quite funny, but meets his doom early in the film. Eventually all four men become separated, and an alien inhabits Jonesyis (Damian Lewis) body. But because the group can read one anotheris minds, they quickly figure out that their friend isnit who he claims to be. They use their ESP to track down the alien, whose supreme goal is to infect the world. If this sounds stupid to you now, just imagine seeing it on the screen.

The interesting twist is that Jonesy remains aware of the alienis actions while heis possessed. We see him inside his mind. His "memory warehouse," as he calls it, resembles a large library and enables him to watch what is happening through a window while he tries to regain control over his body and hide the secret of his telepathy from his possessor.

Morgan Freeman plays Col. Kurtz. Apparently this isnit the first time aliens have landed, and it's his job to keep the contaminated area under quarantine, even if it means killing everybody just to be sure.

Dreamcatcher does have some moments of suspense, but, instead of being terrified, the audience just ends up grossed out. The movie is very predictable and leaves too many loose ends. It makes you wonder what Kasdan was really trying to accomplish. 

Dreamcatcher

Starring:Jason Lee, Morgan Freeman

Rated: R

Warner Bros. Pictures

The verdict: Despite slimy noises and gross-out techniques, Dreamcatcher fails to frighten.

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