Fever Dreams

I remember watching TZ when younger and getting that slightly creeped out but fascinated feeling - I just couldn't look away but wasn't sure I wanted to see what came next. Well, Fever Dreams brought all that back and that sensation increased as the film unfolded. The emcee character from the first short is great at helping the viewer change gears from one short to the next. And a couple of the later shorts have unique stories that went to unexpected places. Really great suspenseful evening!

This horror anthology brings some creepiness with a nice side of the Twilight Zone. A good addition to the pantheon of horror anthologies. More my kinda thing as it has supernatural and ghostly elements. I'm not into the overtly gross/violent/torture porn stuff, so this enabled me to feel creeped out without jump starting a vomit.

Also, it's nice to support and give props to independent film making. Big studios be darned!

Kick back, turn the lights off, maybe indulge in an adult beverage or three, and ride along with fever dreams.

By the way, keep that creepy kid with the camera away from me.

Not made in Hollywood, and it doesn't matter: "Fever Dreams" is a surprisingly good film.

The stories are tight and focused, fresh and engaging, and provide a perfect balance of tension and humor as they move briskly along and deliver the knockout payoffs.

In "The Agent", Donald Sill and Jeff Briggs deliver stellar performances - authentic, edgy, tense - playing off each other in just the right balance to keep the viewer completely reeled in.

"The Entertainer" has a delightful twist and satisfying payoff, with Jason Caselli turning in a very solid performance.

"The Cameraman" is creepy good fun that's been masterfully shot and color-graded for a timeless Hitchcock feel.

And in "It's My House", R Keith Harris is really on top of his game in this ghoulish little vignette.

Other notes:

The exceptional musical score builds tension and emotion and is well-matched with the intentions and tone of each story.

The photography is outstanding, providing high production value on a limited budget. The camera angles, movement, and unexpected perspectives keep the viewer off-balance and uncomfortable - exactly what's needed to deliver a creepy and unsettling viewing experience.

Edit and Sound: top-notch, on-par with many high-dollar Hollywood productions.

Well written short horror stories tied together by a rather bizarre narrator - the moody kind of tales that mess with your mind rather than just gory and in-your-face standard fare. An easy watch with some unexpected plot twists, good acting and memorable characters. The kind of stories that you feel could almost happen in everyday situations, if things just went a little off-kilter. Familiar types of people we've all meet in real life, who end up in unexplainable and dire turns of events. I liked that we are left wondering "what happened next?" and guessing that it definitely wasn't anything good! Fever Dreams is well worth watching.

What we have here is a collection of 4, short,"creepy" stories (if you'd have been sitting in front of me when I said creepy you'd have seen me using air quotes). The premise of each story is sound but the execution is awful.

The opener has our protagonist going off his mind in record time, which gives the story a rushed feel. The second story has you asking, "why?". It's nonsense from start to finish. Between each story we meet, "the bum". His task is to enigmatically introduce each tale, Rod Sterling like. It misses the mark.

Moving on to act three, pretty soon the story has one wondering how the central character is under the impression that his chosen subject for a documentary is going to make him rich. We've got an overbearing mother, a cliche bad boss and a potential love interest thrown in. Only the relationship with the mother is explored, as for the others? They needn't have bothered.

And so we arrive at the final story. Again we have the bad boss but at least there is a some back story to this one. We meet a new start at a firm who is shoe-horned in to get to the denoument in an attempt to make it make sense. It doesn't work.

You'll get a few laughs along the way but they'll be unintentional and mostly come from the chronically bad acting along with some badly directed scenes.

I'd give this 1 star, but it's clearly an indie effort and that's always worth an extra star no matter how bad.... and this is bad.