The Deadly Dream

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Alf Kjellin; Produced by Stan Shpetner for Universal TV; broadcast by ABC-TV. Screenplay by Barry Oringer; Photography by Jack Marta; Edited by Robert Kimble; Music by Dave Grusin. Starring: Lloyd Bridges, Janet Leigh, Leif Ericksen, Don Stroud, Richard Jaeckel, Carl Betz, Yvonne Gilbert, Philip Pine, Arlene Dahl and Salome Jens.

Horrible shaggy dog story with a nice feel to it but zero delivery of the goods. Neuropsychiatrist Lloyd at Heisenberg Institute develops a stolen from "Charly" isolation of the DNA intelligence factor which he injects into maze-running guinea pigs. When he announces his plan to use it to upgrade human intelligence, a recurring nightmare serial begins for him in which the mysterious tribunal seeks to kill him for crimes of science against humanity.

The film's premise is: Which is dream, which is reality, and Lloyd's apparent nightmare is just as realistic-looking as his daily life. Cheap gimmick -nightmare sequences were filmed in continuous portions, and then cut up in nightly editions for Lloyd. A red herring of staged trickery by enemies to drive Lloyd crazy by sleeplessness is subtly advanced, then dropped. Poor ending is the meanest copout imaginable.

As my experience of the era grows I find that early 70's made for TV genre fare mostly tends to follow the same pattern, a modish premise well wrought at a youth friendly yet still often scary level, with tight, self contained storytelling reminiscent of classic pulp short writing. Deadly Dream is a bit of an anomaly in that while its basic story is slim and contained, the underlying concepts are enough to power a serious minded science fiction feature if the right hands took hold of them. Mind manipulation, conservative versus utilitarian approaches to the future, concepts of pre-crime prevention and the strange and chilling permeability of the walls between sleep and our reality, there's a whole lot going on in Deadly Dream, so much that for all its basic thrills (and it does contain one genuinely shocking and intense sequence towards the end), one is left wondering that it might have been a lasting classic rather than the obscurity that it is today. This disappointment aside, there's plenty to like about Deadly Dream. It moves like a bullet, with intriguing incidents mounting a sense of paranoia with grace as well as speed. Though predictable, there's a cold, unnerving vibe to it that works well and the general lack of compromise to the tale does the vibe justice. The main players do very well with Lloyd Bridges as the lead, a scientist hopeful and determined but buckling steadily as his drive comes up against that which he cannot understand. Janet Leigh is equally fine as his wife, confusion curdling into fear, slowly harrowed yet never without an underlying sympathetic support. Then there's effective menace from Don Stroud and Richard Jaeckel, and more sympathy from Lief Erickson as an older scientist, cautioning but helpful and kind. So with the general actorly commitment and solid direction this is a decent little thriller, but the gap between what is and what might have been is so great its a difficult film to fully like. Worth a watch then, but don't set your expectations too high.

LOVED this 'ABC Saturday Movie of the Week' entry starring Lloyd Bridges. Compelling premise about a man who dreams he's being pursued at night by a mysterious tribunal awakes to find traces of his dreams (a cut on his arm, a colonial style house with eagle over the door) appearing in his daytime 'reality'. Soon he finds his 'dream' world taking control of his real one. Some intense acting by Bridges here.

This film essentially begins on a dark and dangerous night with a scientist by the name of "Dr. Jim Hanley" (Lloyd Bridges) being chased by several men who are out to get him for reasons he doesn't quite understand. Exhausted and unable to run any further, he is finally caught by these men which results in a cut on one of his wrists during a scuffle. Fortunately, he is able to escape on foot and, as soon as he feels he is safe--he wakes up from his dream. Although quite bothered by how real the dream felt to him, he initially dismisses it and begins to get ready for work. However, while dressing, he notices that he has recently cut his wrist, and the dream immediately comes back to mind. It is then revealed that Dr. Hanley is working on an experiment involving DNA which could radically change humanity for all time. So much so, that there are some people within the company for which he works that want him to slow down his research in order to assess its worldwide impact. Being extremely headstrong, however, he refuses to listen to his supervisor "Dr. Harold Malcolm" (Leif Erickson) and angrily insists that he will continue for as long as it takes. Not long afterward, while he is taking a nap, the dream returns--and they are even more vivid than before. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, despite this picture's made-for-television limitations, it still turned out to be fairly entertaining due in large part to the solid acting of Janet Leigh (as "Laurel Hanley") along with the aforementioned Lloyd Bridges and Leif Erickson. That being said, while this may not be a great sci-fi thriller by any means, it definitely had its moments and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.