Beyond Dream's Door

Trailer—Beyond Dream's Door

A dark, complicated horror flick with the "cultability" of Phantasm! Jay Woelful's best effort and casting the absolutely beautiful Darby Vasbinder as the Dream Babe is perfect! She's a dream come true. Done on a shoestring budget, this movie is still able to conjur up enough imagination to give you night mares, or dreams of Darby Vasbinder!

BEYOND DREAM'S DOOR is a slice of raw nightmare-delirium. Much like the equally brilliant movie DIALING FOR DINGBATS, it nails down a dream-logic that few films - and especially Hollywood films that try and are too self-conscious to succeed - ever achieve. True, the acting is bad - but this only enhances the off-kilter feeling of being stuck in a wholly bizarre dream-world where reality has been jarred. I adore this movie. I love it. It brings tears to my eyes whenever anyone brings it up. I've seen it no less than fifty times (and I'll probably watch it again tonight). I have a ragged old VHS copy, but, for movies like this, I think VHS is the proper format.

College student, Ben, has been having problems with his frightening dreams, but they only get worse and start to take over his entire life and the lives of those around him. For a low budget, regional horror film without a lot of resources, Beyond Dream's Door is jaw-droppingly well made with an almost David Lynch-ian quality at times with some really great creature and makeup effects. The acting is a mix of good, bad, and lobotomized, but it's the script that's the film's biggest downfall and kills a lot of goodwill built up by the imagination on display elsewhere. The narrative does feel like a dream in the sense that nothing really ever gels and things just happen without any explanation. It's intriguing for 20 minutes or so, but after that, you start hoping there might be a little bit more to it.

The box promises a lot more than this film delivers, as a large majority of the film is dull, repetitive, hopelessly cheap dream sequences accomplished with a fog machine and colored lights. The acting is poor, and it looks like a handful of college students decided to throw together this schlocky film on a boring weekend. The overall premise is intriguing, but the film fails to deliver on its promises.

I was looking foward to this film after reading such praise in the review section but i was very disappointed . As far as i can gather a guy has bad dreams and they seem to be coming real and if he tells you about the dream you are then involed and you will start seeing the dream monster too other then that i couldn't make sense of the story. There is a random kid , a random * girl and a guy with no hands throughout . The camera work and the editing isn't to hot which adds to the confusion The music score is ok . This is a cheap low budget movie and the story is a mess the acting is terrible The special effects are cool.

This movie at no point comes even close to capturing the mood or ambiance of anything dreamlike. I was hoping for either some trippy psychological concepts or at least some stimulating visuals, BUT it delivers neither. The bad acting is not bad enough to make the movie worthwhile, most of the effects are way too cheap looking to make an impression, and the story makes too little sense to be entertaining. Quite challenging to get through and offers no redeeming values aside from a few laughable moments of awkward acting, dialogue, and editing. Not really worth a $1 bargain bin purchase in my opinion.

Hopefully Jay will get this film re-released. I personally very much enjoy it. It has a certain quality that most modern horror films do not have--the ability to watch it more than once or twice and still have it perk your interest. A film doesn't have to have dazzling modern special effects or top Hollywood actors in it to be good. What I look for in a film is an interesting story and an overall enjoyable viewing experience. This film certainly meets that criteria. I came across this film in an independent video store that (sadly) has closed down a few years ago because they were bought out by a large chain. Support your local independent video stores and support independent film!

Made in Ohio for very little money, BEYOND DREAM'S DOOR is a sometimes goofy, somewhat shabby, eerily entertaining film from the 1980's. All logic is tossed out in favor of nightmare imagery and an apocalyptic atmosphere. This is a small project with a big, black heart. So, don't expect multi-million dollar special effects or A-list actors. Instead, expect a decent movie with just as many brilliant moments as cheeezey ones. If you enjoy demons, ghouls, and / or the supernatural, then you'll probably like this. Especially gorehounds!...