DREAMANIAC (1986)
Directed by David DeCoteau
Wizard Home Video VHS
Reviewed 02.01.07
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba

THE FILM
If this is college, I hereby revoke my own diploma.

"I'm into Lionel Ritchie." What?! Did I hear that right? In 1986, no Valley Girl in her right mind would be interested in dancing on the ceiling. Sorry Dreamaniac, but you're way off-base. So off-base, in fact, that your presentation of a plateful of cocaine did little to cheer me up. Even my nose aches.

Small talk. Uncomely sex. Some gore. Guys' butts. Gratuitous whitie-tightie posing. Hash brownies. Tit jokes. A pile of poop in an attic (I think). And that, my friends, is all she wrote. Dreamaniac is a plotless shot on video (SOV) stupor in which a succubus demon-woman crashes a sorority/frat party, kills people, and has sex. So does everybody else. Lots of it. Only, this is straight sex in the hands of prolific gay-horror maestro David DeCoteau. The film avoids overtly hilarious homoerotic subtleties, as masterfully penned in similar no-budget slashers like Evil Laugh and Pledge Night. Instead, the "slabs o' beef" visual intent is plainly obvious from the get-go. Whatever. We get it. Yet, the sledgehammer keeps chugging. That's only but a sliver of the droning, sluggish whole.

With its dreary photography, cynical shoulder-chips, and dependency on eye-rolling humor, Dreamaniac is a tough one to sit through. The fun is tapped out. Lacking the mystery and inherently goofy conviction of similarly-themed SOVs like Sledgehammer and Blood Lake, the film feels like a weekend cash-in that nobody was keen on completing. Considering that Wizard produced the film directly for home video distribution ("Too gory for the silver screen!" reads the box art), perhaps this was the case. Today, I'd guess that no one really cares. In the end, Dreamaniac is the antithesis of what makes 1980s SOV films so enduring and lovable in hindsight. This is business before pleasure; sadly, with no consolidation of the two. At least for the audience.

Hello...is it me you're looking for? I didn't think so.

AUDIO AND VIDEO
Oy. Although Dreamaniac offers higher production values than the SOV norm, this tape's presentation eats it. Dark, fuzzy, and squeezed of all color, the dank surroundings do nothing for the film's strong suits. Just kidding! They ain't none!

EXTRAS
Finally, a little salvation. After the feature, the five minute "Wizard Total Terror Test" rips forth. This is basically a collection of clips from Dreamaniac, the always lovable Headless Eyes, and a few seconds of Breeders. I enjoyed myself.

FINAL THOUGHTS
As a concept, "college" is forever sullied. The bungling Dreamaniac offers little more than 80s dudes walking around in their underwear. If that's your thing, godspeed. For the rest of us, this is a lifeless SOV that yearns for a continued descent into obscurity.

Not so def


Knife bites


Tight 'n' white


She's down with Ritchie