Well, look what the cat dragged in! Boy, you look really tired. Didn’t sleep well? You know it is getting close to Halloween; it’s the purr-fect time for nightmares!
Speaking of dreams and nightmares, I read on Healthline.com that according to the National Sleep Foundation, dreaming happens throughout the night, but our most vivid and often remembered dreams happen during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
A dream can be influenced by what we’re thinking about before we go to sleep or what we’ve experienced while awake. Dreams can also bring to light what we’re avoiding, like our anxieties. Since it’s getting close to the spooky season, why don’t I recommend some nightmarish fun flicks to watch?
One good bump on the head, and Jack ends up in a nightmare!
Delirious was directed by Tom Mankiewicz and was written by Lawrence J. Cohen and Fred Freeman. It stars John Candy, Mariel Hemingway, and Emma Samms.
Plot:
Jack Gable is the head writer for a successful soap opera called Beyond Our Dreams, and he has a crush on the show’s star, Laura. It’s easy for everyone but Jack to see she’s playing him for a sap. But a conk on the head brings Jack some new insights and powers. He finds himself in Ashford Falls, the town of his fictional soap opera — and everything he writes comes true! It’s a fantastic opportunity to get Rachel (Laura’s character) to fall in love with him. However, life is challenging, even in the fictional world. Not even when you’re the author!
This is a classic slapstick, wisecracking comedy. With just a hint of romance at its best! The entire cast is fantastic from start to finish! John Candy captures the essence of what it’s like to be a writer and to be passionate about the characters he’s created. My favorite scene is the “trust game” that Jack plays with Rachel. Speaking as a writer myself, I would have to agree it would be “ hell”, as Jack put it, to be trapped in one’s own story, and that’s why this film is a must-watch during the spooky season.
The devil has come for the Knables… before a live studio audience.
Peter Hyams, best known for directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in Timecop, directed this unique sectorial comedy. It was written by Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein and Richard Siegel. It stars John Ritter, Pam Dawber and Jeffrey Jones.
Plot:
Roy Knable (John Ritter), a couch potato, and neglected wife Helen (Pam Dawber) have an argument, which results in their television being broken.
A shady man named Mr. Spike (Jeffrey Jones) appears at the couple’s door, offering him a new high-tech satellite dish system filled with 666 channels of programs one cannot view on the four big networks. Without realizing it, Roy agrees to take the deal from the devil’s emissary, and both he and his wife get sucked into hell itself through their brand-new TV! Will they survive channel surfing all 666 channels in 24 hours?… Stay Tuned!
This is a very smart and well-written comedy, and John Ritter is a comedic genius! The spoofs in this film from movies and television are on point! There’s even a joke about Three’s Company, a late 70’s sitcom that launched John Ritter’s career. My two favorite scenes are the animated scenes that were created by Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry director Chuck Jones. The other is the MTV spoof music video featuring Salt-N-Pepa. I do agree with Roy Knable that “too much television can get one in trouble.” However, I do think this film is a definite must-watch during the Halloween season.
Getting a parking ticket is nothing but trouble…
This strange, fever-dream-like film was directed, starred, and written by Dan Aykroyd and his younger brother Peter Aykroyd. It also stars Chevy Chase, John Candy, and Demi Moore.
Plot:
Finance publisher Chris Thorne along with his neighbor, lawyer Diane Lightson, and inconvenient siblings Fausto and Renalda Squiriniszu are traveling to Atlantic City. On the way, they run a stop sign in a small town in the middle of nowhere called Valkenvania. They are arrested and brought before Judge Alvin ‘J.P’ Valkenheiser, who locks them in a cell. Chris tries to talk his way out of paying the ticket, and the judge decides to invite them to have dinner with his family. When they try to flee, they’re hunted down!
This is truly a strange and fun movie. Both John Candy and Dan Aykroyd play two characters in this film. John plays Dennis and his sister Eldona, grandchildren of the judge, played by Dan Aykroyd. Dan also plays the youngest grandson, Bobo, one of the twins, who look and act rather grotesque. They live and work in the junkyard because they’re not allowed in the house. My favorite moment in this film is when the rap group Digital Underground is brought before the judge, and they have to prove they’re musicians by performing for him. This film is indescribable, although I did my best. This is one of those where you have to see it for yourself. It is weird and deserves to be on any spooktacular movie watchlist.
Whatever goes on in your dreams is no longer for your eyes only…
Switching gears from comedy to something with more action and suspense is this sci-fi feature entitled Dreamscape. It was directed by Joseph Ruben, who also wrote it with David Loughery and Chuck Russell. It stars Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, and Christopher Plummer.
Plot:
A government-funded project looks into using psychics to enter people’s dreams with some mechanical help. When a subject dies in his sleep from a heart attack, Alex Gardner becomes suspicious that another of the psychics is killing people in the dreams somehow, and that is causing them to die in real life. He must find a way to stop the abuse of the power to enter dreams.
Remote Viewing became a popular subject during the late 70s and early 80s. During the Cold War years, the USA and Soviet Union are known to have been spying on each other using the services of psychic ‘remote viewers’, with the specific objective of gathering intelligence information of military significance. In simple terms, ‘remote viewing’ is ‘the ability of human participants to acquire information about spatially (and temporally) remote geographical targets otherwise inaccessible by any known sensory means’.
This movie explores the possibility of a person with psychic abilities being able to enter a person’s dreams and discover their darkest secrets or even kill the person via their dream. The visual effects where Alex enters another person’s dream are straight out of Doctor Who. The performances of Dennis Quaid and Christopher Plummer make this movie amazing! I admit that snake monster is a nightmare, but I’ll take stop motion and practical effects over CGI any day. All in all, this movie is purr-fect for spooky viewing.
Well kittens, I don’t know if any of these will help you sleep, but at least you’ll have a nightmarishly good time while watching! Pleasant dreams!
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