Dreams in the Witch House (2005)

recommended

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

"Re-Animator" and "From Beyond" director Stuart Gordon seizes the opportunity, as perhaps could have been expected, to update a 1930s "Weird Tales" short story from the genre legend H.P. Lovecraft, whom he seems so greatly to admire, as his entry in the show's first season.Ezra Godden display some schoolboy charm as the physics grad student with a dimensional doorway in the corner of his digs and Chelah Horsdal reciprocates in kind with a distinctly distressed desirability whilst Jay Brazeau heads a succinct supporting cast that includes Campbell Lane and Susan Bain.The master does his best to bring the classic yarn bang up to date but the supernatural elements of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos start to look decidedly hokey when brought into the modern world on a limited subscription channel budget and the whole thing subsequently falls a little flat.That's what happens when you travel through space and time.

University student Walter Gilman (an extremely affable portrayal by Ezra Godden) rents a seedy room cheap in a rundown old boarding house. Walter discovers that the gateway to another dimension exists in his room. Walter has frightening visions of ghoulish ratman hybrid Brown Jenkin (a marvelously grotesque Yevgen Voronin) and falls under the sinister spell of evil witch Keziah Mason (a deliciously wicked Susanna Uchatius). Director Stuart Gordon, who also co-wrote the intelligent and engrossing script with longtime collaborator Dennis Paoli (said script is based on an H.P. Lovecraft short story), does his usual aces job with creating and sustaining an eerie and mysterious atmosphere that becomes more increasingly creepy and nightmarish as the story heads toward its positively horrific climax. Better still, Gordon gives the whole grisly affair a dark, brooding, no-holds-barred tough and grimly serious tone that stays true to itself to the literal bitter end. Godden's intense and excellent acting in the lead really holds everything together; he receives fine support from ravishing redhead Chelah Horsdal as nice struggling single mother Frances Elwood, Jay Brazeau as cranky landlord Mr. Dombrowski, and Campbell Lane as the helpful, regretful elderly tenant Masurewicz. Jon Joffin's slick cinematography, Richard Band's exquisitely lush'n'spooky score, and the supremely gruesome make-up f/x are all on the money solid and effective. Well worth a watch.

this was a fairly well executed movie. genuinely creepy. there was a tragic flaw, which is a line that i consider to be atrocious. i added it to my list of incredibly dumb things people say. the main character is a grad student working towards his physics degree specializing in time/dimension travel. he explains how the witch is able to stay alive all these years by stating: "witches were astrologers; they knew a lot about science". horrible explanation, sir. astrology is a pseudoscience, meaning there is no scientific basis. also, knowledge of star alignment does not imply knowledge of relativity.otherwise, fantastic movie with an ending that is not normative. one of those movies that leaves you with a feeling of "oh wow, i can't believe that just happened". an absolute must for fans of this series or horror in general.

With all of the Lovecraftian horror films out there, Gordon does an excellent job staying close to the actual story. He strays from time to time and adds a few things, such as a few nude scenes, but that is to be expected with Gordon. Ezra Godden's acting is very believable, you can actually believe that he is descending into madness throughout the film. The special effects on Brown Jenkin are good yet provide some humor to the film, as is Gordon's style.If you are a fan of Lovecraft and a fan of Stuart Gordon's work, this film is a must. And if not a fan of Lovecraft, it is a great little horror film with plenty of gore. One of my favorites.