Film Review: Dreamcatcher (2021)

Rate This Movie

SYNOPSIS:

Dylan, known to his fans as DJ Dreamcatcher, is on the brink of global stardom. Everything changes the night of Cataclysm, an underground music festival, where two estranged sisters and their friends meet Dylan. After a drug fueled gruesome event, things begin to spiral into a 48-hour whirlwind of violence and mayhem.

REVIEW:

Directed and written by Jacob Johnston, Dreamcatcher brings us a new slasher film, a new knife-wielding psychopath for horror fans.

We meet Kya (Nazanin Mandi). Kya is negotiating a deal for her client and well…. It isn’t going well for Kya. We get a new masked, homicidal killer. Kya’s in a venue, or somewhere VERY DARK with NO LIGHTS!

Moving along to Jake (Zachary Gordon) and Pierce (Niki Koss). Pierce is delivering killer motives. Pierce and Jake are watching a horror movie. I love when they have people watching horror movies in… a horror movie. There’s a knock at the door. (Insert anything from Scream here.) It’s Pierce’s sister, Ivy (Elizabeth Posey) and her friend Brecken (Emrhys Cooper). Ivy and Brecken want to take Jake and Pierce to a party, or as Jake sees the party as a “breeding ground for an STI” and “millennial sheep heading for the slaughter.”

Jake needs to be bribed. Now we meet a few more young people who may or may not be looking for fun. Hunter (Blaine Kern III) and Raye (Olivia Sui).

This seems like folks are going to get knocked off one by one. Who will be the final girl or guy or both? I don’t love surprises but I don’t dislike them either. When you think about dreamcatchers, they are supposed to be pleasant and nice. They catch whatever may be lurking in the darkness as you sleep. (if you sleep.)

The party is an underground music festival. It looks like fun. We can’t forget the drinking, drugs, and sex. Dylan aka DJ Dreamcatcher (Travis Burns) is bruting and talented and has an entire club full of drugged up folks waiting for him. Ooohhh, he’s mysterious. DJ Dreamcatcher, he wears a mask during his set. Pierce meets Dylan aka the deejay.

Pierce tells her friends and her sister the good news. Jake doesn’t think it’s a good idea to be a groupie and hang on the DJ. Hunter and Raye show up and Pierce’s night seems to be getting chaotic.

There are a few scenarios happening at once. Dylan’s taking Pierce on a “spirit quest.” (Don’t take pills or drinks from strangers’ kids.) Hunter and Raye aren’t as happy as they were. Ivy and Brecken seem to be having fun. Pierce is tripping out. The trippy neon hallucinations are wild.

Adrienne Wilkinson plays Josephine, she’s Dylan’s agent. Pierce is the first horrible tragedy of the night and the agent makes the group leave. They are threatened and Josephine delivers a few one-liners. Raye forgets her phone and has to go back into the rave. She meets the masked killer.

Over the years there have been some great slasher/horror films with knife-wielding psychopaths. Dreamcatcher is a little lagging. The story is good and the nods to other films stand out. The cast is good. This group is trying to figure out how to catch a killer and avenge their friend’s death. Josephine is trying to make Pierce disappear. How does this even happen?

Dylan aka Dreamcatcher is trying to figure out who is messing with him? Like, I said earlier, there are a few things happening. Ivy wants to feel something after losing her sister and Brecken is trying to help her. Ivy here’s something and Brecken is way too jumpy. Oh, don’t worry it’s just Jake who “went for a run” and “tripped in some bushes.” Colton (Lou Ferrigno Jr.) shows up and he’s working with Josephine.

Colton and Josephine still haven’t heard from Kya (Nazanin Mandi). Colton wanders off in Dylan’s house and he gets locked in a room. There’s plastic involved and a masked killer. I have an idea but right now I’m treating this movie like Randy from Scream, “everyone is a suspect.”

Josephine concocted this plan for everyone to meet at Dylan’s next party and Ivy shows up with Brecken and Jake, and Hunter. Everyone splits up and Ivy sees her sister. Is it really her sister? Is Dylan the killer? Is it Pierce? No one is running or calling for help. Does being a deejay make you homicidal? Seems like stress and cancel culture really got to this gentleman…. oh, I was right.

They touch on quite a few topics in Dreamcatcher. Everything from selling your soul to the devil to gain fame and fortune, cancel culture, what happens when you achieve that fame and fortune. It’s a fun slasher/horror film.

Check out Dreamcatcher

DREAMCATCHER stars Niki Koss (“Famous in Love,” My Stepdaughter), Zachary Gordon (Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise, “Good Trouble”), Travis Burns (“Neighbours,” Sunrise in Heaven), Blaine Kern III (The Perfect Date, Happy Death Day franchise) Olivia Sui ( “Smosh,” “The Big What If”), Emrhys Cooper (Mamma Mia!, Person of Interest), Elizabeth Posey (”Euphoria”), Nazanin Mandi (“How to Make a Reality Star”), Adrienne Wilkinson (“Star Trek: Renegades,” “Xena: Warrior Princess”) and Lou Ferrigno Jr (“S.W.A.T.,” “9-1-1”). The film was directed and written by Jacob Johnston (“The Look-See,” “Sunny Family Cult”), making his feature directorial and screenwriting debut.