Remembering a great 1980s dream-detective story that prefigured Inception...

There have been a lot of dream-invaders in movies since the 1980s. Although it might seem obvious that Freddie Krueger is the prime contender as one of the oldest antecedents to Leo DiCaprio's dream-thief in Christopher Nolan's impending Inception, Freddie was a) an out and out villain and b) had no actual corporeal presence.

Much nearer the mark is Dennis Quaid's character in Joseph Ruben's 1984 sci-fi thriller Dreamscape. Not to be confused with the slightly later Joe Dante miniaturisation thriller Inner Space, which also featured Quaid entering the being of another person (but in a submarine), Dreamscape deals with a psychical research facility led by Max Von Sydow and future Mrs. Spielberg Kate Capshaw, in which the rogueish but psychically talented Quaid is pretty much blackmailed into entering into the dream-life of those with chronic nightmares to see if he can sort out the root of the problem. Note the weird angles of the house in the following clip...

Jennifer Lopez was on a similar mission inside Vincent D'Onofrio's crazed serial-killer mind in The Cell (2000). The VFX are better in the latter movie naturally, but Dreamscape is a hell of a lot more fun, and Quaid's run-in with the 'snake-man' is one that got replicated in many a young boy's dreams after seeing the movie.

I wonder if Inception can live up to all its evocations of Philip K. Dick, The Matrix...and old VHS classics like Dreamscape.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE, PLEASE HELP SUPPORT OUR SITE, AT NO COST WITH ONE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK 'LIKE' BUTTON BELOW: