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I love this movie so much

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Please don't spend money on this.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Everyone likes to proclaim that the world is so much worse today than it ever has been. If you feel that way and weren't alive for the 1970s, allow me to debase you of this notion. The "Me Decade" was full of random violence, the fuel crisis, Three Mile Island, Watergate, Son of Sam, the end of Manson, Zodiac and religious orders that some would proclaim as cults, from the Process Church and the Moonies to Jonestown. We don't really have a modern analogue for these fringe groups that would spring up from time to time because it seems like the Hale-Bopp comet wiped the last of these off the planet.That's the world that Bad Dreams takes place in. In 1975, the Unity Fields cult decides to commit mass suicide by setting themselves on fire under the command of their leader, Franklin Harris (Richard Lynch of Invasion U.S.A., Sword and the Sorceror, Rob Zombie's Halloween and God Told Me To). Only one person survives, Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin, Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors), who still a kid when Harris set everyone on fire. She's been in a coma for over 13 years before she awakens to flashbacks of Harris being interviewed on a TV program. The final thing she sees is his face telling her that she belongs to him and he'd be coming back to take her life. This entire sequence is really well edited, showing how the cult's teachings had been accepted by every member, intercut with Cynthia being wheeled through a hospital as doctors struggle to save her life, all to the ominous strains of The Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night."After awakening, Cynthia attends experimental group therapy sessions for borderline personality disorder, led by Dr. Alex Karmen (Bruce Abbott, the Re-Animator films). As she becomes more aware, she begins to remember more and more — including the thirty other people who died from dousing themselves in gasoline. Worse, she sees a burned and scarred Harris when she's trapped in an elevator, who reminds her that she is his property.What follows is an insane scene that shows the parallels between group therapy and cult behavior, as the discussion room becomes Unity Fields and Cynthia watches everyone ladle gasoline onto one another. Again, another hint is dropped that Cynthia is a "love child," as her mother is also part of the cult. One by one, the members walk to the front of the room and are baptized with gasoline, before Harris takes handfuls of the fuel and coats himself before lighting the room on fire. What starts as a peaceful embrace of death quickly turns into horror, as entire families go up in a blaze of pain, flames, and screams. Finally, Harris reappears to tell Cynthia that she and she alone screwed up and that her entire family is waiting for her, as they cannot move on without her death.Every waking moment is caught between reality and flashback, as even a simple shower brings back the violent baptism that brought Cynthia into Unity Fields. Directly after, another patient, one who wanted to know more about Unity's message, drowns herself in the pool. Another patient (the only one who has been nice to Cynthia) named Miriam attempts to escape the hospital. Helping her to an elevator, Cynthia waves goodbye, only to see Harris smiling and waving back. She gives chase, only to find Miriam's purse left behind…as Miriam jumps from a window, sending blood and glass all over the pavement.Read more at www.thatsnotcurrent.com/drugs-cults-burned- svengalis-bad-dreams-1988/

"Bad Dreams" has Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin) awaking from a thirteen year-long coma that she was put into when the leader of a cult which her mother was a part of led a mass suicide by fire in a remote farmhouse. As Cynthia tries to assimilate into life again, those around her in the hospital begin dying in mysterious suicides— and the fact that Cynthia is beginning to see the ghost of the cult leader lurking around doesn't make things look all that great.This was one film that has been on my "to watch" list for a long time, but I have to say it was a pleasant surprise and far exceeded my expectations. Surprisingly high-gloss, the film, directed by Andrew Fleming (who later found success as a mainstream Hollywood director) was released in 1988 by 20th Century Fox with the expectation that it would become a blockbuster and ignite a franchise of sorts— neither of these things happened, and for understandable reasons, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this is a really well-made horror film, especially by '80s standards.The comparisons to "A Nightmare on Elm Street" are fair enough, although the truth is that this film really doesn't have all that much to do with dreams at all— it's really about the traumatic effects dealt onto a young woman who spent her childhood in a sinister cult, which makes for grim subject matter as is. It is a slasher film in an unconventional sense— that being that the deaths are suicides— but the setups for each of them are based on the maneuvering hand of Harris, the malevolent cult leader's ghost. Lots of great special effects here that should be taken note of, and really nice photography. The film has a polished studio look that isn't particularly common for slasher films of this era. Jennifer Rubin plays the doe- eyed, flighty Cynthia convincingly, and "Re-Animantor's" Bruce Abbott plays her psychiatrist/eventual love interest; Richard Lynch is in stark opposition as the wild-eyed cult leader, who spends half of the film covered in gruesome fourth degree burns.Overall, "Bad Dreams" is an effective thriller and is a surprisingly classy oddball of the late 1980s slasher crop. While the film's victim count feels by-the-numbers, it is still an entertaining watch bolstering some solid performances and a visibly adept craftsmanship behind it. It's no surprise that Fleming found success with his later more mainstream pictures given what he was able to pull off here. Worth some attention from any fans of eighties horror. 7/10.

I actually quite liked this movie. For a horror movie that came out a quarter of a century ago it still proves to be scary. I haven't seen a cult horror movie in a long time and it was a welcome topic. Cults always have a way of coming off creepy and provide the perfect material for a scary movie. The scariest thing is when you witness the strong beliefs of cult members and just how trusting they can be.If your looking for a creepy 80's horror film (along the same lines as nightmare on elm street) then this is a great choice. It made me nervous the whole way through with it's eerie music and clinical setting. The actors also did a fantastic job. Surprisingly everything felt real and they completely immersed themselves in their characters. A must see for all lovers of vintage horror movies.

A sinister cult called Unity Fields commits mass suicide in a horrific manner - by fire - at the behest of its psychopathic leader, Harris. Only one woman named Cynthia survives to tell the tale. Now, 13 years later, Cynthia is having reminders of the life changing incident, as people around her begin to die one at a time. Cynthia finds out quickly that the ghost of Harris is back... to claim her.....Ironically called Bad Dreams, the film is essentially a remake of A Nightmare On Elm Part Three: The Dream Warriors, everyone in the institution is haunted by the title of the film, and Lynch is essentially Freddy, burnt features included.And while its a watchable movie, and Dean Cameron is in it (and the best thing), it gets a little bland, and Rubin really starts to grate on you after a while.Lynch pops up every now and again in his Bonanza outfit, to say something sinister, and one by one people die, much to the perplextion of a running doctor, but the narrative doesn't compliment the story.There are a few standout scenes, the opening sequence is amazing, but it really falls apart when we hit present day...