Topic: Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King

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Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King

Go beyond the ordinary. Go beyond the sane. With Stephen King as storyteller, you'll travel to worlds of the imagination where the extraordinary is commonplace and madness lurks just beneath the surface in eight mind-bending stories. Then, go beyond the beyond with revealing behind-the-screams bonus content.

Disc 1:

1. Battleground (55min.)
Starring: William Hurt
Director: Brian Henson
A killer for hire receives an unexpected delivery of toy soldiers. Atten-hut! They're tiny terrors on a mission of vengeance.

My Thoughts:
This was a very interesting. I didn't find it scary... but was enjoyable... and original... in the fact that there wasn't a single word spoken through the whole episode. It was all done visually and you also heard the sound effects going on of course... just no talking what so ever. I was a little worried about that at first... but it really seemed to work for the episode. Well I guess I really can't say it was too original as there was a "Twilight Zone" episode like this as well... but definitely something that hasn't happened to often.

2. Crouch End (45min.)
Starring: Claire Forlani & Eion Bailey
Director: Mark Haber
A London cabbie warns two American honeymooners: "Don't go to 'Crouch End'." They go. As for coming back...

My Thoughts:
Even though a little on the weird side.... this one was even better then the first episode. At least it had some spookiness to it. But if you are not careful you can easily get lost while watching. So be sure to stay alert and pay attention to this episode!

3. Umney's Last Case (53min)
Starring: William H. Macy & Jacqueline McKenzie
Director: Rob Bowman
Nice life -- he'll take it! A writer swaps places with the 1930s private eye he created. So the author lives in the '30s. The shamus lives in today's world. And the plot eerily thickens.

My Thoughts:
This one didn't impress me all that much... of course I never been all that fond of the old "Gumshoe" detective stories to begin with. That aside... it is an interesting idea for a story. I just personally would have enjoyed it more if he maybe picked a different time frame or something.

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Disc 2:

4. The End of the Whole Mess (45min)
Starring: Ron Livingston & Henry Thomas
Director: Mikael Salomon
Is a nonviolent world a survivable world? A filmmaker with just a short time to live recounts the details of his brother's worldwide experiment gone terribly wrong.

My Thoughts:
This episode deals with a genius and his brother. The genius discovers a cure for human aggression... bringing peace to the entire planet. But there is a side effect. It was a pretty good episode. But nothing really outstanding about it. I did enjoy it more then the previous episode.

5. The Road Virus Heads North (45min)
Starring: Tom Berenger, Marsha Mason, Susie Porter & Marg Downey
Director: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
A mysterious painting is more than meets the eye, as a famous writer finds out the hard way.

My thoughts:
This is another strange but interesting episode. Basically a horror writer finds a haunted painting. What made it strange was not the story itself... but the ending to the story. As it seemed to end before it should have. It actually left the story open. Like it is up to your own imagination how the story ends. Other then the ending I liked this one a lot. But I personally prefer a complete ending to a story then an ending that keeps you guessing.

6. The Fifth Quarter (45min)
Starring: Jeremy Sisto & Samantha Mathis
Director: Rob Bowman
An ex-con and his wife grab their one get-rich-quick chance to escape a dead-end future. Did we say dead end?

My Thoughts:
This episode was a decent story... but not horror related. More of a crime story then anything. This is somewhat disappointing as I was expecting nothing but horror going into this miniseries.

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Disc 3:

7. Autopsy Room Four (44min)
Starring: Richard Thomas & Greta Scacchi
Director: Mikael Salomon
What's going on in Autopsy Room Four? Just what you'd expect. Plus what you wouldn't -- the man on the slab is still alive.

My Thoughts:
Being on the autopsy table... but still conscious. Unable to move. I have seen it many.. many times before. But yet this is my favorite episode of this mini-series so far. They did put a slightly different twist to this one... in the fact that he is still alive. But it is still the same basic story. But as I said... this one is my favorite so far... I mean who wouldn't be scared of the idea of still being conscious while going through an autopsy? To me at least.... that is definitely terrifying!

8. You Know They Got A Hell Of A Band (45min)
Starring: Steven Weber. Kim Delaney, William MacNamara, Erin Wright, Joe Sagal & Jacinta Stapleton
Director: Mike Robe
A married couple enters the unmapped burg called Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon, where there's a free concert every night. But the price of admission is high.

My Thoughts:
This is more of a fun episode then anything. And I did enjoy it... but think I would have enjoyed it more if I was a music fan. Some of the names they mentioned I did not recognize at all. But that is ok. was still fun to watch. This one has Steven Weber in it... and I do enjoy him. He has done a few horror related movies before.

My Thoughts: Overall:

Overall  I am kinda disappointed in this set. There was a few stories in this set that I did enjoy... but over-all I was expecting more from a Stephen King series. At least there was a nice collection of extras in the set. So that does help matters some.