DREAM DEMON

RELEASED 22 JUNE 1988 | 15 | Blu-ray Director Harley Cokeliss Cast Jemma Redgrave, Kathleen Wilhoite, Timothy Spall, Jimmy Nail

Judging by the title, you’d think this long-lost ’80s horror was a straight Nightmare On Elm Street rip-off. That’s exactly what the producers intended, but somewhere along the way, it mutated into something a bit more interesting.

Naïve teacher Diana (Jemma Redgrave) is having horrific nightmares about her upcoming wedding to square-jawed Falklands hero Oliver (Mark Greenstreet). She’s also being hounded by a pair of repulsive paparazzi (Timothy Spall and Jimmy Nail) who want the scoop on her relationship. Then she meets Jenny (Kathleen Wilhoite), and things get really trippy. There’s no subtlety to any of the metaphors going on here, but the nightmare imagery is inventive and wonderfully splattery – it’s worth a watch for the opening wedding disaster alone. Thanks to a rediscovered print from Technicolor’s archives, this Director’s Cut restoration looks as good or better than it did on original release, which makes all those practical effects even more stunning.

Extras Original theatrical cut; new interviews with director Harley Cokeliss, producer Paul Webster, composer Bill Nelson, and actors Jemma Redgrave, Mark Greenstreet, Nickolas Grace and Annabelle Lanyon (123 minutes total); Cokeliss and Webster commentary on some scenes; Making Of (26 minutes); trailer; galleries.