Through a series of flashbacks, the audience learns that the friends share a psychic bond and ability to sense things resulting from a gift bestowed upon them by a disabled boy named Douglas who holds a secret.

      In the midst of a heavy snowstorm, Beaver and Gary come across a lost man and take him into their cabin to warm him. The man appears to be ill, but is very grateful for the kindness shown to him. Naturally for a film based on a book by Stephen King, things are not what they seem. Before the four friends know what hit them, an alien parasite is spreading and unleashing hostile organisms whose leader is bent on destroying the world. Of course the military is not going to allow this, and they have sent Colonel Abraham Kurtz (Morgan Freeman), and his alien-busting unit to clean house. It seems that nearly twenty five years of hunting aliens has driven the Colonel to the edge and he plans to eradicate the menace by killing any potential infected people to the chagrin of his second in command Captain Underhill (Tom Sizemore) who states that many of them have a chance for survival.

      One would think that with this setup, there would have been some intense action, dazzling FX, and some thrills and chills. Sadly, there is none of the above as "Dreamcatcher" is an absolute mess. The character development is non-existent and Sizemore and Freeman look as if they would rather be anywhere but in this film. The dialogue given to some of the cast is so bad; that it gained the loudest groans I have ever heard from an audience in all of my years as a critic. Combine this with numerous plot holes and non-sequiters and you have a recipe for disaster. One would think that a quality director like Lawrence Kasdan and William Goldman adapting a good Stephen King story would have produced a much better film. Instead we are left with a movie that is so bad and lacking any saving graces, it should have been left buried in the snow.

     -- Gareth Von Kallenbache ( 1/2 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

      Billy Ray ( 4 out of 4 pops )

      With "The Big Chill", Lawrence Kasdan became one of the truly great directors.  With "Grand Canyon", he became even better.  Now, with "Dreamcatcher", he has managed to do something many others have attempted, but failed at--adapting a Stephen King novel into an interesting and entertaining film.  He does this with the help of some fine actors--Morgan Freeman, Damian Lewis, Jason Lee, Donnie Wahlberg, Timothy Olyphant, Tom Sizemore, and Thomas Jane.  Each one gives an emotional and intriguing performance, especially Damian Lewis.  Morgan Freeman is there for his star power, but always adds something new to each role he tackles.  Kasdan's direction is creepy, suspenseful, and sometimes terrifying.  He knows just when to scare us and just when to slow it down some.  The book was emotional and unsettling, and the film is also.  This is a fine horror/science fiction film, and one of my favorite pictures of the year.

      James ( 2 1/2 out of 4 pops )

      I am disappointed. I was led to believe that this was a supernatural thriller (by the previews) and it is by far not that. Now, it's still a pretty good story. I liked it a pretty good deal, and almost immediately I thought of this film as a combo of "Stand by Me", "The Langoliers", and "Outbreak". Of course, the first two are hardly coincidences, since this is based on a book by Stephen King, but I just wish the unknown terror was not aliens and more ghosts. The movie was really intriguing right up to the point where animals were running away from the woods, and our main character's were baffled. Then it just turned into an alien/monster flick. The only other problem I have with this is the thinness of the plot. The military part / blue group whatever is almost pointless. The only area with any real depth is Duditz and the four friends. This film should have centered more around them, and especially not waste the talent of Jason Lee and Timothy Olyphant. Do I recommend this? Sure, just don't go in expecting the supernatural, it's not the deep. If you just want some cheap thrills, this definitely comes thru.