Beyond Dream's Door (1989) User Reviews

Wow!

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 15 March 2021]

I don't want to jinx it, but every time I think that I am running out of movies that blow my mind with how unhinged they are, I discover something new. Usually, those grubby film highs come from Italy or Turkey or from the early 70's, but man, Beyond Dreams Door was made at the end of the 80's and comes from Ohio of all places.

Made with the cinema school at The Ohio State University, this is a film all about Ben, who stopped dreaming once his parents died when he was 9. Now, the dreams are coming for him, a fact he learns from the dream version of himself who warns:

"Beyond dream's door is where horror lies, Where love may sleep with sorrow'd eyes, Where demons wait to greet the ones, Who dare not reach its darkened shores, Beyond dream's door tomorrow dies.*"

As low as the budget for this film may be, its concept is high. Somehow, this also looks like anything but a movie made for thousands of dollars. It's slick as hell and certainly doesn't seem like director Jay Woelfel's first movie. In fact, I saw Art of the Dead a few years back and recognized that he edited it. I'm glad he's still working, whether that means composing music, writing films and even acting.

Imagine a movie as hard to explain as Phantasm with - amazingly - less of a budget. That's what you've got here. And it's exactly as great as you'd hope.

You can learn more at the official site for the film and gear up, because Vinegar Syndrome has announced that this movie will be part of an upcoming no budget 80s regional horror box set. If you've been reading the site this week, you know that we're all about this news.

*Thanks to the astounding Bleeding Skull for writing that poem out.

Definitely Dreamlike and Surreal

[juderussell-84094 · 5/10 · 4 January 2022]

College student, Ben, has been having problems with his frightening dreams, but they only get worse and start to take over his entire life and the lives of those around him.

For a low budget, regional horror film without a lot of resources, Beyond Dream's Door is jaw-droppingly well made with an almost David Lynch-ian quality at times with some really great creature and makeup effects. The acting is a mix of good, bad, and lobotomized, but it's the script that's the film's biggest downfall and kills a lot of goodwill built up by the imagination on display elsewhere. The narrative does feel like a dream in the sense that nothing really ever gels and things just happen without any explanation. It's intriguing for 20 minutes or so, but after that, you start hoping there might be a little bit more to it.

It's simple, really... Keep the door shut!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 29 December 2023]

I honestly think there are a few good ideas and worthwhile moments to enjoy in "Beyond Dream's Door", and I know for a fact that there was a lot of spirit and goodwill from writer/director Jay Woelfel and his entire cast & crew. So, hence, I can't bring myself to be harsh in my rating and comment.

The plot revolves around a young man, named Ben, who suffers from continuous and petrifying nightmares involving slimy monsters, being trapped in a sort of facility with a large basement, and a little kid (his brother?) whose eyes are popping out his skull. Whenever Ben seeks help, though, from doctors or professors at the Ohio university, these people are sucked into the story of Ben's nightmares and the horror manifests itself while they are awake.

Sounds vaguely familiar? Sure, whenever you read about dreams and then dying in real life, you automatically think about "Nightmare on Elm Street" and its sequels, but I can assure you "Beyond Dream's Door" doesn't feel like a rip-off. The script is too convoluted for its own good, the acting performances are hammy, and there were several times when I really didn't have a clue about what was going on, but the film also has good elements worth mentioning. It's very gore, albeit often with very cheap and cheesy looking effects, and the monsters designs look admirably H. P Lovecraftian.

Proof that you don't need millions to make a decent film.

[EyeAskance · 22 October 2005]

I love seeing low-budget and NO-budget films rise above their limitations to succeed in becoming something more than merely watchable. "BEYOND DREAM'S DOOR" is such a film, presenting an intelligent and engaging story with resourcefulness and creativity. Sure, some of the effects are on the hokey side(but wonderfully gross), and the acting is expectedly amateurish...big deal. Don't let forgivable flaws hold you back from enjoying this wild, surreal tale of a young man being haunted...and hunted...by his childhood nightmares, both in sleep and awake. He's neither the first, nor the last to endure this torment...he's simply "next".

Seven out of ten stars...a shining example of just how far enthusiastic, imaginative filmmakers can stretch a thin dime.

Very very dull film

[Clayton · 2/10 · 30 September 1998]

The box promises a lot more than this film delivers, as a large majority of the film is dull, repetitive, hopelessly cheap dream sequences accomplished with a fog machine and colored lights. The acting is poor, and it looks like a handful of college students decided to throw together this schlocky film on a boring weekend. The overall premise is intriguing, but the film fails to deliver on its promises.

nightmares within nightmares intruding into real life; pretty good experimentalish low-budgeter

[FieCrier · 7/10 · 16 January 2005]

I found this to be pretty enjoyable. I could see how people might be frustrated by the uneven monster and gore effects. Sometimes they're pretty good, and sometimes (particularly when they show too much) they're pretty cheesy. Given how much of the movie is composed of nightmares, or nightmares intruding into reality, the way things look can be blamed on the dreams.

The story isn't clear from the start, since the movie starts off with a dream within a dream (or maybe even a layer or two beyond that). It becomes clear that the main character, Ben Dobbs, is a college student who after years of not remembering his dreams, is now having a series of nightmares. Each one picks up where the previous left off, more or less. He finds that when he tells people about his dreams, they start seeing them too, even when they're awake.

There's one dream sequence involving someone going into a basement, and finding a figure facing the wall in a corner, and then the camera retreating in a shaky hand-held fashion that I wonder if it influenced a certain other movie....

The video box claimed the movie was inspired by H.P. Lovecraft (though not based on anything by him specifically). I can sort of see that, with some of the stories of his that deal with dreams, and also his poetry. There's a poem recited in the movie from which the title comes.

I liked it and I'd be curious the see the DVD which may be coming out this year.

Far Beneath A Dream's Caliber

[Stay_away_from_the_Metropol · 3/10 · 29 July 2019]

This movie at no point comes even close to capturing the mood or ambiance of anything dreamlike. I was hoping for either some trippy psychological concepts or at least some stimulating visuals, BUT it delivers neither. The bad acting is not bad enough to make the movie worthwhile, most of the effects are way too cheap looking to make an impression, and the story makes too little sense to be entertaining. Quite challenging to get through and offers no redeeming values aside from a few laughable moments of awkward acting, dialogue, and editing. Not really worth a $1 bargain bin purchase in my opinion.

Low Budget Nightmare with Cosmic and Lovecraftian Horror

[Reviews_of_the_Dead · 7/10 · 17 March 2023]

This is an odd movie. I first heard about it when Mr. Parka brought it up on a podcast. From what I heard; this was a wild movie from the late 1980s. I put it down as a potential movie to watch for the Podcast Under the Stairs' Summer Challenge Series for 1988. I lucked out that the Gateway Film Center was showing it as part of their Mammoth Monday so my first watch was on the big screen.

Synopsis: Ben's (Nick Baldasare) nightmares come back to haunt him and his friends.

So, I'm going to be honest. This is a hard movie to talk about. It feels like a dream. What I mean here is that we jump into the middle of scenes and then switch to the next much like you do in a dream. It can be a bit jarring at times, but it also feels natural in a way. Even though I tend to start with recapping the movie, I wanted to give credit to writer/director Jay Woelfel, as well as the editors of Susan Resatka and Randy Spears. I'm not normally a fan of dream sequences, but what they do here works.

With that out of the way, we follow Ben. He is trying to study when his younger brother of Ricky (Lucas Simpson), wants to play hide and seek. He tells him he can't, but Ricky gets him to change his mind. Ben goes to hide and ends up in the basement. He sneaks past a shelving unit to a crawlspace. While there, he is attacked by a monster. Ricky watches as this happens.

We then shift to Ben back in his room where he is enticed by a character credited as Witch (Darby Vasbinder). She beckons him to join her in bed, but he stands his ground. If you can't tell, this is all quite surreal. Ben then wakes up and writes up his dream on a typewriter.

The movie then introduces us to two teaching assistants. There is Eric Baxter (Rick Kesler), who just got this position, and he is joining Julie Oxel (Susan Pinsky). We get an interesting meeting with Professor Noxx (Norm Singer). In their class is Ben. He gives the professor the papers detailing his dream, asking if he will read it. Professor Noxx gets to them that night and wants Ben to come over to discuss at once. Things aren't as they seem though. The lines between dreams and the real world are blurred. There is also a creature that is trying to get into our world through dream's door. This is also where horror lies.

That is where I'm going to leave my recap and fleshing it out. I think that should be enough to give you an idea of what we are getting here. Now I've already commended the filmmaking. This is a low budget movie but being able to convey the atmosphere of what they're going for was great. This feels like it is Lovecraftian. We never get to know what these creatures are, but it feels like ideas Lovecraft would explore. There are ancient ones that we could call demons. We are blurring the lines of reality with the supernatural. Despite the jarring nature of how things play out, I was invested to see where this would go. If a character is killed, they're not necessarily gone. In the dream world, things don't work in the confines of reality.

Going beyond borrowing from Lovecraft, this does feel inspired by A Nightmare on Elm Street. I think this movie does well in getting that same type of atmosphere with using sleep and dreams. We are getting a different style of dream demon than you would with Freddy Krueger. This movie isn't a slasher film though, so I do want to temper expectations there. Again, much like how this is difficult to recap, it is also tough to classify. We get a creature, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a creature feature, as that isn't the focus. I've already used the best sub-genre that I think with cosmic horror.

That should be enough there, so where I'll go next would be the acting. Baldasare isn't great, but I think he works here. From what I was able to find about him, he did some theater and was in other movies as well. He is a bit stiff here, but I'm going to partly say that is with the writing. I don't think he is bad by any stretch. Being that most of this is in a dream, there is a surreal feel to it that his performance fit. Kesler, Pinsky, Singer and the rest of the cast fall into this as well. They work for what was needed. A bright spot I want to include is that we see Vasbinder nude a few times, so if you are looking for that.

The last things then to go into would be the effects and the soundtrack. For the former, they were a solid. They were done practical and even though at times I could tell they were fake; I still appreciate it. There is blood with aftermath of kills that look good. They also do some interesting things with characters after they die. We are seeing the aftermath, but they're still able to move around which is creepy. It also adds to the atmosphere. Speaking of which, I think the soundtrack helps there as well. Not a score that I would listen to outside of the movie. It does work with what they needed for sure in building an eerie vibe.

In conclusion, this was an interesting movie that I'm glad I got to see. We are getting a film that blurs the lines of reality with dreams. It can be jarring at times, but I think that adds to what they're doing here. I love the Lovecraftian vibe I got from this. The acting can be a bit stiff, but I can be forgiving there. The effects we get are solid. They were at least done practical which I can appreciate. I like what the score does to help build the atmosphere here. Do not come in expecting a lot. This movie has a lower budget, which impressed me with what they did with it. I'd say that this is an above average movie for me. I'd only recommend it if you like regional cinema or low budget horror movies.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Boring

[matthewstanton123-857-954811 · 3/10 · 5 September 2022]

I was looking foward to this film after reading such praise in the review section but i was very disappointed .

As far as i can gather a guy has bad dreams and they seem to be coming real and if he tells you about the dream you are then involed and you will start seeing the dream monster too other then that i couldn't make sense of the story.

There is a random kid , a random nude girl and a guy with no hands throughout .

The camera work and the editing isn't to hot which adds to the confusion The music score is ok .

This is a cheap low budget movie and the story is a mess the acting is terrible The special effects are cool.

Not A Bad Horror

[ladymidath · 7/10 · 22 November 2022]

It's easy to see that this movie was made on a shoestring budget. The special effects are not great, but the story itself is very interesting. The acting can be a little flat at times but that gives this film an odd sort of charm. The music and photography are good and that helps the movie quite a bit. The poetry and visual images give the movie a surrealistic feel that makes it feel otherworldly. I can't say it's a masterpiece, the scenes are a little choppy and it really could have used a bigger budget, but it does manage to overcome these issues and lift itself out of the Z grade and more into a B grade movie.

It's by no means perfect, but I have seen far worse and with bigger budgets. It is one of the better low-budget 80s films out there.

The true horror is student filmmaking

[nickjones-96546 · 2/10 · 4 October 2022]

"It was all a dream" has long been the hallmark of bad storytelling, a way to bring something to a conclusion without actually doing the work to wrap it up coherently. Usually when a story ends as a dream, it has the veneer of comprehensibility for most of its length; however, this film uses its very nature as a film about dreams and dreaming as an excuse to make little to no sense for its entire runtime.

People act like idiots, characters seem wooden, the plot meanders about without any focus, and events occur for no reason. Are any of these actually deliberate choices because the line between dream and reality is blurred? It all hits more like bad writing. Nothing really seems dreamlike or surreal, there's just a series of obviously-not-actually-happening scenarios that the characters are subjected to before a monster pops in to say "boo."

Say what you will about the Nightmare on Elm Street films and their varying quality, but almost all of them of them had creative dream scenarios, the characters had clear motives and you knew why things were happening, and there were no pretentious voice-overs reciting poetry.

Quintessential 80s Horror

[cld1980 · 9/10 · 3 July 2006]

Hopefully Jay will get this film re-released. I personally very much enjoy it. It has a certain quality that most modern horror films do not have--the ability to watch it more than once or twice and still have it perk your interest. A film doesn't have to have dazzling modern special effects or top Hollywood actors in it to be good. What I look for in a film is an interesting story and an overall enjoyable viewing experience. This film certainly meets that criteria. I came across this film in an independent video store that (sadly) has closed down a few years ago because they were bought out by a large chain. Support your local independent video stores and support independent film!

An important film, ahead of its time

[JamesLisk · 10/10 · 5 December 2004]

Beyond Dreams Door was essentially the most important film in my young movie-watching life, and for good reason, as it represents everything a film should be - dynamic, experimental and most importantly, intelligent. It also yielded the notion, at least to me, that low-budget independent cinema was where the true passionate visionaries existed, people like Jay Woelfel.

Utilizing elements from popular culture and new wave French cinema and working with a limited budget and a mostly in experienced cast and crew, Jay Woelfel managed to craft a stylish cerebral film that dares to takes chances like few films before it were willing to do.

Bypassing the conventional formula exercised in most other horror films, Woelfel chooses to operate in a non-linear format (remember, this pre-dated Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs by a few years) while also utilizing Hitchcock's various laws of systematization, specifically the use of colors, and the lighting schemes of the various characters. Add to this various other subtle factors that fail to stand-out during the initial viewings, but become quite prominent the more the film is examined, and, in the end, what you are left with is an important film, that is essentially way way ahead of its time.

The movie concerns a shy Ohio Psychology student Benjamin Dobbs, played by Nick Baldasare, who finds himself plagued by a series of horrific inter-connecting nightmares, after he unknowingly agrees to be apart of a dream research experiment. Ben's initial sense that the dreams might have something to do with the untimely loss of his parents quickly fades as they become increasingly stranger and more terrifying. Unable to cope, Ben seeks help in the form of the various on-campus teachers. His psychology professor Dr. Noxx, played Norm Singer, is his first obvious choice, and Noxx easily embraces Ben's pleas for help as something real. After looking into it, the two come upon a notation in a book, and a case history of another man named D.F. White, that seems to point definitively to the existence of the very things Ben has been dreaming about. Ben quickly discovers the 'things' in the dream realm aren't happy with the sudden Earthbound knowledge of their reality, and quickly take it upon themselves to get the evidence back any way they can. Woelfel makes a point to not render any religious allusions, and the doorway, and what lies beyond, remains vague enough for the viewers to decide for themselves what 'the beyond' actually is.

As the film unfolds, we also note that the narrative changes hands, along with the usage of colorful composition, as Ben passes on knowledge of his curse to the various people he asks for help. The second person to get swallowed up in Ben's nightmares is a teaching assistant Eric Baxter, played by Rick Kesler, who early on is posed a question by Noxx about what he would do if confronted with a life or death question -- and through the course of the film, is allowed to truly answer it. Baxter's initial reasons for helping Ben, and his later insistence that "It's not my problem" point to a screenplay not constructed to fit a formula, rather, the real actions of a three dimensional character. Also aiding Ben on his quest for answers is D.F. White (Daniel White) who died nearly twenty years earlier, and appears to him in the form of a ghostly apparition, or guardian angel, as one friend in college put it. The enigmatic White offers up cryptic words of advice, while leading Ben through the land of the dead and into the proverbial "light".

Visually the film is stunning, and the usage of color as a means of depicting the various character's motivations, is amazing. Personally, it was the first time I had ever seen it used before in film. Woelfel's insistence on telling the story in a non-linear format means a lot of jumping around, back-tracking, and various other things that will make for fun multiple viewings. Woelfel also avoids spoon-feeding his audience. Rather than pointing out the obvious, he allows the viewer to make up their own mind about what they are seeing. In my opinion, the film is much more effective because of this fact. The musical score, also composed by Jay Woelfel, is very good as it helps to add some genuine atmosphere to the film.

A few people have complained that the acting was stiff, but I felt it fit perfectly with the tone of the film, which is easily one of the more somber pieces one is likely to see. The special effects were lacking for the most part, but that doesn't take anything away from the piece as it becomes abundantly clear that this film is not about the boogeyman-in-the-closet but rather the psychology behind the boogeyman-in-the-closet.

Beyond Dreams Door is a cult film that has earned its status. It garnered much discussion and many long debates from my various friends in college, each with a differing theory one what, or who, Benjamin Dobbs is, and what actually lied beyond 'The Beyond'. I personally believe that Beyond Dreams Door should be mandatory viewing by anyone with a true interest in film. I highly recommend it.

Low-budget film-making at its absolute best!

Beyond Dreams Door

[AzureKite · 8/10 · 5 October 2016]

Apparently inspired by the various writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Beyond Dreams Door is the chilling tale of young Psychology student Benn Dobbs who, after becoming part of a college study on dreaming, suddenly finds himself haunted by a continuing series of terrifying nightmares which appear to bleed into the waking world. As Dobbs tries to unravel the meaning of his dreams, he discovers that beyond dreams door is where horror lies... And the door has been opened. This is an entertaining and unique film well worth the time of anyone willing to seek it out.

STORY - The film was shot on practically no budget and skillfully uses suspense, atmosphere and storytelling to it's advantage. The pacing doesn't seem slow at any time and is quite gripping, giving viewers just enough information to grasp what's going on but make their own individual articulations, oozing Lovecraftian inspiration throughout. What we have is a suspenseful horror story centering on the terrors that may, or may not, lurk within or beyond the subconscious. Very few films today have such a strong grasp of story. 5/5

EFFECTS - Due to the budget there are not that many special effects in the film, and while those that are in it are not bad at all their age does show. The effects for the creature were spot on, but unfortunately everything else is only average. 3/5

ACTING - The acting here is quite good, but unfortunately dialogue and delivery is poor. The actors regularly paused in the middle of sentences for what I assume was supposed to be dramatic effect, but it comes off as the type of dialogue you get in a terrible dub of a foreign film trying to lip sync dialogue that just doesn't fit with mouth movements. Fortunately this trend seems to die off by the middle of the film and the actual dialogue isn't bad, it's just delivery that drags it down. Beyond that the actors portray the small cast of characters strongly. 3/5

MUSIC AND SOUND - The musical score for this movie was extremely well done, creating a more than creepy atmosphere for the duration of the film. It's a soothing, yet foreboding tune that sets one at ease while also making the skin crawl and hairs stand on end. Sound effects were also done very well, there were none of the noticeable errors or drops in sound quality that regularly plague films shot in 16mm. 5/5

OVERALL - I give this film a solid 8 out of 10. The odd pausing in the middle of sentences was extremely noticeable early on in the film, and the dialogue is overall the most noticeable issue. The characters received an adequate amount of development but certainly could have been more flushed out, and the acting was very strong coming off as stiff only a few times. I think the best way to put it would be to say that the film was above average, but fell just short of what it obviously could have been. Truly deserving of more than the budget it had, and definitely deserving of a modern day DVD release.

To Dreamers, Dead And Dying...

[azathothpwiggins · 6 December 2021]

Made in Ohio for very little money, BEYOND DREAM'S DOOR is a sometimes goofy, somewhat shabby, eerily entertaining film from the 1980's. All logic is tossed out in favor of nightmare imagery and an apocalyptic atmosphere.

This is a small project with a big, black heart. So, don't expect multi-million dollar special effects or A-list actors. Instead, expect a decent movie with just as many brilliant moments as cheeezey ones.

If you enjoy demons, ghouls, and / or the supernatural, then you'll probably like this. Especially gorehounds!...

A masterpiece...

[krugstilo-1 · 10/10 · 7 March 2009]

BEYOND DREAM'S DOOR is a slice of raw nightmare-delirium. Much like the equally brilliant movie DIALING FOR DINGBATS, it nails down a dream-logic that few films - and especially Hollywood films that try and are too self-conscious to succeed - ever achieve. True, the acting is bad - but this only enhances the off-kilter feeling of being stuck in a wholly bizarre dream-world where reality has been jarred. I adore this movie. I love it. It brings tears to my eyes whenever anyone brings it up. I've seen it no less than fifty times (and I'll probably watch it again tonight). I have a ragged old VHS copy, but, for movies like this, I think VHS is the proper format.

Darby Vasbinder is Stunning!

[spalkin · 9/10 · 12 June 2003]

A dark, complicated horror flick with the "cultability" of Phantasm! Jay Woelful's best effort and casting the absolutely beautiful Darby Vasbinder as the Dream Babe is perfect! She's a dream come true. Done on a shoestring budget, this movie is still able to conjur up enough imagination to give you night mares, or dreams of Darby Vasbinder!

Low budget, confusing, yet just perfect mayhem!

[abduktionsphanomen · 9/10 · 2 October 2022]

Beyond Dreams Door - 1989 (This Films Rates an A ) A fun game of hide and go seek turns into a frantic nightmare but telling what is real from what is just a dream proves difficult. The story is a little jumpy right from the beginning, and it loses some cohesiveness but not the charm. A Psychology professor, Eric Baxter, is teaching about psychosis. Student Ben Dobbs attends an experimental dream lab where assistant Julie handles much of the experiments. On Ben's last day of the experiment, he takes a sleeping pill, and his nightmares start to never end. Reality just melts away. A hideous red monster terrorizes and kills, and it looks to have come from a door at the school. Seems like the lifelong dreams forgotten have come back to terrorize Ben and all those before him. A low budget with poor acting and dodgy script that is filled with some fantastic moments. Many of these are brief but include the poetry at the 46 min mark and just before the end of the film. The effects are pretty bad, the gore laughable, but the crazy dream sequences make this all seem worth it. A handless janitor, wandering zombies, bleeding water, headless bodies, and a foot gnawing book. T positive but nothing significant. A unique and twisted film where beyond dreams door is where horror lies.