Dreams in the Witch House DVD: Review By Mushy

This DVD Masters of Horror: Dreams in the Witch House is one well done piece of digital product. The tale it tells is of a man named Walter who takes up in a crummy rooming house and becomes embroiled in some weird goings on (to say the least). Amidst dreams of a visiting witch, battling a large rat in real life, Walter somehow manages to find himself falling in love with his next door neighbor and her small son.

This is one of those types of horror movies. Imagine Barton Fink only a little more weirder (if that's possible). This film is based on one of H.P. Lovecraft's tales and, aside from loving his name, I have never read anything by the man. Based on my reaction to this movie, I think that is something I need to make it a point to do and this DVD actually offers that opportunity. When you consider that movies usually bring me to works of fiction and more importantly other writers, I don't think film's educational value can be denied.

Audio Commentary

This is a commentary track with writer/director Stuart Gordon and actor Ezra Godden who plays Walter in the film. As Gordon has always struck me as a bit of a mythic character, it was interesting to hear him discuss making this film with his main actor. I think it's interesting how he chose to focus on certain things with the material, and even though I didn't find this film that scary, it certainly has a creepiness about it.

Behind the Scenes: The Making of Dreams in the Witch House

I really enjoyed this. I don't know that it reinvents the wheel as far as "making of" pieces are concerned, but I just liked hearing from the people who made this movie. I also think there is something about Stuart Gordon, I don't know if I am buying into the myth or what, that makes this featurette work on a level that most don't nowadays.

Interviews

There were three segments on this disc that I felt were similar enough that it made sense to group them together here. These were Working with a Master: Stuart Gordon, Dreams, Darkness and Damnation: An Interview with Stuart Gordon and then On Set: An Interview with Chelah Horsdal. While I am sure that Gordonologists aren't going to have a problem with some of the redundancy of these pieces, I thought it was interesting hearing from female star Chelah Horsdal who plays Frances in the film. She seems to bring a very intelligent, almost different, quality to this role.

SFX: Meet Brown Jenkin

What would a horror movie DVD be without a look into the effects that help give it's look? What I think is very interesting is that sometimes with TV movies, even cable movies the effects can look sort of cheap and you can tell that the work on screen was done on a budget. I never got that feeling watching Masters of Horror: Dreams in the Witch House.

Still Gallery and Storyboard Gallery

Fans of Stuart Gordon and horror movie buffs are really going to get a kick out of seeing this stuff on this disc. The still gallery offers an interesting perspective of life on the set as well the makeup and props employed in this film. The storyboard gallery shows us how some of the intricate aspects of Dreams in the Witch House were achieved.

DVD-ROM

If it isn't enough that they packed this DVD with extra material, they have also included DVD-ROM supplemental material like the Screenplay to the film (a must read for those interested in writing horror movies), a screen saver and the H.P. Lovecraft story from which this 55 minute movie is based.

Widescreen Presentation - 1.77 x 1 (enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs). While I think that the length of this movie is ultimately what makes it seem smaller than it is, overall I feel that the look of this Masters of Horror series is anything but small. Also, I think these DVDs have been compressed and put together with the fans very much on the DVD creators' minds.

Dolby Digital. Stuart Gordon has put together a 55 minute film that is highly dependent on mood and tone. Music can make or break a horror movie and I found that this film had an interesting enough quality that the music seemed to underscore all the positive aspects of the film. While nothing about the soundtrack grabbed me the way that John Carpenter's films usually do, I still found the audio to be extremely well done.

When in the history of TV has one episode of a series been given this much juice upon release? It isn't enough that the DVD itself is packed with materials, but then they give us an artfully done cover. There is a drawing of Stuart Gordon that seems almost creepy in how it is squashed on here. Next to that, is a drawing depicting Dreams in the Witch House, which makes our main character look like they are in insane asylum. The back cover describes what this story is about, lists out the multitudes of special features and also provides technical specs for your DVD player.

The only thing about this DVD that bothers me is that because it was on Showtime (a great place to do daring and challenging material), Dreams in the Witch House isn't longer than an hour. Sure, master director Stuart Gordon gets the job done in a succinct amount of time (the time constraints take out almost all room for self indulgence), but I can't help wondering how this film might have been different if it had been lensed at 90 minutes or so?

That however is small potatoes when you have a DVD as packed as Masters of Horror: Dreams in the Witch House is.