Thursday , March 28 2024
A great assortment of interviews with many pioneers in the field of the Fantastique.

DVD Review: Dark Dreamers (2000-2001)

The 4-disc DVD collection Dark Dreamers is the first half of a Canadian-produced half-hour television series hosted by author/creator Stanley Wiater. Spanning over ten hours, the DVD set takes us into the homes and minds of 36 different famous (and sometimes infamous) individuals whose careers run deep into the world of what the French (and Clive Barker) call the “Fantastique.”

Throughout the 624-minute (10+hours) running time, Wiater interviews such personalities as Wes Craven, Clive Barker, Julie Strain, John Saxon, Forrest J. Ackerman (rest in peace, Forry), Richard Matheson, Gahan Wilson, Harlan Ellison, Sean S. Cunningham, Bill Lustig, Stan Winston, Larry Cohen, Joseph Stefano, and even the boys at the KNB FX Group, just to name a few.

For the devout fans of horror, science fiction, and fantasy literature, art, and/or film, Dark Dreamers is definitely something you should pick up. Stanley Wiater may come off as a little cheesy now and then (particularly during his monotone voice at the beginning of each episode), but that doesn’t stop him from being a damn fine interviewer who never once makes his guest stars feel awkward (he is interviewing them in their own homes, after all).

Now to the flipside to Dark Dreamers on DVD: it’s all talk and nothing but. No special features, no nothing; and, while an assortment of interviews is perfectly fine and dandy for those of you who know what you’re diving into (and I heartily recommend watching only a few eps at a time), this collection will surely bore others to tears.

Dark Dreamers comes to us on DVD courtesy of Smash Vision, Inc. and the good folks at Alpha Video. Each episode is presented in its original standard television format and appears to have been taken from the original source material (with the exception of the John Saxon episode, unfortunately, which, aside from being presented in a non-anamorphic widescreen format, has been culled from an lesser-quality video source).

The episodes are presented in Stereo sound with no subtitles or captioning available. What you see is what you get here, kids.

Dark Dreamers is a must-have for fans of any or all of the artists included in this release. Those of you just looking for something to watch might want to keep on looking.

About Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the alter-ego of a feller who loves an eclectic variety of classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) film and television. He currently lives in Northern California with four cats named Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Margaret. Seriously.

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