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Following hot on the heels of the delightfully splattery Jimmy and Stiggs comes Dream Eater, the second release from Eli Roth‘s new horror-focused studio, The Horror Section. Jimmy and Stiggs got the company off to a flying start, and Dream Eater proves that the studio will be home to a diverse and passionate roster of horror movies, exploring all flavors, genres, and tones, while retaining that signature Roth audacity that always winks at its audience at least once. Directed and written by Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, and Alex Lee Williams, and starring the latter two, Dream Eater draws from many of the favorite horror tropes of the past 20 years and does a lot with them. In some cases, it manages to pull off classic tricks and keep them effective; in others, it feels somewhat overplayed. Although there is much to love about Dream Eater, it is a good example of a mixed bag, one that is held back from its true potential by one or two questionable creative choices.

‘Dream Eater’ Has a Similar Set-up to ‘The Shining’

Dream Eater starts on an interesting note of reversing a trope of the genre. It opens with a transcribed 911 call from Mallory (Drumm), who is desperately pleading for help as her boyfriend, Alex (Williams), has had some sort of psychotic episode and hurt himself. Then we cut to one week later, and I was admittedly compelled. The standard setup of this sort almost invariably flashes back to explain to us how things escalated to that frantic call, but Dream Eater uses it as a jumping-off point. The scenario is so panicked that it would usually be considered the climax of a horror movie, but this time around, things are only just getting started. While it’s a very engrossing way to begin, it’s also a sign of a wider attitude that will later become somewhat infuriating.

Alex has recently started having issues with sleepwalking, and Mallory has been instructed by a doctor to film any episodes he experiences while they wait for his appointment with a sleep clinic in a couple of weeks. Working hand-in-hand with this found footage setup is Mallory’s occupation as a documentarian looking for her next subject, giving us a double whammy of explanations for why this story is being committed to film in its own world. The couple goes to stay at a remote cabin somewhere in the Canadian wilderness, and it’s the dead of winter, the landscape a bleak, off-white expanse of nothingness that is far from the crystaline pages of a ski vacation brochure. It’s a wonderfully hostile setting reminiscent of The Shining, and the narrative and character arcs end up following that familiar setup Stanley Kubrick blessed the genre with in 1980. Of course, Alex’s episodes worsen and things start to get super creepy, leading Mallory to wonder if it really is just parasomnia… or the paranormal.

Dream Eater is one hell of a double-edged sword, and its biggest flaw feels tied to one of its more compelling elements. It’s a very Paranormal Activity-type setup (down to the characters sharing the names of the actors), but rather than floundering with 45 minutes of introductory uneventfulness, it gets straight into the action, and within about 20 minutes, Alex’s behavior is alarming to say the least. The traditional slow start would usually get incrementally more intense, ramping up the tension and the stakes before a big explosive finale in which all the terrifying realities of the situation soar to the surface. Yet here, it almost blows its load too soon, resulting in night after night of shenanigans that don’t really feel like they’re worsening.

To continue the Kubrick connection, it’s a similar issue that The Shining drew criticism for decades ago, with Jack Nicholson starting the movie clearly unhinged and only getting more so as the movie unfolds. With Dream Eater, each night certainly brings the creep factor, and it’s always a tense, eerie spectacle, but the longer it goes on, the less you feel for the people at the center of it all. Mallory is one of the most frustrating characters I’ve seen in a while. She is the one to suspect something is wrong, to witness and bear the brunt of Alex’s crazed episodes, and to do the digging, researching, and liaising with doctors to help piece it all together. And despite all this, every time an explanation is offered, she brushes it off and insists it can’t be all that bad.

The couple stays at this place for a long time, and despite her boyfriend’s nightly freak outs with increasingly violent tendencies, she stays put. It’s entirely possible that the movie is going for a study of the “I can fix him” mentality (Mallory literally says so herself), and the inevitable downfall it causes those who adopt it. But her unwillingness to do anything immediately useful, like leaving the house, calling the police, or simply abandoning Alex to save herself, soon becomes exhausting to watch, and prevents you from rooting for her. The way the movie dives into the action creates an unfortunate pacing issue that leaves the narrative little room for anything other than wheel-spinning, and Mallory’s character is ultimately the victim of it.

Despite Its Flaws, ‘Dream Eater’ Delivers the Scares

Despite this, Dream Eater gets some effective scares in, even pulling off a jump scare that you can see coming. That’s no mean feat, particularly in this day and age. If you look at all the individual components, you’ve definitely seen them before in other horror movies, but this whole is greater than its sum. Between its interesting setup, unforgiving environment, and strong performance from its lead actor, it manages to be very gripping at times.

Alex Lee Williams is the perfect vessel for this story, as he does such a great job of balancing the two sides of the character. His banter with Mallory in the opening minutes is so endearingly goofy without trying too hard that you can’t help but love the guy. He’s not your average, bland, disposable main guy that you don’t feel any attachment to; he’s a real character with a lot of charm, and you don’t want to see anything bad happen to him. So, when he starts to deteriorate, it’s a marked change from the man we have formed a connection with. His transformation feels that much more pronounced thanks to him being so likable to begin with. Mallory Drumm, meanwhile, doesn’t have much to work with, and even the best actors would struggle to bring something out of this character, but she doesn’t seem to approach it with the level of seriousness that Williams does. Her delivery often feels flat and unaffected, especially when placed next to Williams’ gravity.

While it doesn’t reach the Kubrick levels of atmosphere it takes inspiration from, Dream Eater is successful in creating a sense of dread with its visuals and sound design. There are a few sequences that happen in total darkness, with only sound at their disposal, and they are some of the most effective. Then we have a simple but very sinister musical motif, a distinct whistling, that occurs throughout and, when paired with the blank grey eeriness of the landscape, conjures up an extremely chilling world. The found footage setup plants us right in the middle of this terrible wasteland, and with the help of Alex Lee Williams’ fantastic performance, it delivers on the terror. There is a lot that the movie does so right, which is why its various faux pas feel that much more disappointing, but this is far from an overall failure. It’s a sign of great things to come from Williams and from The Horror Section.

Dream Eater comes to select theaters on October 24.