Title: Nightmares
& Dreamscapes: From The Stories Of Stephen King
Stars: William H.
Macy, Jacqueline McKenzie, Ron Livingston, Henry Thomas, Eion Bailey, Claire
Forlani, Jeremy Sisto, Samantha Mathis, Richard Thomas, Greta Scacchi, Steven
Weber, Kim Delaney, William Hurt, Bruce Spence, Tom Berenger, and Marsha Mason
Writers: April
Smith, Lawrence D. Cohen, Kim LeMasters, Alan Sharp, Mike Robe, Richard
Christian Matheson, and Peter Filardi
Based on the Short
Stories by: Stephen King
Directors: Rob
Bowman, Mikael Salomon, Mark Haber, Mike Robe, Brian Henson, and Sergio Mimica
Gezzan
Executive
Producer: Bill Haber
Running Time: 55
minutes without commercials for the premiere episode/44 minutes each thereafter
Media: TNT
Original Television Anthology Series (NTSC DVD Screeners)
“Battleground”
Premiere: Wednesday, July 12, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
- Commercial-free
“Crouch End”
Premiere: Wednesday, July 12, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
“Umney’s Last
Case” Premiere: Wednesday, July 19, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
“The End Of The
Whole Mess” Premiere: Wednesday, July 19, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
“The Road Virus
Heads North” Premiere: Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
“The Fifth
Quarter” Premiere: Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
“Autopsy Room
Four” Premiere: Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
“You Know They
Got A Hell Of A Band” Premiere: Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
Network: Turner
Network Television (Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating:
TV-14-DLV
Reviewer: Mark A.
Rivera
I often imagine
with the amount of Hollywood actors and talent that has worked on bringing the
literature of Stephen King to life, I can almost visualize two artists
discussing their resumes. One boasts that he has worked on four of Shakespeare
plays and the other retorts, “Well I’ve done four films based on Stephen
King…” I actually am surprised that there is not a stage play along the
Great White Way of Broadway based on one or an ever-revolving roster of King
tales. I am glad that Stephen King as a writer has received validation for his
genuine talent as a storyteller since all too often the horror, fantasy, and
science fiction genres and their sub genres therein are written off as being
just for kids, not true literature, or just pulp. While there have been many
great cinematic adaptations based upon the work of Stephen King, my personal
favorites tend to be the television adaptations because despite whatever limits
commercial television may present in terms of how much sex, language, or
violence are allowed to be depicted, the work of Stephen King benefits greatly
from having the time to present characters and explore situations in a longer
more intimate TV format. What is suggested is often stronger than what is shown
anyway and ultimately Stephen King did not get to where he is today by writing
stories that featured violence, colorful language, or sex alone. King is a
master storyteller. A natural talent that is often imitated, but never equaled
and his stories have very human themes that underlie the events so that one can
look just beneath the surface and discover the human drama and the implications
regarding what he is discussing through his stories and that is what I think
makes Stephen King’s work so brilliant. That and the fact that he knows how
to scare the shit out of his audience… ;)
Watching some of these installments that make up the TNT anthology series Nightmares & Dreamscapes From The Stories By Stephen King has me interested in visiting my local library and looking up the actual short stories and reading them for myself and if these stories can encourage others to exercise their minds and imaginations more by going out and borrowing or buying a book to read, then I think everyone gets an added bonus beyond the enjoyment of these cable television adaptations. These stories are all very engrossing, but also very dark in nature. I think this anthology might actually contain some of the bleakest Stephen King television dramatizations I have ever seen, but while some of the stories do not necessarily have feel good resolutions, they all are quite engrossing and feature a lot of talent. Shown in blocks of two over a four week period, the premiere episode “Battleground” starring Academy Award winner® William Hurt is sponsored by Hyundai and will be presented commercial free. This episode has practically no spoken dialogue whatsoever and features Hurt as a professional hit man who gets an unexpected surprise when a package of toy army men from the company whose CEO he has murdered wages a war of revenge upon him. Look for the famous Trilogy Of Terror doll in the display case and note this is arguably the best of the anthology episodes effects wise with Brian Henson serving as Director. Other episodes in the series are co-sponsored by AutoTrader.com.
The next episode that follows right after “Battleground” is entitled “Crouch End” and
tells what appears to be a story heavily inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft
with a young beautiful newlywed couple traveling to a remote area known as
Crouch End in the U.K. to have dinner with a friend and there they soon discover
that Crouch End is one of those “soft spots” where things from one dimension
enter our own and things from our own can become lost therein. Though the
installment is in my opinion anyway, Lovecraft inspired, there is also a feeling
of great captured imagery and emotion that I remember from when I was just a boy
and my older brother would tell me about the Stephen King stories he read in Night
Shift. In King’s defense, many genre writers and filmmakers as well as
other artists alike have been inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft to include
Writer Richard Matheson and Directors Guillermo Del Toro and of course the
legendary Stuart Gordon and believe when I state this is just a few examples.
Five of the adaptations come from King’s 1993 anthology Nightmares & Dreamscapes while two were taken from Stephen King’s 2002 anthology Everything’s Eventual and the anthology series premiere “Battleground” can be found in King’s 1978 anthology Nightshift. The other stories can be pretty bleak with William H. Macy appearing in dual roles and looking as though he is having a lot of fun in “Umney’s Last Case.” This story has a best selling author switch places with his gumshoe character counterpart to escape the pain of his personal life with tragic results. The most haunting of them all is “The End Of The Whole Mess,” which portrays an end of the world scenario from the point of view of a documentary filmmaker’s last hour of life as he recounts the tale of how his brother’s best intentions have paved the way to extinction and hell.
The following
week’s installments feature Tom Berenger as a noted horror author being chased
by the specter of a painting on his drive home after learning he may have colon
cancer. Then we have Jeremy Sisto and Samantha Mathis play a couple reunited
after her husband is finally paroled from jail only to be pulled into a night of
bloody revenge as he sets out to find the pieces to a map where several million
dollars has been hidden. The only problem with this story is since money is
marked, especially in such high quantities, how can anyone hope to use it
without being discovered?
The last week
features an episode that was unavailable for review at the time of this writing,
but basically tells the story of an autopsy from the point of view of paralyzed
man still alive after a snakebite, but unable to communicate it as he becomes a
witness to the gruesome exploratory procedure. Finally Stephen Webber turns in a
somewhat creepy performance as one of the two newest civilian citizens of Rock
and Roll Heaven, where the performances go on for an eternity and there is a
hell of a catch 22 behind the free concerts.
If there is one
additional positive thing I can say about this anthology it is that watching
nearly seven hours of dark and ironic dramas felt like mere minutes since before
I knew it, I’d screened seven of the eight episodes provided for review.
Believe me when I note that I have seen items a lot shorter that felt like hours
to get through. Nightmares & Dreamscapes From The Short Stories Of
Stephen King is top shelf entertainment that I hope will become a semi
regular summer event we can all look forward to on those warm nights where it
seems everything around us is alive with vigor and our imaginations can be
caught up on the clear moonlit starry skies afterwards as we go to sleep to have
our own nightmares, and dreamscapes…
Nightmares
& Dreamscapes
From
The Short Stories Of Stephen King
Play
Pattern
“Battleground”
Premiere: Wednesday, July 12, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
- Commercial-free
Encore:
Thursday, July 13, 2006, at 11pm (ET/PT)
“Crouch End”
Premiere: Wednesday, July 12, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
Encore: Friday,
July 14, 2006, at 12am (ET/PT)
“Umney’s
Last Case” Premiere: Wednesday, July 19, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
Encore:
Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 11pm (ET/PT)
“The End Of
The Whole Mess” Premiere: Wednesday, July 19, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
Encore: Friday:
July 21, 2006, at 12am (ET/PT)
“The Road
Virus Heads North” Premiere: Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
Encore:
Thursday, July 27, 2006, at 11pm (ET/PT)
“The Fifth
Quarter” Premiere: Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
Encore: Friday,
July 28, 2006, at 12am (ET/PT)
“Autopsy Room
Four” Premiere: Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT)
Encore:
Thursday, August 3, 2006, at 11pm (ET/PT)
“You Know They
Got A Hell Of A Band” Premiere: Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at 10pm (ET/PT)
Encore: Friday,
August 4, 2006, at 12am (ET/PT)
©
Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.