History Film / Dreamscape

%%* DreamSpying: Probably what got Blair interested in the experiments in the first place.

* AntiHero: Seemingly, how Tommy sees himself, as he's a sadistic bastard who believes he and Blair are being heroes by saving their country from fatal president decisions.

When Alex is contacted by the college professor that performed the studies on him years ago, Alex agrees to hear him out, both for old times sake and to have a place to momentarily hide from everyone who wants a piece of him. When the professor explains what he's working on -- a project that will allow those with psychic abilities to enter the dreams of others -- Alex is intrigued, and with a little [[{{Blackmail}} "convincing"]] agrees to help out. With the professor's assistance, Alex is quickly able to master the ability of entering, observing, and even modifying people's dreams. At first he feels exhilarated, intoxicated by the freedom and power that come along with his new-found ability. However, things are not quite what they seem... inside the Dreamscape, Alex finds that he is facing progressively more dangerous nightmares, and outside he must deal with the schemes of not only a [[TheRival rival psychic]], but also of the shadowy machinations of the people who are truly behind the Dreamscape project.

%%* DreamWeaver: Alex and Tommy.

* YourWorstNightmare: What Alex tries to help his subjects overcome.

* AnAxeToGrind: Buddy grabs an axe [[OffWithHisHead to decapitate]] the Snake Man during his nightmare.

* NuclearNasty: The horrifically-damaged train passengers in the President's last nightmare, who seem more like zombies than victims.

* AntiVillain: Blair is an amoral agent who is willing to sacrifice the President, but he only tries to do so on the fear that the latter's decisions will leave the country defenseless in midst of the Cold War, and it's never implied this motivation isn't honest. He also seems to have a loving wife and to trear kindly those who accept to serve him.

* CatapultNightmare: The President has a couple, and Alex awakens from the construction-worker's dream in the same way.

* DreamSpying: Probably what got Blair interested in the experiments in the first place.
* DreamWeaver: Alex and Tommy.

* MindOverMatter: Minor telekinesis is among the range of PsychicPowers Alex displays over the course of the film, as we see a still movie slide of him levitating a small metal, ball bearing. However, if viewers were expecting him to use this at any point in the film to save himself from a dangerous situation, they will be disappointed because the movie focuses on his ability to enter minds instead. It never becomes the ChekhovsGun.

* InfantImmortality: Played straight with Buddy; in the President's dream, [[spoiler:the kids trapped in the ruins aren't just dead, but ''mutilated'' to BodyHorror levels]].

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: When a subject is killed in the real world by dying in the Dreamscape, Alex starts to realize he's in over his head... what he doesn't know is that [[spoiler: the government is training his rival, Glatman, to assassinate people in their sleep]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Mr. Webber has been sleepwalking and having impotence problems. Alex discovers Webber has a inferiority complex where he fears his wife is being unfaithful to him. The dream they see depicts her messing around with his brother, a couple golf buddies, a local priest, and the gardener.

''Dreamscape'' is a ScienceFiction film directed by Joseph Rubin and starring Creator/DennisQuaid. The film was released in the United States in 1984 by 20th Century Fox. The plot is loosely based on the novel ''Literature/TheDreamMaster'' by Creator/RogerZelazny.

* EroticDream: Inverted/Invoked. DreamWeaver Alex uses his powers to enter Jane's dream to make out with her, without telling her it's not just a random dream she's having about him. She quickly forgives him when she finds out, but [[DoubleStandardRapeSciFi this seems strange]] since it could easily be construed as rape by fraud (he deluded her on purpose and she didn't give consent).

* GuiltComplex: The President has been plagued by nightmares about nuclear war ever since the death of his wife. He dreads the prospect that he might someday be culpable for starting WorldWarIII, and is determined to pursue bilateral peace talks to avert that possibility. [[spoiler: It's this very intention that convinces hard-liner Blair to try to assassinate him.]]

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Tommy meets his end on the business end of a spear.
* InfantImmortality: Played straight with Buddy; in the President's dream, [[spoiler: the kids trapped in the ruins aren't just dead, but ''mutilated'' to BodyHorror levels]].
* MindOverMatter: Minor telekinesis is among the range of PsychicPowers Alex displays over the course of the film, and we see a still movie slide of him levitating a small metal, ball bearing. If viewers were expecting him to use this at any point in the film to save himself from a dangerous situation, they will be disappointed because the movie focuses on his ability to enter dream instead. It never becomes the ChekhovsGun, and stays an InformedAbility.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: During the ShapeshifterGuiltTrip, Tommy expresses genuine guilt over murdering his father.

* PartialTransformation: Tommy Ray scales back his snake transformation when he is confronted by the image of his dead father.
** Even Tommy Ray's initial Snake Man appearance is more humanly flat-faced than the original from Buddy's nightmare, because Tommy based it on Alex's frontal-view drawing.

* PsychicPowers: Alex makes a living predicting the outcomes of horse races. Tommy Ray can sense when the President has gone to sleep from an adjacent room.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Buddy's nightmare takes the shape of a half-man/half-snake creature. One of the villains later assumes this form while in the dream world, copying a picture Alex drew of it. [[spoiler: Alex himself adopts the same shape to dream-kill the BigBad as payback.]]

* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: After the woman in his Dreamscape trip suddenly dies, Tommy tries to claim he's all broken up about it despite all evidence to the contrary. Alex sees right through it and calls him on not feeling the slightest bit awful about what happened.

** Blair schemes to assassinate the President, rather than let him pursue peace talks to avert the AfterTheEnd horrors of his nightmares. No justification is given for why Blair couldn't at least let the sleep-researchers ''try'' to stop his old friend from having bad dreams in the first place - thus, eliminating the President's personal motive for making a disarmament deal - rather than having him murdered on the very night he arrives at the research facility.

* ActorAllusion: Alex meets author Charlie Prince, played by Creator/GeorgeWendt, in a bar... where one would often see Wendt in his most famous role, "Norm" from ''Series/{{Cheers}}''.

* PettingZooPeople: The Snake Man.

* HalfHumanHybrid: The Snake Man.

* EroticDream: Inverted/Invoked. DreamWeaver Alex uses his powers to enter Jane's dream to make out with her, without telling her it's not just a random dream she's having about him. She quickly forgives him when she finds out, but this seems strange since it could easily be construed as rape by fraud (he deluded her on purpose and she didn't give consent).

** Blair schemes to assassinate the President, rather than let him pursue peace talks to avert the AfterTheEnd horrors of his nightmares. No justification is given for why Blair couldn't at least let the sleep-researchers ''try'' to stop his old friend from having bad dreams in the first place, rather than having him murdered on the very night he arrives at the research facility.

** Blair schemes to assassinate the President, rather than let him pursue peace talks to avert the AfterTheEnd horrors of his nightmares. No justification is given for why Blair couldn't at least let the researchers ''try'' to stop his old friend from having bad dreams in the first place, rather than having him murdered outright.

* CatapultNightmare: The President has one in the opening scene, and Alex awakens from the construction-worker's dream in the same way.