Dreamland DVD Review (Uncork’D Entertainment)

Dreamland is a 2019 crime film directed by Bruce McDonald (Pontypool, The Tracey Fragments, Hard Core Logo franchise, Highway 61, Roadkill, Queer as Folk, Hellions, Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Transporter, XIII: The Series, and Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years). It was written by Tony Burgess (Pontypool, Septic Man, Ejecta, The Hexecutioners, Hellmouth, and The Hoard) and Patrick Whistler (Creeped Out and Cardinal). It was produced by Amber Ripley (Dead Shack, Kryptic, The Lost Daughter, Exile, Entanglement, and Revolution). A hitman Johnny Deadeyes (played by: Stephen McHattie from Watchmen, Pontypool, Shoot Em Up, The Fountain, Seinfeld, Jesse Stone franchise, and A History of Violence) is ordered by ruthless pimp Hercules (played by: Henry Rollins from Feast, Lost Highway, Johnny Mnemonic, Batman Beyond, Bad Boys II, Sons of Anarchy, Wrong Turn 2, and Heat) to cut off the finger of a Jazz trumpeter (played by: Stephen McHattie from Nightmare Alley, Rabid, Mother!, Beverly Hills Cop III, 2012, and Death Wish) before a show for a local crime queen Countess (played by: Juliette Lewis from Natural Born Killers, Yellowjackets, Cape Fear, From Dusk Till Dawn, Christmas Vacation, Strange Days, Kalifornia, and Romeo is Bleeding). This all leads to a stolen child named Olivia (played by: Themis Pauwels from The New Adventures of Aladdin, Stop Me Here, and Barrage) forced to marry a wealthy vampire (played by: Tómas Lemarquis from X-Men: Apocalypse, 3 Days to Kill, Blade Runner 2049, and Snowpiercer), severed body parts everywhere, machine gun fire, violent mayhem, and lots of bizarre scenarios in the mysterious Dreamland!!!! If you ever wondered what it would be like if David Lynch directed a crime and hitman feature, Dreamland is definitely the closest thing to it. Veteran director Bruce McDonald teams back up with his Pontypool lead Stephen McHattie for this independent dark crime thriller. The script for Dreamland is very busy with multiple subplots. It has your conflicted hitman story, musician that’s in trouble with the wrong people, human trafficking, a sadistic pimp, a powerful crime boss, a rich vampire that’s like them young, and it all ends up at a bizarre wedding party. All of these situations and characters end up interacting. Dreamland covers several different genres like crime, hitman, horror, action, suspense, and drama. Character actor Stephen McHattie gives one of his best performances in dual roles. Both are nothing alike from the same person so he pulls it off which is extremely hard. I really enjoyed the contract killer Johnny Deadeyes the most when it came to both. He’s a highly skilled assassin but he has his own morals and rules. When that is crossed, he stands up for the helpless. His Jazz musician counterpart is someone who has gotten himself into a mess that he can’t escape. Henry Rollins is great as the sleazy pimp Hercules that works for a local crime boss. He doesn’t have any morals, he will do anything for money and more power in the underworld. Rollins has always been underrated and he really proves it here. The iconic Juliette Lewis returns to a villain role as The Countess in Dreamland. She hasn’t really done anything like this in a long time and it’s a new type of monster for her. She’s the one pulling all the strings and she causes all this insanity. The rest of the supporting cast includes the creepy Tómas Lemarquis, Themis Pauwels, Lisa Houle (Pontypool), Astrid Roos (Winter Palace), Morgan Csarno-Peklar (Wildflowers – The Children of Never), Hana Sofia Lopes (Coração d’Ouro), Guillaume Kerbusch (The Break), Stéphane Bissot (The Crimson Rivers), and Sam Louwyck (Under Fire). Dreamland never holds back and it crosses some taboo subjects without any hesitation. It’s very violent and gruesome at times. It’s one of the most original when it comes to hitman features, I have never seen one like this before. It’s wild considering all the talent involved because Dreamland really flew under the radar in the states. Most people don’t even know about it. It’s darkly entertaining and so much fun because it’s all over the place. It has solid replay value to it. It was much better than I originally thought it would be, RECOMMENDED! It has a variety of “Trailers” from Uncork’D on here. This is a M.O.D (DVD-R) home video release from Uncork’D Entertainment. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!