Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King

Battleground: A great example of adapting a short story to the screen. The attacking soldiers are amazing. I will sure watch the rest of the episodes. 5* (2007.10.25)

A TV miniseries based on short stories by King, and not just from the anthology with the same title. Luckily here they have adapted older stories too, which raise the bar considerably, since “Nightmares and Dreamscapes" certainly isn’t one of King’s highest quality anthologies. It applies to all episodes that the creators didn’t manage to capture the mysterious inevitability of the endings, and it also applies to all episodes that they have a satisfying musical score and a good cast - but unfortunately not always good acting performances. Of the eight adaptations, only the first, Battleground, can be described as a “must see". The filming style is ingenious and minimalistic, while remaining powerful and absolutely functional. Plus, William Hurt totally excels in the main role. I rate the individual episodes (not the written tales) as follows: Battleground: 5/5, Crouch End: 2/5, Umney's Last Case: 2/5, The End of the Whole Mess: 3/5, The Road Virus Heads North: 3/5, The Fifth Quarter: 4/5, Autopsy Room Four: 4/5, You Know They've Got and Hell of a Band: 3/5. Therefore, overall a weak 4*. If the creators increased the budget for next time and directed their attention at older collections of King’s works (ideally “Night Shift" or “Skeleton Crew"), they could be sure to attract at least this one viewer (me). (2006.09.30)