If David Byrne made a movie combining elements of European art cinema, Southern Gothic, a dash of Polansky, principles of Bertolt Brecht's estrangement effect, Eraserhead, and Irish Ceili Dancing, it would be this movie. It has to be seen to be believed. And be seen it must. I'm not kidding. You have to see this movie. Tubi is your friend.

Dream No Evil is made with such earnestness that you can't help but admire it. It's not a horror movie so much as a psychological drama with psychokiller elements (speaking of David Byrne). If you are a fan of bizarre, surreal, or just wackadoodle cinema, put this one at the top of your list. I understand the negative reviews, but if you don't take it too seriously this is a very entertaining movie.

DREAM NO EVIL is the perfect example of regional, independent features being far more interesting than Hollywood films from the same age. When studios and producer moguls get involved in a film, they ask questions. "Where are these people? How does any of this advance the plot? Why are they doing an Irish jig now?"

DREAM NO EVIL doesn't want to answer those questions, steadfastly refuses to, and is all the more interesting because of it. Notice I say "more interesting" and not "better": this misses the majority of shots it takes, the narration eviscerates the mood, and the shots and performance are stilted. But an undeniable charm still radiates, as long as you're into this kind of thing.

Could work as the B-side of LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH or MESSIAH OF EVIL for a double feature of outside-reality Americana horror.

At the centre of Dream No Evil there is a fairly simple story about psychosis, in which the main character, Grace MacDonald (played as an adult by sexy redhead Brooke Mills) conjures up a make-believe world in which she is reunited with her long-lost father. It's the off-beat manner in which writer/director John Hayes tells his tale that makes the film so unique and compelling.

Dream No Evil opens with Grace as a young child in an orphanage, convinced that one day her daddy will come and take her away. He never does, and Grace grows up to become a mentally fragile young woman working as an assistant to preacher Rev. Paul Jessie Bundy (Michael Pataki) in his circus-style roadshow, and engaged to Jessie's brother, Dr. Patrick Bundy (Paul Prokop). When Grace gets a call from an undertaker/pimp for elderly hookers (Marc Lawrence), telling her that he has found her father, she drives to the funeral parlor/brothel, where she sees her daddy's corpse. No sooner has Grace wished that her old man was still alive, and up he hops off the slab to kill the mortician.

Grace leaves Jessie's travelling show to live with her father (Edmond O'Brien) on a ranch, but dear old daddy's murderous urges prevent her from finding happiness. Jessie gets his head bashed in when he tries to seduce Grace and local cop Sheriff Mike Pender (William Guhl) is impaled by a scythe (a hilariously bad scene). As events unfold, a voice-over makes it abundantly clear that it is Grace who is the real killer. When Patrick turns up to tell Grace that he's leaving her for his co-worker Shirley (Donna Anders), the loopy lass goes crazy with an axe.

There's no gore to speak of in this horror oddity (or nudity for that matter), and the performances are merely adequate (albeit suitably strange), but Hayes' bizarre directorial style and the film's occasional surreality make it required viewing for fans of psychotronic movies: Grace's panty-flashing Irish jig is a marvel to behold, and is followed by one of the strangest slow-motion scenes I have ever witnessed. Grace's bedroom transformation comes out of the blue and Shirley's bloody roast duck supper is peculiar to say the least. While I would hesitate to call Dream No Evil a good film, I would definitely call it an interesting one. Give it a go: you might like it.