Dreamcatcher

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Dreamcatcher

R

Released Mar 21, 2003

2h 11m

Horror

Sci-Fi

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Popcornmeter

27%

Tomatometer

180 Reviews

36%

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100,000+ Ratings

"Dreamcatcher" tells of four young friends who perform a heroic act -- and are changed forever by the uncanny powers they gain in return. Years later the friends, now men, are on a hunting trip in the Maine woods when they are overtaken by a blizzard in which something much more ominous moves. Challenged to stop an alien force, the friends must first prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians by a military vigilante, then overcome a threat to the bond between them.

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Critics Consensus

An incoherent and overly long creature feature.

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Scott Tobias

AV Club

Perhaps due to the talent of everyone involved, Dreamcatcher moves with an oddly exhilarating awfulness that sets it apart from more run-of-the-mill horror films, which lack the imagination and budget to be so thoroughly misconceived.

Dec 10, 2018

Full Review

Christy Lemire

Associated Press

Dreamcatcher is unspeakably bad -- and shockingly so -- considering that it's an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, from the director of The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan) and the writer of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (William Goldman).

Dec 10, 2018

Full Review

Jack Mathews

New York Daily News

Dreamcatcher is pretty much a special-effects movie, with uneven results.

Dec 7, 2018

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Micheal Compton

Bowling Green Daily News

If this is what Stephen King movies have disintegrated into, then it's time to pull the plug.

Rated: F

Nov 15, 2019

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Obviously, the hole in Dreamcatcher was a little too small thus allowing a lot of the bad aspects of the film to stick in the web along with the good.

Nov 7, 2019

Full Review

Alberto Abuín

Espinof

Not only the excess of visual effects removes part of the film's quality, but also the plot inconsistencies occur non-stop. [Full Review in Spanish]

Aug 29, 2019

Full Review

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Duke D

It's a decent flick. Everyone needs to calm down a little bit. Jeepers. Don't drink and review!

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/05/25

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Bruce M

Terrible adaptation of a terrible Stephen King book. Awful script by William Goldman, awful direction by Lawrence Kasdan (what's with all the transitioning wipes between scenes?), awful performance by Morgan Freeman, who's forced by the script to call everyone "Bucko" or "Laddie." And what's up with his eyebrows? incredibly bad, stupid movie.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/16/25

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Nick E.

Another failed Stephen King adaptation.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/16/25

Full Review

Michael L

Based in a Stephen King novel, screenplay by William Goldman no less and directed by Lawrence Kasdan with a heavy weight cast top to bottom including Jason Lee, Damien Lewis, Timothy Olyphant, Thomas Jane and Morgan Freeman. That’s one helluva pedigree and while Dreamcatcher doesn’t hit it out of the park it deserves much better respect than the RT score would leave you to believe. I thoroughly enjoy the movie. Great rainy weekend kind of flick. There’s definitely a few scenes that are a bit clunky which is baffling considering the above pedigree but overall a fun film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/11/25

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Audience Member

This was the worst movie in so many ways

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

12/29/24

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Toni G

An overall decent movie. From reading a lot of the reviews, it seems people were hoping for this movie to be like... Every other horror movie of it's time? Weird. Anyway, it was a decent movie. Multiple subplots all entwined with the main plot, keeping (potentially, at least) the viewer's focus and attention evenly spread. I loved that this was not one of those movies where it's easy to guess everything that's going to happen next. Would I say it's the best horror movie? Absolutely not. But, it was good enough for me to suddenly remember fondly now, in 2024, wanting to rewatch it

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/21/24

Full Review

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Synopsis

"Dreamcatcher" tells of four young friends who perform a heroic act -- and are changed forever by the uncanny powers they gain in return. Years later the friends, now men, are on a hunting trip in the Maine woods when they are overtaken by a blizzard in which something much more ominous moves. Challenged to stop an alien force, the friends must first prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians by a military vigilante, then overcome a threat to the bond between them.

Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Producer: Lawrence Kasdan, Charles Okun, Bruce Berman
Screenwriter: Stephen King, William Goldman, Lawrence Kasdan
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Castle Rock Entertainment
Rating: R (Language|Gore|Violence)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 21, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 30, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $33.7M
Runtime: 2h 11m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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