Many reviewers here have said that this film is probably only worth watching if you are a Kristy McNicholl fan and that may well be true and I'll admit I have a video copy for that very reason. This is the darkest role that was played by Kristy and is in stark contrast to her earlier Tomboy roles, and that should have been a good move for her. But this movie doesn't give her enough of a chance to prove her potential."Dream Lover" shows Kristy in a light that was different from Buddy (Family) just as "Extremities" shows the late Farrah Fawcett in a darker role than those for which she was previously known. Both actresses deserved better opportunities to show the harder, grittier acting of which they were capable.For me, the best scene in the film is the one where she reacts to the experiment not being stopped at the agreed signal, and the conflicting anger and upset from the character is brilliantly shown by Kristy. I find it hard to watch, knowing what eventually happened to this young actress in her personal life and that she never got to make the movies that would have shown how powerful an actress I believe she was going to be when she was older. Watching it makes me wonder what she could have done later on. May be I am biased, as a fan, but when Kristy stopped acting that was a great loss to the movie industry. For that reason alone I would recommend watching this film if you can.

Well, all-in-all this is a rather lame & pretty disappointing movie. It's not badly made or hasn't any noticeable technical flaws for that matter. It's just that the pacing was too slow and on several occasions the suspense was really lacking. A lady gets attacked in her apartment by an unwelcome visitor (well not really her apartment, since she's still a little daddy's girl, but an apartment she sub-rents from some musician who is out of town). She manages to overcome him. However, she remains traumatized and starts developing some serious mental issues (like in: ripe for the loony-bin). I won't tell much more for those of you who still want to check out this movie, because, well, it is directed by Alan J. Pakula after all, so I'm sure you could do worse picking up a random movie (not that I'm a fan of this director or anything). It has maybe one or two tense scenes and some enjoyable dream-sequences. But that's all, basically. The final scenes in the building in London had something promising going on there, but in the end the conclusion is just disappointing. They really should at least have thrown maybe some incest and a lot of killings in there to spice things up (not that these are things that make a movie good, but hey, if you're out to terrify your audience, then why not make the extra effort?). But no, just pretty lame stuff and secretive dream-research in some basement room is all you will find in this one. So why didn't I flunk this movie? I dunno... maybe I'm just a nice guy. Or maybe it's a better movie than I first thought it was? If I'll ever re-watch it, I'll let you know.

In the opening and closing credits, the filmmakers acknowledge the services of sleep research centers and consultants in the making of this movie. But while there is some educational dialogue about dreams, the main concept - the heroine acting out her dreams - is not as innovative as they seem to think; haven't these people ever heard of the word "sleepwalking"? Kristy McNichol is fine (if one-note) in a demanding role, but director Pakula's pacing is off, the thrills are few, and the finale, with one character apparently transforming into Superman, is ludicrous. (*1/2)

Fans of Kristy McNichol (and her character 'Buddy' from TV's "Family") probably won't like this movie much as it dispels the actress's jovial tomboy persona and showcases a darker side. As a young flautist who is both enamored of and terrified of her widower papa, McNichol's extraordinary acting range gets a real work-out; director Alan J. Pakula keeps her low-keyed and appealing, but also intensely focused. The domineering daddy (Paul Shenar, a Ray Wise look-alike who'd be right at home in a David Lynch story) is a puzzlement, and the other supporting characters are sketchily-drawn, but Kristy is surprisingly right at home in these spooky, melodramatic settings. Attacked by a stranger, and then wracked by nightmares, McNichol seeks help in an unorthodox dream-research lab--which only makes things worse. "Dream Lover" is an intricate, deliberately-paced psychological thriller with some stunning set-pieces: the green lamp (and its evil implications), the refrigerator hawking on (signaling the terror ahead), the mix of two dreams (wherein Kristy's Kathy takes flight) and the entire last reel, where one sequence is seen differently through two pairs of eyes. Take note that this is a slow movie. It wants to build a character study by moving each chess piece smoothly and efficiently across the board. When I saw this in the theater, the few people there were yawning. Give this a chance. It successfully maneuvers itself into hazy crawlspaces that few films manage to do. ***1/2 from ****