**_Is murdering people in their dreams viable?_**

A young man with extraordinary psychic abilities (Dennis Quaid) is coerced into participating in experimental dream techniques by his former mentor (Max Von Sydow). While he flirts with the assistant (Kate Capshaw), a mysterious government official (Christopher Plummer) is interested in using the new technique as a political weapon. Eddie Albert plays the president while David Patrick Kelly is on hand as a psychic of dubious morality.

“Dreamscape” (1984) combines dream-oriented sci-fi with political thriller for an entertaining flick. Young Quaid makes for a good protagonist while Kate is alluring in her voluptuous way (and less annoying than in “Temple of Doom”). The concept of killing people in their dreams is fascinating and implemented in a realistic way compared to the contemporaneous “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

While it borrows a little from “Scanners” from a few years prior, it’s unique enough and would influence future flicks like "Nightwish,” “The Cell” and “Inception.”

Some people today criticize it as “dated” but, come on, it was made in friggin’ 1983.

The movie runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and was shot in several spots in California (Los Alamitos Racetrack, Union Station in Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Point Mugu, University of the Pacific in Stockton, Santa Clarita and Bronson Caves).

GRADE: B