Publication Date: 11-30-2025

Dream Eater (2025) review

Dir. Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, and Alex Lee Williams

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★

This past summer, Joe Begos’ Jimmy and Stiggs served as a guinea pig for a new studio and distribution process by none other than Eli Roth. In effort to bring more people into the theaters, Roth took it upon himself to meet with decision-makers for national theater chains, like AMC, Cinemark, and Marcus, to encourage them to take flyers on “extreme horror” flicks that he would acquire via his studio, “The Horror Section.” The idea was these micro-budget, gruesome films made for shoestring budgets could enjoy a theatrical experience instead of being relegated to the ocean-deep pool of VOD entertainment.

Assuming a faux documentary/found footage style, Dream Eater, the company’s second feature, involves Mallory (co-writer/director Mallory Drumm) trying to help her boyfriend, Alex (co-writer/director Alex Lee Williams), out with his abnormal and frightening sleepwalking tendencies. After consulting a doctor, who implores Mallory to document Alex’s “parasomnia,” the two travel to a remote cabin for Alex’s birthday (another ludicrous plot convenience not even a week after I saw Keeper). What is parasomnia? According to the Cleveland Clinic, it’s a pattern of disruptive behaviors during sleeping, which could including walking, talking, or making physical movements in response to a dream.

Seemingly less concerned with her wellbeing and more primed at the opportunity to feed the insatiable content machine, Mallory rigs a series of cameras around their vacation cabin. Alex’s nighttime behaviors become increasingly more erratic, leading to confrontations during the day. Alex’s demeanor only grows more intense during the evening, and it’s beyond troubling he recalls none of his sleepwalking instances when he’s fully awake the following morning. Mallory turns to additional experts, whom she consults via Zoom calls, and starts to ponder if a more sinister demon needs to be explored in order to get the bottom of her partner’s parasomnia.

Dream Eater is established immediately by Drumm and Williams, two capable actors who are believable in their roles, even if it becomes increasingly more questionable why on Earth Mallory would put up with someone like Alex after more-than-a-few outbursts, coupled with his layabout personality. This is one of those found footage films that switches back-and-forth from stationary security cameras to webcams and handheld devices with ease and fluidity.

The problem lies with the fact that Dream Eater doesn’t build to much of anything neither original nor compelling. Beyond the questionable move of taking someone with violent sleepwalking episodes and suicidal thoughts to a remote location, the trio of writers (Drumm, Williams, and co-director Jay Drakulic) block themselves into a corner later in the film when they can’t figure out how to explain what is happening to Alex. He’s manic and unhinged most nights, and during the day, seems remarkably indifferent to the damage he’s causing himself and the danger in which he’s putting Mallory. This further makes the central relationship unbelievable, even if it’s ultimately a musing on how one’s partner could change in personality on a dime and leave the other confused and possibly in harm’s way at the drop of a hat. If there were ever a film to make you wonder why either party couldn’t simply leave the remote location in which they chose to be in, at any given time, it’s this one.

The Horror Section is billed as “360 media company” whose projects will eventually spawn other works, such as video games, merch, and podcasts. Time will tell how that materializes, especially when a movie like Dream Eater is as flimsy as it is. And yet, even after Jimmy and Stiggs wore me out, and Dream Eater left me wanting, I want nothing more than to see this studio become a reliable beacon for the many strong voices in indie horror. Like Mallory, my convictions remain strong.

Starring: Mallory Drumm and Alex Lee Williams. Directed by: Jay Drakulic, Mallory Drumm, and Alex Lee Williams.