Dream Lover (1994)

The subtitle of Dream Lover, a stylized, somnambulant production from writer-director Nicholas Kazan could be Gorgeous, Psychopathic Women and the Handsome, Shallow Men Who Love Them. Madchen Amick of Twin Peaks stars as a representative of the former-a mysterious beauty called Lena who at first appears to be a delicate dream of a girlfriend but who is revealed to be an apoplexy-inducing nightmare of a wife. James Spader plays Ray, a privileged young man of weak character-the Spader specialty-who falls under Lena's spell. Kazan works overtime to reinforce the REM-state imagery: Ray has recurrent dream visits from a Fellini-certified clown who mocks his troubles, and Lena favors dead-pale makeup. But the exertions overshadow the material, which is, after all the insinuations of malevolence are cleared away, the story of two pretty people with interior lives as deep as a bottle of Perrier. C-