Night Visions

NIGHT VISIONS

A 1990 made-for-TV movie that Wes Craven directed and co-wrote, Night Visions follows a singular and memorable protagonist (a young woman named Sally Powers who has a history of mental illness, low-grade telepathy, and a fresh doctorate in psychology). In Los Angeles, Powers partners with a hot-tempered alcoholic cop (Tom Mackey) in an effort to solve a string of murders attributed to a serial killer nicknamed The Eagle due to his signature of leaving attractive female victims posed in spread-eagle positions. Peppered with periodic provocative and sometimes horrific imagery and sporting a well-staged tension-filled final ten minutes (and featuring a trippy dream sequence twenty-seven minutes into the story), Night Visions isn't nearly as unwatchable as most of the scant online reviews of this obscure project suggest. It was never destined to win any awards, but it's a perfectly serviceable thriller marred only by the unbelievable sub-plot of Powers developing a romantic relationship with a photographer named Martin (if Powers was truly obsessed with solving the case, she would not take time away from sifting evidence to go on leisurely dates) and by Mackey's habit of contaminating crime scenes.

Night Visions becomes increasingly interesting when a stressed Powers manifests symptoms of multiple personality disorder. Actress Loryn Locklin delivers nuanced performances in scenes that depict Powers slipping in and out of alternate personas. Other stars of note in this project include James Remar as Mackey and Mitch Pileggi as a police captain.

Seventy-one minutes into the tale, Powers articulates a thought-provoking profile of the killer that (along with a bone-headed move by the bad guy) ultimately leads to the discovery of his identity. I won't spoil the mystery. The Eagle is a unique antagonist with a penchant for snuffing out lives at carefully-selected geographic locations that form the points of a star when mapped out.

Night Visions at the time of this writing has not officially been issued on home video except long ago on VHS in some non-USA countries (PAL format rather than NTSC). Here's hoping the powers-that-be will sate Wes Craven's legion of fans by giving this decent little film a proper modern-day commercial release. I'd snap up a copy right away given the chance.

Night Visions doesn't rise to the quality of Craven's best work (it will never capture the popular imagination the way A Nightmare on Elm Street did), but it's above average for made-for-TV fare. Seek it out and let me know how you perceive it in the comments here on the blog.