Rating: NR | Runtime: 90 minutes
Release Date: October 24th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: The Horror Section / Iconic Events Releasing
Director(s): Justin Hewitt-Drakulic, Mallory Drumm & Alex Lee Williams
Writer(s): Justin Hewitt-Drakulic, Mallory Drumm & Alex Lee Williams

He’s trying to get inside the house.

I’ve seen many people questioning the use of a score in Dream Eater since found footage films should “only utilize diegetic sound.” Not only is this a dumb thought since you’re sitting in a theater watching a movie edited and polished from said found footage by a distributor rather than firing up a camcorder of uncut material passed your way by a friend of a friend, but Alex (co-writer/co-director Alex Lee Williams) calls Mallory (co-writer/co-director Mallory Drumm) out very early for using him as her next doc subject. A score only adds to that exploitative nature.

I’d argue it’s the most intriguing part of a whole that was also co-written/co-directed by Justin Hewitt-Drakulic (he’s not seen on-screen but does voice a TV show host). Because without that angle—Alex and Mallory constantly arguing about money with neither wanting to be the one to sacrifice their own industry passions for steady work as a hired hand—this is just another Paranormal Activity redux whose possession plot line is put through a cosmic horror filter. The idea that they might be willing to cash in on their own tragedy is exciting.

Especially considering how the film ultimately leads to a somewhat open-ended question about whether either character leaves the wintery cabin where their terror unfolds. These aren’t the final images of dead people that a stranger stumbled upon. This was intentionally shot content for medical purposes (Alex’s parasomnia has grown violent and his doctor requests evidence to better diagnose the condition for treatment) that they’ve intentionally shared with their contacts in the business … if it’s actually them who came home.

It therefore adds to the couple’s on-screen tension. It adds to Alex’s anger whenever Mallory tries to coax out information from a very traumatic past that he refuses to revisit. And it allows us to perhaps question her motives. Yes, we know she’s filming this much needed vacation away to protect him, but why couldn’t she also be killing two birds with one stone? The longer we spend with them, the more we discover that she might have broached the subject in the past. So, maybe his current rage is colored by a dormant mistrust.

Her fear definitely is considering she’s the potential victim in all this insanity. If Alex cannot remember what he does or says while sleepwalking, who’s to say he won’t direct his violence towards her? His aggression while awake could be a product of his frustration and fatigue, but his aggression while asleep could also be a product of his uncertainty in her motives. Mallory’s footage (shot on an expensive camera rather than her phone to exacerbate his suspicions) might be threefold: his health, her career, and trial evidence of assault.

This dynamic is the draw. Who or what Alex is speaking about/with almost becomes inconsequential considering the repetition and budgetary constraints (although we do eventually receive a chilling blink-and-you’ll-miss-it payoff). It and his dark past are but catalysts for his escalating condition and off-kilter actions. Mallory’s research speaks to the validity of supernatural forces being at work instead of just PTSD hallucination, but that too only tints her reactions. Because, reality or fantasy, nothing will stop her from trying to save him.

Is it enough to render Dream Eater a top-tier entry into the genre? No. But it does add extra incentive to stick with the otherwise familiar jump scare tropes. Because I would have enjoyed more variety to the action. That first time hearing the “entity’s” voice is legitimately creepy, but there really isn’t any evolution from there beyond the usual theatrics (minus that aforementioned payoff). So, we do need love’s ability to make these characters do stupid things. We need their desire to help the other to put themselves in greater danger.

And we need that score and those jump cuts progressing time to remember that we aren’t the first people watching what Mallory filmed. It adds a layer of artifice that forces us to realize nothing is purely objective. Someone stitched these sequences together. Someone excised the “boring moments.” Someone saw the potential of Alex and Mallory’s nightmare to make money. It renders the final result even scarier because it preys on a family’s worst moment for profit. Or, depending on your read, does so to further spread its ancient gospel.

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Alex Lee Williams in DREAM EATER; courtesy of Iconic Events Releasing.