This sounded promising: an adaptation of a rarely-adapted Lovecraft story, part of the MASTERS OF HORROR series of television-made horror films, directed by Stuart Gordon, who made the excellent RE-ANIMATOR amongst other good flicks. Sadly, I was disappointed, as this had nowhere near the power of another episode I saw that was directed by John Carpenter. DREAMS IN THE WITCH-HOUSE is a cheesy, low budget horror flick about a guy haunted by a witch and a rat living in his room's wall, and that's that! I remember the original story as being very spooky, atmospheric and creepy. Gordon achieves that effect in places, but in other elements the film falls down. There's a sense of sluggish lethargy about the production, despite the short running time and relatively fast pacing; even in the midst of action I felt disconnected, somehow bored by what was going on. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact problem. Ezra Godden (DAGON) works hard as the hero, putting in a good turn, and Chelah Horsdal supports him well. There's plenty of blood-splashing gore on offer, with some truly grisly moments, and a scene of sexy nudity. A downbeat ending seems to be typical of modern horror productions and the music's fine, too.It's just that there's something missing. Although the scriptwriter sticks fairly closely to Lovecraft's story, missing is the author's sense of cosmic horror and doom. I did enjoy this movie on a visual level, and there's no denying that Gordon's enthusiasm for the project makes it a success – albeit a minor one.

This one had its moments, just was not as good as I thought it was when I read a description of it. I was expecting something that looked and played out a bit better. Some of the things in the movie just made it seem a bit to comedic like the rat with human face. Then I was expecting some good nude scenes, but what we get is very short. Then there really is not all that much stuff in the way of horror other than the ending which I did not care for. Still, it was strange enough to keep me interested for a bit, but this one is just not as enjoyable as other "Master's of Horror" as I enjoyed Cigarette Burns and Fair Haired Child to name a couple a lot better. This one revolves around a man in a rented room that learns that the way his room sits may actually be able to access some other dimension or something to that effect. Well there is a rat with a human face and a witch that plays a part in this film, but all in all it left me feeling I needed a bit more. Felt to much like a television show than a movie, something Cigarette Burns avoided doing. Though Fair Haired Child most certainly felt like a television show also. There is a good deal of blood and stuff in this one though, however nearly all of it is confined to the end.

The idea of releasing each episode of Masters of Horror as a feature film on DVD is genius for the business but absolutely annoying for us, or at least for me. I have seen only 5 episodes of Season 1 since I usually find something else when I am at the DVD/Music store and I always think something like this: well those Masters of Horror DVDs are always there and maybe this movie wont be there the next time.I recently watched Dagon (2001) and it was my introduction to Stuart Gordon and since I really liked it and I can't find Re-Animator I decided to buy this DVD, the volume 2 of Masters of Horror. Like Dagon and Re-Animator, Dreams in the Witch-House is based upon a story, in this case a short story by H.P. Lovecraft and like Dagon is a pretty good film, in this case a short film.Ezra Godden (also protagonist of Dagon, by the way) is Walter Gilman, a student who rents a room in order to can finish his thesis. There he meets his neighbor Frances Elwood (Chelah Horsdal) and her baby son Danny. In a similar situation of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Walter starts to have bizarre dreams, actually nightmares, about one of the ugliest rats ever which are very lively and like in A Nightmare… when he is awake he has the marks of those nightmares. Of course that is not a coincidence and soon he will realize that he is just the key connection of a ritual that needs the sacrifice of Danny.All the episode is quite good and you will be entertaining during the first part but the climax is way better with the terrific scene of Walter fighting against a witch and a rat to save a baby. But even he really tried, he failed and the conclusion is also great, expected, since who will believe his bloody experiences in order to save Danny, but great and leaves that final detail of how old was that f*cking ritual and the final appearance of that -ugly as f*ck- rat.To end, this was a terrific episode yet not my favourite of the few ones that I have seen but it delivers a fine hour and on a personal level, this was the second positive time with a work of Stuart Gordon. So if you ask me get first the DVD of Carpenter's episode, second the DVD of Miike's episode and later this one.

Director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) delivers a great, brutal and weird second episode to the "Masters Of Horror" series with "H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in The Witchhouse". Gordon, whose earlier work, such as "Re-Animator" or "From Beyond" has been based on the writings of the ingenious H.P. Lovecraft, manages to put Lovecraft's typical supernatural and extrasensory atmosphere to screen in a very good, eerie way.University student Walter (Ezra Godden) moves into a 300 year old house, where he expects a low rent and the appropriate quietness he needs to study. The house is inhabited by its disgusting, greasy and heartless landlord (Jay Barzeau), a supposedly crazy old man (Campbell Lane) and a pretty young mother named Frances (Chelah Horsdal) and her baby son. While Walter and Frances start to befriend, strange things start happening when Walter is on his own. He hears strange noises, and has some very weird dreams...This second episode, which is not afraid to break taboos, is one of the very good ones from the first season. It is gruesome and eerie as Horror should be, the performances are entirely good and convincing, and the whole episode is highly atmospheric, and very suspenseful throughout its 55 minutes. My praise goes to Stuart Gordon for this eerie and breathtaking second entry to the great MoH series. If you like the show, you certainly shouldn't miss "Dreams In The Witch House"!