Many of Georges Melies' films from 1908 were melodramatic or comedic, NOT the usual trick photography which you see in his earlier work. Why? Well, nobody appreciated trick films anymore as the years went on and after a bit it grew old. So, considering this, it is interesting to find "Dream of an Opium Fiend" among the director's work from 1908, since it is again contains fantasy elements which is more typical of Melies's earlier shorts.Running at 5 minutes, we are introduced to a guy who likes--what else?--opium. He falls asleep and then has an odd dream in which the moon talks to him in the form of a pretty girl and then, since he's smitten, he makes a couple attempts to embrace her. She then turns into a hideous dwarf creature. The ending is apparently lost: according to Melies's Complete Catalogue of Genuine and Original and Star Films, (which I own a facsimile file of which I found on the Internet) the film originally had the man attempting to club the creature before waking up only to attack the Chinese attendant instead. The film now ends with him grabbing a bottle and threatening to hit the dwarf. It's a good film overall, although contrary to what the other reviewer said, I couldn't identify Melies playing any of the characters in here.

Dream Of An Opium Fiend (1908) *** (out of 4) aka Le rêve d'un fumeur d'opium A well-dressed man enters an opium den where after a few hits he begins to have a strange vision. The scene then takes place at his home where he pours a large mug of beer and gives it to the moon to drink and this is just the start of his trip. DREAM OF AN OPIUM FIEND isn't quite as good as Melies' best work but I think it has enough going for it to where fans should have a good time. The first thing I noticed is that this opium must be some powerful stuff because the man starts to go crazy after being around the smoke for just a few seconds. Melies plays the opium seller and just wait until you see the wild dance he does. Of all the crazy stuff you've seen in his work, this here might be the weirdest. The dream sequence is actually pretty good and I especially enjoyed the stuff with the moon. To say the scene of the moon coming towards the camera is surreal would be an understatement. This scene is certainly going to remind people of A TRIP TO THE MOON but it's still a lot of fun.