Last year I favourably reviewed Mike Flanagan's Oculus, a creepily effective horror film about a haunted mirror, and in my write-up I mentioned that I wanted to see what he'd do next. The answer is finally here, and - surprise! - it's another horror film. Stick to your strengths, I guess. This one's called Before I Wake, and the basic premise outlined by its new trailer (which gave a bit too much away) centres around dreams and nightmares coming to life. More specifically, the dreams and nightmares belong to a (suitably creepy) child adopted by beleaguered parents Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane, who seem to be looking to replace their dead son with a newer, fresher model.
Again, it looks like traumatic family units are on the menu, as well as a healthy dash of conspiracy thriller and, of course, horrifying supernatural beasties with hollowed out eyeballs. Whether it can match the claustrophobic dread and inventiveness of his previous film is unknown, although there certainly seems to be promise depth-wise. Let's just hope CGI and jump-scares are kept to a minimum.
