Director Wes Craven attempts to breathe new life into the zombie horror film and crosses it with the same dream-versus-reality theme that provided the basis for his famous 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'.

But this is a much darker descent into personal nightmare and the storyline is both weaker and fuzzier.

Bill Pullman is a bland Joe Public figure, whose nightmare visions at the hands of corrupt voodoo magician Zakes Mokae (in the most full-blooded, black-hearted, and memorable villain since the heyday of the James Bond films) will have male viewers in particular crossing their legs in sympathy.

The whole lukewarm affair stands as a further benchmark to the sad decline in the cinematic career of Cathy Tyson, whose exposure in 'Mona Lisa' led her nowhere in film terms.