Katrina’s Dream is a 50’s sci-fi premise tied up in an Art Deco Film.
Nothing is quite like finding indie movies at a con. Filmmakers are desperate for exposure and nerds and geeks sit down for some new fandom. It’s the perfect storm…or it can be, depending on the content, the timing and the tolerance level of the attendees. Sometimes, the movie content is relatable. Other times, viewers get something like Katrina’s Dream.
What is Katrina’s Dream?
Here’s the synopsis directly from the filmmakers:
“Katrina wishes to have children but her boyfriend Louis doesn’t. She falls in love with Louis’s best friend Ron, who becomes the man of her life. One night, returning drunk together from a birthday party, Louis and Ron are involved in a car accident in which Ron loses his head and Louis his body. Thanks to a head transplant the two men survive, merged into one person. Katrina must now deal with the body and mind of two different men to fulfill her dream.”
Picture what that movie should look like. Did you imagine it would be an Italian art deco? Surprise!
Katrina’s Dream Visuals and Story
Katrina’s Dream runs about 90 minutes and 30 of those minutes are shots of the countryside and external pictures of Katrina’s car. She gets the same parking spot roughly 30 times (or so it seems). Act One is hardly more than a Fiat commercial. Katrina (Dagna Litzenberger-Vinet) is wearing a rubber pad underneath her dress so she appears pregnant. Her goal is to visit the combined parts of her two lovers. Why is she posing as pregnant? Two reasons.
First, she needs to convince Dr. Novak (Adrian Furrer) to let her see Louis/Ron. He believes that Ron is dead but she thinks he is still somewhere inside of the combined man. Eventually, she is allowed to see Louis, which only convinces her more that Ron is not dead and that his consciousness is alive.
The rest of the movie is flashbacks that show Louis didn’t want children and that drove Katrina to Ron. The car crash happens off camera. Katrina finds out when Novak calls her. She then goes to meet him and he proposes the Frankenstein experiment. When Katrina isn’t driving, the action takes place in a sanitarium that includes a handful of other random patients.
Why Katrina’s Dream is a Train Wreck
Katrina’s Dream, whose movie poster tag line is “She lost her head. So did he”, is a jumbled story that runs too long, feels flat, and has no consistent visual elements. Louis and Ron are nowhere near the same height or skin tone, but once they’re together, it’s all just Manfred Lietchi’s pasty, balding white body from head to toe.
The dialogue is ham-handed and the editing is awful. (Example: Right after Novak instructs his assistant to increase Louis’ medication, remove all sharp objects and lock the windows, the scene cuts to Louis in his room with the windows wide open.) This one isn’t worth the 84 minute run time. The bottom line is Katrina’s Dream is everyone else’s nightmare.
Unrelated, but here for a laugh is Katrina’s Dream dot org, the Atlanta based organization that is seeking to include women in Church and Society.
Check out more of my writing over on my Amazon.com page, including the Leon “Catwalk” Caliber cyberpunk series, and the Urban Samurai series. Also, check out the Geek Wolfpack Podcast and the ADHD D&D podcast.