It is no surprise that a film taken from a Stephen King source disappoints. The record is distinctly patchy. The shock is that Dreamcatcher was directed by Lawrence Kasdan and written by William Goldman.

If you can imagine Stand By Me developing into a teen horror movie, you will know vaguely what to expect. No one, however, may be prepared for the alien "crap weasels" who fart their way out of the characters, in the manner of one of those gross-out American teenage comedies, before being blasted by Morgan Freeman's Colonel Kurtz, the bellicose officer sent down to New England from Washington to save the situation. This is terrible stuff, presumably concocted by Messrs Kasdan and Goldman in the effort to make a popular summer frolic.

Yet the film starts off well enough. A group of teenage friends see to it that a disabled child is protected from the bullies surrounding him. The result is that he imparts to them some sort of telepathic gift. One, however, has his mind occupied by an alien intelligence. There are others too - hence the "crap weasels". All this is accomplished with some skill. It's when the weasel aliens exit from various orifices that the film disintegrates into a sizeable heap of poo. Apparently King's book has been much altered. It can only be to its detriment. And the puzzle is that Kasdan and Goldman had a hand in it. They can't possibly be proud of the result. Or were they smirking as they did it?