Passes the Bechdel test
Bad Dreams
1988. Directed by Andrew Fleming, written by Andrew Fleming and Michael Dick and P.J. Pettiette.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 135. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In the mid-'70s, a cult group called Unity Field commits mass suicide, but a young girl survives. After being in a coma for thirteen years she wakes up in a psyche ward, not remembering the incident. The psychiatrist tries to help her remember, but she begins seeing the leader of the cult talking to her from the grave, and the other members of her therapy group begin to commit suicide around her. Or is it suicide?
- Released
- 08 Apr 1988
- Genres
- Horror, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.6 / 10
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Cynthia 200 lines, woman
- Alan 127 lines, man
- Berrisford 54 lines, man
- Victor 48 lines, man
- Harris 41 lines, man
- Ralph 39 lines, man
- Wasserman 31 lines, man
- Miriam 28 lines, woman
- Hettie 19 lines, woman
- Connie 11 lines, woman
Full cast, 46 people
- Jennifer Rubin as Cynthia
- Bruce Abbott as Dr. Alex Karmen
- Richard Lynch as Harris
- Dean Cameron as Ralph
- Harris Yulin as Dr. Berrisford
- Susan Barnes as Connie
- John Scott Clough as Victor
- E. G. Daily as Lana
- Damita Jo Freeman as Gilda
- Louis Giambalvo as Ed
- Susan Ruttan as Miriam
- Sy Richardson as Detective Wasserman
- Melissa Francis as Young Cynthia
- Sheila Scott-Wilkenson as Hettie
- Ben Kronen as Edgar
- Jon Menick as Night Guard Anthony
- Charles Fleischer as Ron the Pharmacist
- Brian Katkin as Physical Therapist
- Steven Anderson as Reporter #1
- Ellaraino as Reporter #2
- Maria Melendez as Reporter #4
- Harry Johnson as Reporter #5
- Diane Zolten Wiltse as Reporter #6
- Steve Whiteford as Reporter #7
- Coleen Maloney as Unity House Nurse
- Annie Waterman as Unity House Nurse
- Lee Waddell as Unity Member #2
- Tim Trella as Unity Member #3
- Philip Granger as Unity Member #4
- Kristina Loggia as Unity Member #5
- Patricia Veselich as Unity Member #6
- Elizabeth DuNah as Unity Member #7
- Julianne Dallara as Unity Member #8
- James Bolt as Unity Member #9
- Evan MacKenzie as Unity Member #10
- Darnell Gregorio as Unity Member #11
- Caroline Walter as Unity Member #12
- Anthony Cecere as Fireman
- James Purcell as Paramedic
- Don Sparks as Policeman at Fire
- Julianna McCarthy as Nurse #1
- Sarina C. Grant as Nurse #2
- Romy Rosemont as Nurse #3
- Randy Oglesby as Cynthia's Policeman
- Charles Bouvier as Ralph's Policeman
- Michael Lindström as Nurse
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 135
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 2 | 11 |
| 7 to 9 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 to 12 | 38 | 44 |
| 13 to 15 | 18 | 22 |
| 16 to 18 | 8 | 17 |
| 19 to 21 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 7 | 5 |
| 25 to 27 | 18 | 27 |
| 28 to 30 | 10 | 13 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 39 | 1 | 0 |
| 40 to 42 | 5 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 12 | 31 |
| 46 to 48 | 16 | 15 |
| 49 to 51 | 26 | 5 |
| 52 to 54 | 10 | 4 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 2 |
| 58 to 60 | 6 | 8 |
| 61 to 63 | 3 | 12 |
| 64 to 66 | 1 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 4 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 10 | 13 |
| 76 to 78 | 2 | 5 |
| 79 to 81 | 4 | 6 |
| 82 to 84 | 5 | 2 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 3 |
| 88 to 90 | 11 | 16 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 14 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 7 | 5 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 7 |
| 103 to 105 | 4 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 24 |
| 109 to 111 | 3 | 3 |
| 112 to 114 | 7 | 8 |
| 115 to 117 | 1 | 4 |
| 118 to 120 | 9 | 22 |
| 121 to 123 | 1 | 0 |
| 124 to 126 | 3 | 2 |
| 127 to 129 | 3 | 13 |
| 130 to 132 | 15 | 10 |
| 133 to 135 | 2 | 4 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
LANA: They're not finished, Dr. Goldman, they won't be finished until they have her feeling as miserable and pathetic and confused as they are. CYNTHIA: I am confused-- LANA: See? I hope you're all happy-- CYNTHIA: Dr. Goldman, I... I don't really know what I'm doing here. I mean... I don't think I meet your description of a Borderline Personality--
GILDA: No. GILDA: It's beautiful. It didn't matter if it worked. All that mattered was... you tried. CYNTHIA: Exactly!
CYNTHIA: This one's new. HETTIE: It'll help you sleep. Sort of a post-elevator cocktail?
MIRIAM: Nothing like a hot shower, huh? LANA: Cynthia? Cynthia? Are you okay? CYNTHIA: What? LANA: Are you all right? After that session today, I--
MIRIAM: I think I know a way to make a phone call. We'll have you out of here tonight. MIRIAM: Cynthia. This is the right thing to do. CYNTHIA: Of course it is. MIRIAM: Uh oh. Mum's the word.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 42 are women's.
283 lines from women, 396 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 25 men in the cast. 6 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 730.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 24 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 37% of the words (2,717), men 63% (4,584). Women have 42% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
20
Two men
34
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Andrew Fleming (man)
- Written by
- Andrew Fleming (man), Steven E. de Souza (man)
- Story by
- Yuri Zeltser (man), P.J. Pettiette (gender not listed), Michael Dick (gender not listed), Andrew Fleming (man)
- Produced by
- Gale Anne Hurd (woman)
- Shot by
- Alexander Gruszynski (man)
- Edited by
- Jeff Freeman (man)
- Music by
- Jay Ferguson (man)
- Production design by
- Ivo Cristante (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Patricia Norris (woman), Ronald Leamon (man), Deborah Everton (woman)
- Cast by
- Mindy Marin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
7 women, 12 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 17 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jennifer Rubin 26, E. G. Daily 26, Damita Jo Freeman 35, Susan Barnes 41
Men
Dean Cameron 25, John Scott Clough 27, Bruce Abbott 33, Louis Giambalvo 43, Richard Lynch 48, Harris Yulin 50
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4 million
- Box office
- $9.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 135 scenes and 730 lines of dialogue. How the test works
