Dream Lover is a 1986 American thriller film about a woman who undergoes sleep deprivation therapy after being attacked in her apartment - with unexpected results.

The film was directed by Alan J. Pakula, and stars Kristy McNichol, Ben Masters, and Joseph Culp.

Kevin admires her penchant for flute playing, and invites Kathy to front his jazz band.

While moving into her new apartment the next day, Kathy is startled by the sudden appearance of a man named Danny.

Afterward, Kathy calls the police; they wonder if she and Danny were sexually involved, since there are traces of semen in her bed.

The cops remain suspicious of Kathy's self-defense claims, as she admits to having fatally stabbed an unarmed man.

Failing drug therapy, Kevin takes her to Dr. Michael James - who suggests visiting a local "Sleep Center".

Their first attempt backfires; Kathy dreams of herself in Danny's position, assaulting and killing Kevin.

She is persuaded to give it another try, and this time it works: instead of a Danny-like maniac, Kathy finds herself as a young girl dressed in Victorian garb.

She offers to be Michael's test subject, but then dreams of him attacking and raping her in place of Danny.

In the dream, she totes a teddy bear and wears a white dress - which suddenly turns deep red.

Kathy, semi-awake and hallucinating, wounds Ben with a bread-knife and then rushes to the window...which offers a view similar to that in the picture above her father's bed.