What Dreams May Come is a 1998 American fantasy drama film directed by Vincent Ward and adapted by Ronald Bass from the 1978 novel by Richard Matheson.

Chris, who is initially relieved that her suffering is over, grows angry when he learns that those who die by suicide go to Hell; not the result of a judgment made against them but rather their own tendency to create nightmare afterlife worlds based on their pain.

Chris is adamant that he will rescue Annie from Hell, despite Albert's insistence that no one has ever succeeded in doing so with someone who died by suicide.

Chris enters their horrific-looking home to find Annie suffering from amnesia, unable to remember her suicide and visibly tortured by her decrepit surroundings.

Unable to stir her memories, the tracker sees Chris give up his quest to save Annie from Hell.

As he declares to Annie his intent to stay, his words parallel something that he had said to her as he left her in an institution following the children's deaths, and she regains her memories while Chris is making her nightmare his.

[8] Part of the "Hell" sequence was filmed on the decrepit hull of the Essex class aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CV-34) while berthed at Mare Island in Vallejo, California.

The musical score for What Dreams May Come was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen and produced by James Seymour Brett.

"I was at an extremely profound juncture in my own life at that time, and the film produced a powerful and personal response in me," said Kamen.

[15] The author Richard Matheson claims in an introductory note that only the characters are fictional, and that most everything else is based on research (the book includes an extensive bibliography).

Chris finds it difficult to move, breathe or see, and he suffers physical torture at the hands of some inhabitants.

He does not encounter ships, thunderstorms, fire, or the sea of human faces that his film counterpart walks on.

Instead, he and Albert climb craggy cliffs and encounter sights such as a swarm of insects that attacks people.

The plot, which focuses on the sacrifices one man will make for true love, is neither complicated nor original, but, bolstered by the director's incredible visual sense, it becomes an affecting piece of drama.

"[21] Leonard Maltin, in his annual publication TV Movies, gave the film a "BOMB" rating, describing it as being "off-putting gobbledygook".

[22] In an interview regarding adaptations of his work, Richard Matheson stated, "I will not comment on What Dreams May Come except to say that a major producer in Hollywood said to me, 'They should have shot your book.'