Customer Reviews

Sleepwalkers

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I must say I always have enjoyed this movie and as I was breezing through the reviews it seems like I was one of the few. Sleepwalkers is by no doubt the best movie I have seen, but I thought it has some merit as being a good movie. Sleepwalkers introduces you to these mysterious creatures that cats don't like. They appear human most of the time but can change either voluntarily and sometimes involuntarily into their cat like forms. They feed off human virgins it seems they suck their souls right out of them per oral. The plot is kind of thin and it could have been more developed, but it was still pretty good. The movie leaves a lot of questions about what these things are. If you are a movie watcher that likes to know all the facts this may not be the movie for you. The special effects were not all that great and I think the monster's appearance could have taken a little more attention, but I have never rated special effects above the plot. I think maybe Sleepwalkers would have turned out better as a book opposed to a movie, where there would be more time to develop the plot, but this didn't happen, so I guess I will settle for the movie.

Stephen King's Sleepwalkers is a fairly-good B-movie. Most of it is enjoyably watchable, due mainly to the easy-on-the-eyes-ability of its lead cast members Brian Krause, Alice Krige, and Madchen Amick. Then there are the cringeworthy moments: the violent moments that are both poorly executed and overly gory, as well as the disturbing dance sequences (creepy incestuous slow dance/hottie teenybopping with a carpet-sweeper ) early in the film.

There are a number of nicely put together scenes in the movie: the Trans Am chase, Krause and Amick at her house, as well as Krige's first two scenes with Amick. The "superpowers" of the Sleepwalkers are nice and original, but much of their history is left to our imagination. We are given some backstory via an "encyclopedia" definition, a snippet of Krause's creative writing assignment, and a few comments dropped here and there by Krause and Krige, though more would have been helpful. Questions remain as to why Krige can't "feed" herself and whether or not the Sleepwalkers are actually made of Meow Mix (how else can you explain the scene where cats troop through downtown Travis, Indiana, in pursuit of Krige)?

Plot holes? Certainly. Cameos by directors who ought to stay behind the camera instead of in front of one? Definitely. While the movie isn't exactly played for laughs and never fully descends into the campy netherworld, it's hard to take it too seriously. DVD extras are severely limited - although if you want to learn to read in Thai or Portuguese you're in luck because those are two of the seven sets of subtitles included on the disc.

For an original screenplay, Stephen King has put together a decent story. Were it a novel, we'd likely get the missing backstory (frustratingly, the movie wasn't novelized), but as it stands the story is pretty good - okay, the corn killing is lame, but for the most part things make sense. It would have been nice if some of the effects were less fakey or there had been a few more extras on the DVD (Sleepwalkers movie trailer, Writer/Director commentaries, deleted scenes), but for a few bucks you still get your money's worth. Netflix it first if you want, but I'm not ashamed to have it in my library collection.

Sleepwalkers has all the elements of a horror movie, and yet it isn't one. The first scene is very effective, and sets the tone for a good horror movie. We see Mark Hamill (unrecognizable from his Luke Skywalker days) as a cop checking out some odd goings-on at a house. But I wonder - did the girl scream or was she already dead? Or was it a dead body that screamed? The music and imagery during the opening credits is great. There's a definition of a sleepwalker from an old occult encyclopedia. The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and art look really cool. The sketch of a sleepwalker breastfeeding an infant looks scary. The thought that the infant might actually be a human being makes the sketch even more unsettling. Anyway, that first scene and the opening credits create an atmosphere of dread that we would expect to last throughout the rest of the movie. But Stephen King (who wrote the script) and director Mick Garris wanted to make a movie that was campy AND scary at the same time. Unfortunately, they failed to deliver with regard to the scares, but they do provide us with some good laughs. Sleepwalkers is a good movie, it's just not as good as it was meant to be. It's almost impossible for a movie to be both campy and scary, but I regard House of 1000 Corpses as a rare exception.

I think of Sleepwalkers as more of a comedy than a horror movie, just because there are so few moments that anyone would find scary (even though this movie terrified me when I was a kid). There's a lot of moments when this movie tries to be scary, but falls short, because the suspense is undermined by jokes or humorous incidents. All the murders are amusing for one reason or another. How can a murder be amusing? Watch this movie and you'll see what I mean - a lot of the murders look really silly, like when a Sheriff is bodyslammed on a picket fence. I think this movie works best as a comedy anyway. If the guys that made Sleepwalkers cut out all the funny stuff and just tried to go for the chills, then I think I would have enjoyed this movie a lot less.

In a nutshell, a mother and son are demonic shapeshifters called sleepwalkers that feed off the life-force of virgin women. Normally they take the form of human beings, so that they can go about daily life unnoticed. The incestuous behaviour of Mary Brady (Alice Krige) and her son Charles (Brian Krause) is disturbing, but for some reason it doesn't have any shock effect at all once it becomes apparent they aren't human. I suppose it's because I expect non-humans to do things that humankind considers perverse. But I also liked the way this movie made a nice instrumental like Santo and Johnny's `Sleepwalk' sound evil and creepy. Enya's `Boadicea' makes for good background music in the opening scene, but not when it shows Charles leaving the theatre - it just doesn't seem to suit the light-hearted nature of that scene. But when it plays at the end of the movie it suits that scene perfectly, and it runs on through the end credits.

I also like how the heroine Tanya Robertson (Madchen Amick) is a klutz, socially awkward, a nerd, and can resort to extreme acts of violence to defend herself. And I like how the teachers use corporal punishment on the kids, like rapping their knuckles with plastic rulers, or dragging them by the ear to the principal's office. The entertaining teacher Mr. Fallows (Glenn Shadix) has a few hilarious exchanges with Charles. Even Mr. Fallows' fatal run-in with Charles is somewhat of a light-hearted moment, thanks to Charles' wit. And the high-speed chase with the stressed out patrolman Andy Simpson (the excellent Dan Martin) is hilarious. I've seen Dan Martin in all kinds of stuff, so why is he still not getting the recognition he deserves?

The scene where Andy gets out of his car and stands in the middle of the deserted highway was good, but it would have been more effective if the viewer didn't know that Charles' car was invisible until AFTER Andy drove away. And that scene would have been more effective if he didn't curse (and say some really goofy words) out loud. A rather chilling scene was when Mrs. Brady puts the rose in Tanya's hair and says "There. It finishes you somehow." The coolest scene of the movie is when it shows Mrs. Brady lying on the ground, completely engulfed in flames. The most disturbing scene is when Tanya's arm gets cut on the broken glass of a police car window. And it was pretty cool when Mrs. Brady blows up the police cars, even if there was no realistic way they could have blown up like that.

I like cats, but all the cats in this movie are annoying. The scene of the cats running down the street to the Brady house is completely preposterous. But if there were no cats in this movie then there would be a problem, because a cat's scratch is the only thing that can harm a sleepwalker. I'm not sure if sleepwalkers are an actual legend or if Mr. King dreamed them up himself. If he did, why would he make a cat's scratch the only thing that can kill a sleepwalker? Something a little less complicated would have been better.

The guys that made this movie deserve a round of applause - it's hard as hell to make a movie that's funny AND scary, but in the case of Sleepwalkers they weren't just trying to be funny - they were trying to be HILARIOUS. Can a movie that's hilarious be scary? Some (but certainly not all) movies work because they don't take themselves seriously, like Sleepaway Camp 2. But in the case of Sleepwalkers it tries so hard to be funny that it can't be scary.

This isn't a very good movie. The gore effects are not great, there are plot holes big enough to drive a Trans-Am through, and most of the acting is board stiff. The only bright spot is Alice Krige- she turns in one of her usual, ..performances. Why this woman is not the biggest star on the planet, I'll never know. She made this character, Eva in "Ghost Story", and the Borg Queen in the Star Trek movie so incredibly ..compelling I can't think why she doesn't get bigger jobs. Worth seeing only for her.

"Sleepwalkers" is one of the better Stephen King movies and has all you'd expect from a B-class horror / fantasy flick such as this. The plot, while not over intelligent, holds some nice suprises. And some of the death scenes are awesome!

The cast is extraordinary for a rather cheap production such as this. Alice Krige, who some might remember as the Borg Queen of Star Trek fame, is excellent in the role of the evil mother. Also a must-see seeing is young Mädchen Amick, whom we know from "Twin Peaks" - she is as sexy as it gets and pulls off some really cute dancing that really blew me away. As a special bonus you get short appearances of Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Clive Barker (Hellraiser) and Stephen King himself.

The visual F/X were cutting-edge when the movie came out it 1992 - it was one of the first to feature computer-generated morphing effects. Still looks good today although not spectacular.

All in all, this movie is certainly not groundbreaking but you'll enjoy it if you're into this genre, can forgive some cheesiness and like movies with the certain "cult" effect.

Stephen King's Sleepwalkers is significant for a number of reasons (all of which added together fail to make this anything more than an average film). For one thing, it is the first story King wrote expressly for a movie (his earlier movies all being based on previously published work). Second, there is a wonderful cameo appearance by King himself, and this time he's not alone; both Tobe Hooper and the rarely seen Clive Barker join in the fun as forensics experts, while John Landis and Joe Dante also sneakily pass in front of the cameras. A third, and by far the weirdest, special little aspect of this film is the really close (and I mean really, really close) relationship between the mother and her only son. A fourth distinguishing characteristic of Sleepwalkers is its overuse of silly clichés and ridiculous dialogue; this serves to negate any chance of the film actually being horrifying. I hate to say it, but this movie is downright silly.

The genesis of this story sounds pretty good, actually. Drawing upon ancient stories and the highly mysterious history of cats, the film brings to life two modern-day "Sleepwalkers," a mother and son forced to constantly roam around the country as a direct result of their unusual feeding habits. Some places just don't take too kindly to having their citizens slaughtered and fed off of. The mother is now especially hungry, and she is depending on her beloved son Charles to supply her needs. These needs are rather specific, requiring a "nice" girl, and Charles has found the perfect such paragon of virtue and virginity in Tanya Robertson. His plans for bringing Tanya home to Mother inevitably go awry, and the last half hour of the movie is an anticlimactic torture test and overacting marathon in the form of a story that seemingly refuses to end. Brian Krause and Alice Krige actually play their roles rather well (not counting all of the silly dialogue they are forced to utter), and Madchen Amick is a lovely young woman who played her role of sacrifice-to-be in the brilliantly cheesy kind of way this script seemed to call for. Amick also has the distinction of being the only woman in the world I would pay money to watch sweep the floor.

The talent of one actor can sometimes save a movie from utter disaster, and the real hero of Sleepwalkers accomplishes just such a feat. This unsung hero is named Sparks, and he is outstanding in the role of Clovis the Attack Cat. Clovis is the hero of Sleepwalkers; don't let anyone tell you any differently. One sometimes wonders if cats are not the real overseers of this world. Everyone knows how mysterious they are, how they seem to live lives of leisure, and how even the best of them interact with the human world on their own terms. Sleepwalkers walk in utter fear of cats, deeply vulnerable to the merest slash from a cat's claw. By instinct alone, cats recognize Sleepwalkers, and throughout this film they are camped en masse outside the home of our local shapeshifters, patiently waiting for the perfect time to strike and thus, once again, help preserve the lives of human beings who will never realize their indebtedness to these seemingly playful, lazy creatures. Their constant vigil around the house of the Sleepwalkers provides the only remotely creepy aspect of the entire movie. Without the cats, this movie would not be worth watching at all.

You know how every once in awhile you get in the mood for a movie about incestuous shape-shifting monsters, a movie that features an attack cat, or how you long to see someone killed in a horror film by an ear of corn, and a movie that features cameos by some of the biggest names in horror (Stepehen King, Clive Barker, Joe Dante, etc.) all mixed in with a soundtrack featuring Enya? Well, Sleepwalkers is about the only thing out there that will scratch that itch. I don't want to give away any plot.......plot? points to the story. The dialog is classic Stephen King, and the rubberized monsters are fun and harken back to the day before CGI effects ruled horror films, but don't go into this movie expecting scares and tense scenes. If you like the bizarre, not in a David Lynch kind of way, but in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 kind of way, then Sleepwalkers is an enjoyable flick.

An odd lycanthropic thriller dealing with an incestuous mother and son living in a country house which becomes surrounded by cats, which the two seem to fear. So much so, that they set up traps on the lawn, which does not seem to work on the feral felines. Turns out they are a couple of real "cat people" themselves, who hunger for the lifeforce of virginal girls, and it is up to the blonde, blue-eyed son to acquire these for his hungry mother. He drives an electric blue Trans-Am AND a cherry red Mustang {the two transform into one another} - what better way to attract young impressionable females? And has aryan looks to boot. He finds a local girl who becomes enamoured with him, and it is not until they spend a romantic afternoon at the cemetary to go grave-rubbing and photographing, that her lust invokes the beast within him, as he eventually begins to orally draw her "soul" forth. They struggle and she becomes horrified at his true appearence, which resembles the vampires from 'Buffy'.

Earlier on, he went on a speeding frenzy likened a Dukes of Hazard sequence, after being confronted by an obnoxiously nosey teacher who in My opinion, really derived what he deserved. An aleurophile cop persues, who has a cat as partner, and becomes disturbed by the sleepwalker's morphing face after it noticed the hissing cat in the car - he eventually literally disappears, car and all. The frustrated officer swears to catch him. Later, when he finally spots the car parked outside the cemetary, he goes to investigate, and is met by the screaming girl, and soon by the "sleepwalker", who receives a shot from the cop's gun, which does not seem to phase him, although being attacked by the cat renders him veritably mangled, and returns to mother.

The girl is kidnapped by mother sleepwalker and is forced to dance with the zombified corpse of the boy via telekinetic manipulation, until the Police arrive and the girl breaks free from her influence.

Highlights include Stephen King and Clive Barker cameo appearences as a cemetary caretaker and a forensic technician.

Charles and Mary seem to have the ideal life - she his beautiful mother, he her handsome and devoted son. Sharing a house in one of those beautiful and idyllic northern California towns we see in countless straight-to-video/cable movies, they lead a life free of all cares except two: an army of cats, amassing in their front-yard, that recognize Mary and Charles for the soul-sucking and cat-like monsters they are; and how to find a young virgin girl to satisfy their hungers. Mary and Charles, we soon learn, are more than they seem. Going from town to town, fixating on virgin women who provide their only sustenance, the two are the last of their kind - only sometimes looking human (we can catch hints of their true appearances whenever they are near a mirror) - they can change their appearance as well as alter the appearance of anything else nearby like a car or a house. Only the cats have no fear of Charles and Mary - rather it's the monsters who shy from them, and the reason becomes apparent in a fur-flying climax guaranteed to send PETA members into a fury. While the cat army grows in their front yard (why the cats don't immediately attack isn't quite clear) Charles hunts for the next victim, quickly settling on Tanya Robertson (Madchen Amick - whose mom is NOT palyed here by the real Tanya Roberts). Though first romancing her, Charles doesn't take long to show her his true side (I guess because she must remain a virgin, and he's afraid to "spoil" his dinner). When Tanya proves no pushover, it's up to Mary to save the day.

"Sleepwalkers" runs on cheap thrills, CGI effects and the sexual charge exuded by Alice Krige as Mary. For a film that promises a lot (Stephen King, Clive Barker, Tobe Hooper, Joe Dante and John Landis all have cameos) however, it comes up short. While the script doesn't reveal all about Charles and Mary immediately, it doesn't take long before it reveals just about everything we we're going to find out, leaving the lovely and evil Alice Krige to carry the entire movie. Krige who can alternate between sweetly friendly and coldly and calculatingly evil is the flick's best effect, but one put to better use as the Borg Queen or as the vengeful phantasm of "Ghost Story".

I thought this movie was pretty good, but mostly because they kept playing Sleepwalk by Santo & Jonny. Decent action, cameos by King, Clive Barker and Mark Hammil (the cop at the beginning). Always fun to look at Madchen Amick.