Sleepwalkers (1992)

Absolutely Fantastic

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Original, over the top fare with a side of cats. Garris and King cook up one hell of a romp in this dark fairy tale. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll squirm.

"sleep'walk'er n. Nomadic shape-shifting creatures with human and feline origins. Vulnerable to the deadly scratch of the cat, the sleepwalker feeds upon the life-force of virginal human females. Probable source of the vampire legend." - Chillicoathe Encyclopaedia of Arcane Knowledge, 1st edition, 1884The first half of the movie is quite promising and I was glad to finally have the opportunity to see the horror that is also a quality movie. Adapted from the story by Stephen King, directed by Mick Garris, with a bunch of familiar faces, among which are Leo from "Charmed", Shelly from "Twin Peaks", enchanting Alice Krige, Hellboy, John Landis, as well as my favorite horror authors Stephen King and Clive Barker in minor roles. Unfortunately, somewhere around half, movie unexpectedly turns into completely ridiculous crap and stays that way till the end.The epilogue, which I would like to add to the end of the film: Half a century later we see Tanya, which has since remained the old lady spinster, lying dead on the couch in a dusty little apartment, surrounded by dozens of cats. I am not saying that this would significantly improve the impression, but a bit of black humor is always welcome spice.5/10

Yes, it's a book-to-film adaptation of another one of Stephen King's horror novels. And, if you know anything about how well his stories transfer across medium, you'll know they have a history of not really working. For every Pet Sematery and IT there's a dozen 'Sometimes They Come Backs' and 'The Dark Halfs.' However, Sleepwalkers is oddly sit-throughable.I use the word 'sit-throughable' over good, because I want to set you expectations at the right level. You'll be okay to walk in and out of the film to make a cup of tea and come back without really missing that much.It's about, er, things. They're like people during the day, but sometimes monsters. And they have powers. You don't really get much back story concerning where they're from, what they are and what they're capable of, but never mind. They're a mother and son couple. And, when I say 'couple' – I mean couple. Yes, yuk! They move from town to town sucking the life – literally – out of people – mainly teenage girls the son manages to seduce with apparent ease. And did I mention they don't like cats? And it's not a case of a mild allergy where they sniff a bit whenever Mr Tibbles walks into the room, they go a bit mental. But then cats hate them, too.Yeah, it's all a bit of a mess. They move to a town and the cycle starts all over again, but will they manage to suck the life out of Twin Peaks' Madchen Amick? Yes, this is probably her biggest role since leaving the cult TV show and she... well, she's okay, but much capable of more.Basically, if you don't mind cheesy horror that could be so much better then you'll be okay with this. It's short. That's a bonus. It doesn't drag. But don't expect anything to really make sense. Things happen just to move the plot forward and that's about it. Your expectations need to be low. In fact, in these days of remakes and prequels, this is one film I'd actually like to see a prequel to. There's so much left out of the history of the characters, a prequel might explain some of it.

*** MAY CONTAIN A MINOR SPOILEROkay, we're not talking about academy award material here, but the film did win some minor awards. Weirdly, Alice Krige won both a best actress and a best supporting? Guess that shows how minor they were, but boy is she hot! IMO she was a supporting actress, but when she got screen time, she dominated.If you go into this for an entertaining, out of the box, horror/vampire movie you just might not be too disappointed. I don't even like most vampire/werewolf movies, but I liked this one.The cast is pretty good-looking, for the most part, which helps. Alica Krige, the boy vampire's mother could not be a lovelier monster. There are also some comic relief moments that help elevate it too.It'll also help to be a cat lover. One scene with Clovis the cat, where he climbs onto his dead law enforcement master's chest, actually brought tears to my eyes. The relationship between Clovis and his master is touching and comical. What cop would be allowed to bring his pet cat along on patrol? But Clovis saves the day time after time. You GO Clovis!Look for Stephen King's cameo as the cemetery caretaker.If you're looking for a serious film, go elsewhere. The gore makeup is pretty durn lame, but also not too disturbing because of that, which allowed me, at least, to enjoy other elements of the movie.There's a pretty good jump scare. I screamed out loud, though this is the second, maybe third viewing for me. I won't spoil that one. Like all good jump scares, that tactic isn't overused in this movie.So if you like a less than serious, not too disturbing horror flick give this one a go. It just may engage you.