Sleepless (2001)

People are voting emotionally.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I happened to come across this movie when it first came out in my local video shop going back about 10 years ago now, before a time when I was into the internet so at the time I had no clue at where or when the next Dario Argento movie was coming out, that's the main reason why I bought this and I was surprisingly pleased with the result.The plot is quite interesting, an idea of the dwarf murders is certainly interesting and can only be pulled off in Italian horror, but one of my main complaints is that it doesn't quite follow the director's usual flair, but this is still the best movie he's done in a long time. Giallo fans will know that Sleepless follows a fairly well-worn pattern from a storyline perspective. There are a few twists and turns with plenty of murders strewn in among the chaos before the film ultimately climaxes with the revelation of the killer. Argento doesn't do much to separate this one from the giallo pack, but the nursery rhyme aspect is interesting and even a bit demented.The death scenes are fun and very elaborate and the performances are decent as well from the cast, Max Von Sydow is competent and an unexpected presence in this kind of movie and Stefano Dionisi also gives a convincing performance as the male lead.All in all Many say that this is a return to form, and in a way it is but not quite up there with (Deep Red, The Bird In A Cystal Plummage, Suspiria, Tenebrae and Phenomena), but much better than the more recent efforts like (Trauma and Stendal Syndrome).

In 1983 a serial killer nicknamed the Dwarf embarks of a murderous spree. The detective in charge Moretti (played by legendary Max von Sydow) manages to connects the dots to a mystery novelist Vincenzo de Fabritiis, only for the suspect to die before capture. Almost twenty years later a prostitute by freak accident stumbles upon memorabilia of past murders, whilst leaving a clients house. Before she can pass on the mementos to anyone else she is brutally murdered. Soon after murders surprisingly similar to the 1983 case occur and detective Moretti is called back in to assist...After over a decade of lingering in the disembowelled remains of his legend Dario Argento returns by resurrecting his giallo cookbook. And make no mistake - Argento does not attempt in the slightest to modernise the genre, instead he follows his own former path of glory making sure the recipe is repeated. This also signals a welcome return of The Goblins and their always hauntingly suitable score. The requisite ingredient of long marauding shots, which follow the blood, murder and atmosphere, is obviously also present. One especially well-done fist-clenching sequence has the camera follow a red (what? you expected any other colour from Dario?) carpet with the unmistakable relentless accompaniment of The Goblins straight to a morbid beheading.That said Argento seems to have dropped his obsession with coloured lenses and does not seem to attach the same fervorous attention to set-pieces. Unfortunately this does seem to take away some of the Argento magic and can not help but feel the superiority of the 70s giallo. Even more so, that the formulaic repetitiveness of Argento causes "Sleepless" to become all to similar to what the master has already offered us in the past. The script has the feel of being a collage of several other Argento giallo flicks. Nonetheless the movie features surprisingly crisp acting for an Argento movie, even though some of the characters seem unnecessarily overcooked.There are several other smaller flaws to "Sleepless", as the movie drags on even more than we are used to from the Italian, the dialogue can be ridiculous at times (Moretti dumbfoundedly asks "Who is that? Is this a joke?" after hearing someone break his window), whilst some of the plotting is absurdly unlikely to say the least (i.e. a witness decides to return a gold pen to the serial killer in exchange for money, instead of handing in the evidence to the police).This movie also has a touch of Argento's self-commentary to it in the shape of Moretti, a detective used to the old ways of solving crime. Now the methods have changed, but Moretti has struggled to adapt, still preferring the traditional art of deduction. One can't help but feel that this is Argento's personal explanation as to his persistent drop in status during the 90s.Nonetheless a nice movie that shows that Dario Argento still has some spark left in him. Whether or not he will be able to tap into this source to make a spectacular comeback to the limelight remains however to be seen.

When you watch a Dario Argento flick, you know what to expect. Still, being a sucker for a good slasher pic, I still give these movies a chance. You get the gore, you get ... Well, that's about it. The acting, of course, is awful. The script? Well, I wonder if there ever was one. Seems like they improvised this one over some good pot. Thrills? Not really. Even the killings are fake as hell. I know, that's what Argento stands for, but one has to wonder: why has this guy gathered such a reputation? Is it because "it's so bad it must be good"? I read someone's comment here that if you don't like this film, you know nothing about movie making. No kidding?

Dario Argento returns to the form that made him famous, that of the giallo. The results are certainly decent although not quite up to the highs of his earlier works like Cat O'Nine Tails and Deep Red. As in previous films, there are red herrings galore and Argento fills the screen with his trademark camera shots and ultra violence. One scene in which a victim has their face smashed against a wall is particularly gruesome, complete with teeth falling out of the ruined mouth and face. Like many of Argento's films, the dubbing is truly horrific. I can't speak Italian so I'm assuming that the dialogue sounded much better in its native tongue than the overacted and pulpy English dub that I viewed. Max Von Sydow is great as the detective who worked on the case 17 years ago and now must return to the one that got away and try and solve it. The film is certainly well done and better than the director's last few films, but the only real problem that I had with it was it overstays its welcome. Shorn of perhaps 20-30 minutes, the film would have been much tighter and worked a bit better.