Sleepwalkers (1992)
Sleepwalkers (1992)
It is no secret that I am a big fan of Stephen King's books and films, he is a prolific writer, and has written some of my favourite books. It is rare though when Stephen King writes a work specifically for the screen, and not based on one of his books, the first full feature film that he wrote for the big screen, not originally based on one of his books was Sleepwalkers in 1992. This is an interesting film, and sadly one that was hated by the critics, and still today is a film that doesn't receive much love.
Sleepwalkers is a story about nomadic shapeshifting vampiric creatures that feed off of people's energy, buy sucking it out of their mouths. The story centers on what may possibly be the last two remaining members of this species, a mother and son Mary and Charles Brady. Okay, to just add a level of weirdness, the son must feed on a young innocent woman, and then feed his mother through sexual intercourse...so these creatures are also incestual. Oh, and they are allergic to cats, and when wounded by a cat their wounds don't heal, so the only way to truly kill them is with the assistance of a cat (thus the poster with the cats), though weirdly enough, when in their natural state, they look like weird werecats. So they had to leave their home in Bodega Bay California (that name should be familiar to fans of horror, it was the setting of both The Birds, and Puppet Master), and they end up in rural Castle County Indiana (not to be confused with the fictional Castle County Maine, the home of Castle Rock). Charles meets the beautiful Tanya Robertson, and when he asks her out she gets more than she bargained for.
At Stephen King's insistence Mick Garris was chosen to direct the film, he and King would work together regularly through their careers. The screenplay was written by Stephen King himself, and not based on a previously existing book or short story. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures in 1992. Though the film was profitable in the box office, grossing $30.5 million with a budget of only $15 million, the film received generally negative reviews by the critics. Sleepwalkers still ranks low with the critics on sites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, though it does seem to have a small cult following.
Sleepwalkers stars Brian Krause as Charles Brady, Alice Krige plays his mother Mary Brady, Madchen Amick plays his love interest Tanya Robertson, Lyman Ward plays Tanya's father Donald Robertson, and Cindy Pickett plays her mother Helen Robertson. Glenn Shadix plays Mr. Fallows, a teacher who suspects that Charles is not who he says, and confronts him about it. The cops in the film are Ron Perlman as Captain Soames, Jim Haynie as Sheriff Ira Stevens, Dan Martin as Deputy Andy Simpson, Mark Hamill is uncredited as Sheriff Jenkins, and a cat named Sparks plays Clovis the hero police cat in the film. The film also features a bunch of cameos by horror legends with Stephen King as the Cemetery Caretaker, John Landis as Lab Technician, Joe Dante as Lab Assistant, Clive Barker as Forensic Tech, an Tobe Hooper as Forensic Tech. Really what is there not to love about this cast, with the handsome Brian Krause as the male lead, and the breathtakingly beautiful Madchen Amick as the female lead, and Alice Krige as the sensual Mary Brady, then with cameos and bit parts from some of the biggest names in horror, as well as Ron Perlman, and the amazing Mark Hamill. Though with all of the great actors on screen, I think the two characters that capture my heart the most is the beautiful charming Madchen Amick as Tanya, I love her style, and just the cute sweetness that she has to her, and then I absolutely loved Sparks as Clovis, maybe it is weird that one of my favourite characters is a cat, but anyone who knows me will know that that makes sense. Though one of the best bits in the film is with Stephen King as Cemetery Caretaker, I love seeing Stephen King in films, he always plays such great characters, and has memorable lines.
I think the reason that Sleepwalkers gets such bad reviews, is partly because most critics are film snobs, and they simply just don't get it. Sleepwalkers is a campy horror film that pays homage to the b-movies of the 1940s and 1950s, and as such I feel like it is an effective film. Stephen King doesn't set out to create a cinematic masterpiece that appeals to the film snobs, he was however successful in creating a fun b-horror film that starts out as a serious film, but devolves into a campy b-monster film, and as such is actually a pretty great film. This is one that kind of grew on me with repeated viewings, it is like drinking Moxie, on the first drink it might seem pretty bad, but the more you drink it the more you come to love it. Once you come to terms with the fact that the film is a campy b-film, and you just let yourself have fun with it, and enjoy the ride, you might come to see how great of a film it actually is. I love the lore behind the creatures, which makes the story deeper than it really needs to be, then there is the darkness of the Bradys contrasted with the beautiful light of Tanya and her family. Then the film makes the actual hero of the film, not one of the male cops, but instead the cat, and that is bloody brilliant! This film has a minor amount of gore, some sweet romance, some brutal violence, and healthy amount of humour to just make the film a fun ride. I will admit it, I actually have grown to love Sleepwalkers, I feel like it is an underappreciated b-horror film that effectively pays homage to the b-creature features from the past.
If you haven't yet seen Sleepwalkers, I do recommend checking it out, like I said you might not like it at first, but get into some classic b-creature features from the 1940s and 1950s and watch it a few more times, and look for the fun cameos, and bask in the fact that the hero isn't some man but a cat, and you might find yourself really appreciating Sleepwalkers for what it is. It isn't a cinematic masterpiece, but what it is is a great b-creature feature, and just a good time. So if you don't like this film, maybe give it another go, and try to look at it differently. Also the line "cop-kabob" when a cop dies by having a pencil shoved through his head, will make me laugh every time, I know it is stupid, but that doesn't make it less effective as a corny punchline, I love it! So if you come across a copy of Sleepwalkers, pick it up and give it a watch. Also fuck the stuffy old critics and film snobs, and let yourself just like something, no matter what anyone else might say about it.
Sleepwalkers is a story about nomadic shapeshifting vampiric creatures that feed off of people's energy, buy sucking it out of their mouths. The story centers on what may possibly be the last two remaining members of this species, a mother and son Mary and Charles Brady. Okay, to just add a level of weirdness, the son must feed on a young innocent woman, and then feed his mother through sexual intercourse...so these creatures are also incestual. Oh, and they are allergic to cats, and when wounded by a cat their wounds don't heal, so the only way to truly kill them is with the assistance of a cat (thus the poster with the cats), though weirdly enough, when in their natural state, they look like weird werecats. So they had to leave their home in Bodega Bay California (that name should be familiar to fans of horror, it was the setting of both The Birds, and Puppet Master), and they end up in rural Castle County Indiana (not to be confused with the fictional Castle County Maine, the home of Castle Rock). Charles meets the beautiful Tanya Robertson, and when he asks her out she gets more than she bargained for.
At Stephen King's insistence Mick Garris was chosen to direct the film, he and King would work together regularly through their careers. The screenplay was written by Stephen King himself, and not based on a previously existing book or short story. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures in 1992. Though the film was profitable in the box office, grossing $30.5 million with a budget of only $15 million, the film received generally negative reviews by the critics. Sleepwalkers still ranks low with the critics on sites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, though it does seem to have a small cult following.
Sleepwalkers stars Brian Krause as Charles Brady, Alice Krige plays his mother Mary Brady, Madchen Amick plays his love interest Tanya Robertson, Lyman Ward plays Tanya's father Donald Robertson, and Cindy Pickett plays her mother Helen Robertson. Glenn Shadix plays Mr. Fallows, a teacher who suspects that Charles is not who he says, and confronts him about it. The cops in the film are Ron Perlman as Captain Soames, Jim Haynie as Sheriff Ira Stevens, Dan Martin as Deputy Andy Simpson, Mark Hamill is uncredited as Sheriff Jenkins, and a cat named Sparks plays Clovis the hero police cat in the film. The film also features a bunch of cameos by horror legends with Stephen King as the Cemetery Caretaker, John Landis as Lab Technician, Joe Dante as Lab Assistant, Clive Barker as Forensic Tech, an Tobe Hooper as Forensic Tech. Really what is there not to love about this cast, with the handsome Brian Krause as the male lead, and the breathtakingly beautiful Madchen Amick as the female lead, and Alice Krige as the sensual Mary Brady, then with cameos and bit parts from some of the biggest names in horror, as well as Ron Perlman, and the amazing Mark Hamill. Though with all of the great actors on screen, I think the two characters that capture my heart the most is the beautiful charming Madchen Amick as Tanya, I love her style, and just the cute sweetness that she has to her, and then I absolutely loved Sparks as Clovis, maybe it is weird that one of my favourite characters is a cat, but anyone who knows me will know that that makes sense. Though one of the best bits in the film is with Stephen King as Cemetery Caretaker, I love seeing Stephen King in films, he always plays such great characters, and has memorable lines.
I think the reason that Sleepwalkers gets such bad reviews, is partly because most critics are film snobs, and they simply just don't get it. Sleepwalkers is a campy horror film that pays homage to the b-movies of the 1940s and 1950s, and as such I feel like it is an effective film. Stephen King doesn't set out to create a cinematic masterpiece that appeals to the film snobs, he was however successful in creating a fun b-horror film that starts out as a serious film, but devolves into a campy b-monster film, and as such is actually a pretty great film. This is one that kind of grew on me with repeated viewings, it is like drinking Moxie, on the first drink it might seem pretty bad, but the more you drink it the more you come to love it. Once you come to terms with the fact that the film is a campy b-film, and you just let yourself have fun with it, and enjoy the ride, you might come to see how great of a film it actually is. I love the lore behind the creatures, which makes the story deeper than it really needs to be, then there is the darkness of the Bradys contrasted with the beautiful light of Tanya and her family. Then the film makes the actual hero of the film, not one of the male cops, but instead the cat, and that is bloody brilliant! This film has a minor amount of gore, some sweet romance, some brutal violence, and healthy amount of humour to just make the film a fun ride. I will admit it, I actually have grown to love Sleepwalkers, I feel like it is an underappreciated b-horror film that effectively pays homage to the b-creature features from the past.
If you haven't yet seen Sleepwalkers, I do recommend checking it out, like I said you might not like it at first, but get into some classic b-creature features from the 1940s and 1950s and watch it a few more times, and look for the fun cameos, and bask in the fact that the hero isn't some man but a cat, and you might find yourself really appreciating Sleepwalkers for what it is. It isn't a cinematic masterpiece, but what it is is a great b-creature feature, and just a good time. So if you don't like this film, maybe give it another go, and try to look at it differently. Also the line "cop-kabob" when a cop dies by having a pencil shoved through his head, will make me laugh every time, I know it is stupid, but that doesn't make it less effective as a corny punchline, I love it! So if you come across a copy of Sleepwalkers, pick it up and give it a watch. Also fuck the stuffy old critics and film snobs, and let yourself just like something, no matter what anyone else might say about it.
Comments
Post a Comment