Sleepstalker (1995)

User Rating:

4.2/10   

Director:

Turi Meyer

Writers (WGA):

Al Septien (written by) &
Turi Meyer (written by)

Release Date:

20 March 1998 (Thailand)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The Sandman's Last Rites

Plot:

Seventeen years after slaughtering all but one member of a family, a vicious serial killer known only as "The Sandman" awaits execution...

Plot Keywords:

Sandman | Serial Killer | Lullaby | Child Abuse | Independent Film

Cast

Michael Harris	...	The Sandman
Jay Underwood	...	Griffin
Kathryn Morris	...	Megan
Michael D. Roberts	...	The Preacher
William Lucking	...	Bronson Worth
Kathleen McMartin	...	Dana
A.J. Glassman	...	Kenny
Carmen Mormino	...	Cop
Lillian Hurst	...	Old Woman
Christopher Boyer	...	Detective Garcia
Ken Foree	...	Detective Rolands
Vincent Berry	...	Young Griffin
Giuseppe Andrews	...	Young Sandman (as Joey Andrews)
Caryn Richman	...	Mom
Marc McClure	...	Dad

Also Known As:

Sleepstalker: The Sandman's Last Rites (USA)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R

Company:

Intrazone

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater: Killer Geeks" (1995)

Soundtrack:

BLUE TO BLACK

C to the AMP

I don't get why no one has seen this movie. In retrospect, it fills all three of the qualifications that should be necessary for it to gain eternal infamy. Those are:

1. Campy 2. Crappy 3. Cult

I mean, come on, who couldn't love dialogue like, "That freaking freak!" or the classic, "You psychotic sack of #%$@!" And the special effects are so awful, you've got to love them! Can't afford to use computers to make sand fall up? Hey, no problem, just dump it out of a ceiling vent and play the tape in reverse!

And the acting, oh man, you've gotta love the acting! There's Michael Harris, who actually looks like he's trying to make something of the Sandman--though he's working way too hard to be semi-scary--and Jay "OHMIGOD!!!!!!" Underwood, who makes William Shatner look like a student of William Shakespeare, and whose most famous role might (sadly) be the one he was (mercifully) never seen in--as The Human Torch in the unreleased 1994 version of "The Fantastic Four," which actually sucked considerably less than the big-budget 2005 version (but still sucked, nonetheless). Honestly, the only actor in this movie who seems to recognize this project for what it is (and play her role as such) is Kathryn Morris, who adds the obligatory moderately-attractive chick to the film. She's just helpless enough to be a B-movie horror villain, yet just resourceful enough to be a B-movie heroine. It's worth noting that Morris is literally the ONLY person involved with this film who is still doing anything more significant than the odd one-shot guest appearance on Law & Order clones.

Listen, this movie is not a masterpiece, and suggesting it as such is just ludicrous. In fact, it may be one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but it's bad in an endearing way. What's most unfortunate of all is that if a talented horror director like Wes Craven with a decent budget and a competent cast were to get their hands on this script, it could be a pretty good film. The story is there, but the acting, the directing, the special effects, and, you know, the intelligence aren't. As it stands, you can do a whole lot worse in those $5 bargain bins at Wal-Mart, but you can make your $5 go a whole lot farther if you spend it on a bag of chocolate. Unless you've got a sense of humor as sick as mine, you'll enjoy the chocolate a lot more than you will this 90-minute running gag of a film.