| Credited cast: | |||
| George Peroulas | ... |
Happy Home Mental Patient
|
|
| Fountain Yount | ... |
Edward Eischel
|
|
| Gregory Fawcett | ... |
Francis
(as Greg Fawcett)
|
|
| William Sanderson | ... |
Joe Slaader
|
|
|
|
Kurt Hargan | ... |
Dr. Wardlow
|
|
|
Frank Schuler | ... |
Peter Slaader
|
| Marco St. John | ... |
Dr. Fenton
|
|
|
|
Rick Dial | ... |
Dr. Barnard
|
| Tom Savini | ... |
Sheriff
|
|
| Robert Jayne | ... |
Jasper
(as Bobby Jacoby)
|
|
|
|
Rachel Mellendorf | ... |
Ardelia
|
|
|
Jan Jackson | ... |
Nurse in operating room
(as Jane Jackson)
|
|
|
Tonya White | ... |
Featured Extra
|
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
|
|
David T. Alcorn | ... |
Syringe Head
|
| Tommy Barnes | ... |
Attendant
|
|
Joe Slaader is a mysterious mountain man being held in the Ulster County Asylum after the brutal murder of his family. Edward Eischel, a young intern, sees something more than just an inbred monster in this new inmate, however. Instead, he sees him as the harbinger of some greater and much darker force. With bodies piling up, his job in jeopardy, and his sanity hanging in the balance he gives in to his obsession with tapping into Joe's hidden power, risking all that he has along the way. Written by Anonymous
I have my own stereotypical ideas of how insane people might act. I also have my own ideas of how people who are possessed by demons or other beings might act. The acting by most of the main characters in Beyond The Wall Of Sleep does not fit in any category of acting except Bad Acting. Many of the lines are delivered as if being read for the first time with the actors following parenthetical guidelines and sideline instructions from their coach or stage mother. The actors portraying insane characters could pretty much get away with anything, but the so-called sane characters are not in the least believable. Sanderson is okay in his muttering portrayal of an inbred degenerate, but by far most of the other actors were simply horrible, over-emoting and stretching their facial expressions to comedic proportions. Horrible acting does not make a good horror show. Yount, as Edward Eischel, is perhaps the ultimate BAD actor. I noticed when I clicked on Yount's name that, at the time of this writing, there were no other filmography credits for Yount. Hopefully there never will be.
I would not recommend this movie to anyone as an example of what H. P. Lovecraft's writing can conjure in a fertile mind. For me, one of the biggest failings in all the Lovecraft inspired movies I have seen is the portrayal of the creatures. Usually the creatures are poorly made-up, poorly animated, and just overall not living up to the feelings of terror inspired by Lovecraft's writing. Beyond The Wall Of Sleep has believable horrific creatures, but the portrayal of humans is not to be believed.