Doctor Sleep (2002)

Director:

Nick Willing

Writers:

Madison Smartt Bell (novel)
Nick Willing (written by) ...

Release Date:

16 August 2002 (Israel)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The deeper the sleep. The darker the fear.

Plot:

A hypnotherapist is caught up in the pursuit of a serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Vision | Policewoman | Scotland Yard | Female Cop

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Shirley Henderson	...	Janet Losey
Goran Visnjic	...	Michael Strother
Miranda Otto	...	Clara Strother
Sophie Stuckey	...	Heather
Josh Richards	...	Keith
John Rogan	...	Francis Paladine
Claire Rushbrook	...	Grace
Lauren Gabrielle Volpert	...	Martha Strother
Sarah Woodward	...	Police Inspector Hilary Ash
Corin Redgrave	...	Chief Inspector Clements
Paddy Considine	...	Elliot Spruggs
Madison Smartt Bell	...	Hypnosis Patient
Stevie Nye	...	Young Boy 1
Joshua McGowan	...	Young Boy 2
Andrew French	...	Police Detective

Also Known As:

Close Your Eyes (USA)
Hypnotic (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and language.

Runtime:

USA:108 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:MA | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | Italy:T

Filming Locations:

East Finchley Underground Station, East Finchley, London, England, UK

Company:

BBC Films

Trivia:

Goran Visnjic lived in a rented flat above a pub off Trafalgar Square for three months while filming this movie.

Quotes:

Janet Losey: If you help me, I'll pay you 500 pounds.

Soundtrack:

Imagination

Moody and Thoughtful

Hypnotherapist Michael Strother experiences a psychic flash while trying to help policewoman Janet quit smoking. He mentions his vision of a young girl floating just beneath the surface of a stream to Janet, who tells him that the girl is Heather. Heather has recently escaped from the Tattoo Killer and has not spoken a word since. Michael very reluctantly agrees to help Janet in her search for the killer. Traumatized Heather reveals a few clues under hypnosis and geeky researcher Elliot provides still more with his research into the occult. Michael however has reason to worry. His insomnia is back, his guilty memories have been stirred up again, his heavily pregnant wife does not approve of what he's doing, and the killer pays a visit to his house in the dead of night, leaving behind an ominous warning. When Elliot turns up dead and Heather is kidnapped for a second time, Michael and Janet have little time left to discover the whereabouts of an ancient church...one of ten whose locations form a perfect pentagram on the map.

If you're looking for a fast paced splatter fest, filled with gore and excitement and gunfire, skip this film. If you can appreciate a slow, moody, thoughtful psycho- drama with a low budget and lots of good performances, this film is for you. There's plenty of violence, don't get me wrong. A hideous evisceration and a hungry rat make their appearance, but the camera mercifully looks away. For people with morbid imaginations, it is still a difficult scene to watch, as is the squirm-inducing lobotomy scene which fans of the film Session 9 will find familiar. The performances are great, particularly by Goran Visnij as the insomniac Michael who rarely smiles and always looks slightly haunted. He nevertheless seems to be a good husband to Miranda Otto (Eowyn from LOTR) as his heavily pregnant and hormonally irritable wife Clara. Miranda's American accent is flawless and she looks great. Her performance is totally believable. Shirley Henderson (Moaning Myrtle from the Harry Potter films) as Janet and Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley, also from HP) as the creepy Catherine Lebourg are both almost unrecognizable, turning in stoic, tight-lipped performances which are perfect.

Despite a somewhat predictable and downer ending, this film at least tries to be original and intelligent. The special effects used during the hypnosis scenes are clever and colorful and the mood throughout is heavy with dread. This is a good little film with strong performances, but it's not for everyone. Fans of mainstream horror may be bored silly, but fans of films such as the aforementioned Session 9 and the Chinese ghost story The Eye may enjoy this one as well.