Somnambulism
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
Just a bit of WHAT THE FUCK you can look for in this movie.
I’m going to keep this one short and sweet. Sleepwalkers, written by Stephen King is like…well, it’s like being whipped while reading a good Stephen King story. And not in a good way! To my knowledge, I think there has only been one work that King (one of my favorite authors) has brought directly to the screen that worked really well, and that was Storm of the Century. Having said that, let’s look at Sleepwalkers!
On the plus side, the monsters in this movie hate cats. That’s about where I stop having anything in common with them. Granted, I don’t treat them the way the Sleepwalkers do, with bear traps and quick spine snaps, and never will, but felines and I don’t see eye to eye. Another plus here is casting. Bryan Krause, who you might remember from Charmed here plays…well, it’s simply a ham handed, overwrought personification of date rape. I’m not certain what the message here is, but clearly, if you’re a young girl and, God forbid, you’re thinking about sex, your days are numbered in this version of King’s Castle Rock (It’s got the same cemetary at any rate). Whatever the hell he’s supposed to be, Krause makes the most of it. Alice Krige plays his mother. Let’s all bow our heads for the hotness that is Alice Krige. Here, she’s asked to do any number of silly ass things, which she does while making it seem that she’s the Dame Judy Dench of “B” films, which she might just be. There’s also a very subtle hint of incest going on, but you might miss that. Okay, the Mom and son are totally fucking each other, but that’s revealed in the first thirty seconds of seeing them for the first time. Rounding things out nicely…oh so nicely, is Madchen Amick. She plays a good victim here, but, of course, that’s all she is in this one. A victim. She makes a couple feeble attempts to save herself, but ultimately, by the end of the movie, you definitely find yourself rooting for the bad guys. On the other hand…pretty-pretty!
This is an entertaining, fun, film, I thought. There’s a stab at some kind of message in there, but for me, all that goes out the window when Ron Perlman shows up to show just how well he can play an asshole cop. Turns out…very well. All in all, put it in your player, get some popcorn and perhaps a large amount of alcohol or other mind altering substance, and enjoy the ride.
And enjoy Madchen Amick. I know I do.
Posted on October 9th, 2009 at 11:35 am
King’s horror film adaptations are almost always frustrating, with the exceptions of Misery and The Mist (and, yes, I left The Shining off the exceptions list). The only time I ever feel anywhere near confident in a King adaptation anymore is if it meets one or both of the following criteria: it’s a non-horror story, and it’s written/directed by Frank Darabont. I’m hoping that J.J. Abrams handles the Dark Tower franchise properly (my favorite King novels)… he did Star Trek more justice than it rightly deserved, so I’m not sweating his DT flicks too bad.
Posted on October 9th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Oh I gotta say that I love Carrie. Love that movie. As I did for the original Salem’s Lot miniseries directed by Tobe Hooper. There’s a dolly shot in the movie that was fucking unbelievable! But, you’re right. The horror adaptations aren’t especially good. There’s a couple of exceptions, as you noted, Pet Semetary, I liked, but it’s a pretty thin list.
Posted on October 9th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I love Carrie as well… can’t believe I forgot that one! Salem’s Lot and Pet Semetary could have been worse, and I really enjoy both, but there’s too many things I can pick at about them which keep them middling at best.
Posted on December 21st, 2009 at 7:07 am
[...] in it, eh? That alone ought to be worth a look. Okay, I won’t go too much into this one, because I’ve reviewed it already. Just suffice it to say that Madchen Amick is hot, and leave it at that. Can't talk..Nerd [...]