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I don't remember which Christmas it was, but I do remember telling my mom that I wanted horror movies, any kind, as gifts. Stephen King's Sleepwalkers was under the tree that year. Then, probably more than a decade later, I watched it. This is my second viewing, one in which I can appreciate and laugh at the absurdity of it all. This is not really a horror film, it's a comedy. I mean, it has to be, right?
Mary and Charles are mother and son shape-shifting demons who can create illusions and have telekinetic powers. They need to suck the life force out of virgins to continue living and move from town to town doing so. The director, Garris, would later on use this same idea in Hocus Pocus. Their one weakness....CATS. Oh yeah, they bang each other all the time.
Based on an unpublished Stephen King story....there's your first warning, this Mick Garris film feels right out of the 80's, but was actually released in 1992. Garris is responsible for multiple King adaptions, and none of them are particularly good. Sleepwalkers has all the makings of a TV movie, bad acting, bad production values, cheesy effects and hilariously inappropriate moments. The moment that Charles turns into his cat like demonoid self and delivers weird and awkward, yet in his mind hilarious one-liners, is when you have to realize that this film is operating at another level. That level is beyond what we as normal human beings can even begin to comprehend. Sleepwalkers is a masterpiece of bad filmmaking.
The one recognizable face here is Mädchen Amick, from Twin Peaks fame. She plays the virgin (yeah right). The role requires the bare minimum from an actress in a horror film. For some bizarre reason though, this film is FULL of horror icon cameos; Stephen King, John Landis, Tobe Hooper, Clive Barker, Joe Dante and then for some reason Mark Hamill. These are fun little nods to viewers at home, who are already checked out of the story and are looking for some other sort of entertainment.
Watch this film when you have a bunch of friends over, want to watch a hilariously bad film and make a drinking game out of it. That's the best use of your time involving this one here.
Sleepwalkers
(Mick Garris)
(Mick Garris)
I don't remember which Christmas it was, but I do remember telling my mom that I wanted horror movies, any kind, as gifts. Stephen King's Sleepwalkers was under the tree that year. Then, probably more than a decade later, I watched it. This is my second viewing, one in which I can appreciate and laugh at the absurdity of it all. This is not really a horror film, it's a comedy. I mean, it has to be, right?
Mary and Charles are mother and son shape-shifting demons who can create illusions and have telekinetic powers. They need to suck the life force out of virgins to continue living and move from town to town doing so. The director, Garris, would later on use this same idea in Hocus Pocus. Their one weakness....CATS. Oh yeah, they bang each other all the time.
Based on an unpublished Stephen King story....there's your first warning, this Mick Garris film feels right out of the 80's, but was actually released in 1992. Garris is responsible for multiple King adaptions, and none of them are particularly good. Sleepwalkers has all the makings of a TV movie, bad acting, bad production values, cheesy effects and hilariously inappropriate moments. The moment that Charles turns into his cat like demonoid self and delivers weird and awkward, yet in his mind hilarious one-liners, is when you have to realize that this film is operating at another level. That level is beyond what we as normal human beings can even begin to comprehend. Sleepwalkers is a masterpiece of bad filmmaking.
The one recognizable face here is Mädchen Amick, from Twin Peaks fame. She plays the virgin (yeah right). The role requires the bare minimum from an actress in a horror film. For some bizarre reason though, this film is FULL of horror icon cameos; Stephen King, John Landis, Tobe Hooper, Clive Barker, Joe Dante and then for some reason Mark Hamill. These are fun little nods to viewers at home, who are already checked out of the story and are looking for some other sort of entertainment.
Watch this film when you have a bunch of friends over, want to watch a hilariously bad film and make a drinking game out of it. That's the best use of your time involving this one here.