Sleeping Dogs - Tagebuch eines Mörders

WHERE SLEEPING DOGS LIE is one of the least well known of the psycho thrillers that filled cinema screens in the early 1990s. The reasons for this obscurity become obvious when you start watching, because this is poor stuff indeed; it commits the cardinal sin of a thriller in that it's thoroughly boring, with hardly any incident or indeed mystery to keep it going.

The story is about a young writer (AMERICAN HORROR STORY's Dylan McDermott) who moves into a supposedly haunted old mansion and befriends a drifter (Tom Sizemore) who comes to stay. Sizemore can usually be relied upon to deliver interesting performances, and indeed is the most interesting thing about this movie, but sadly the calibre of the writing is so poor that this is near-unwatchable for the most part.

In an attempt to capitalise on current trends and popularity, Sharon Stone (BASIC INSTINCT) appears in the rather extraneous role of the writer's literary agent, although her appearance only serves to add some minor titillation and lots of dull, talky scenes which pad out this never-ending thriller that lacks both thrills and suspense.

There are three reasons to watch, and enjoy, this film... Sizemore, Sizemore and Sizemore.

Dylan McDermott is alright and all, beefcake does nothing for me. A dozen guys could've played this part. A half dozen would've made something of it. Sharon Stone... anyone could have played her part, and she acted as if she was proving just that. She looked good doing it, no surprise. A little slow moving and the plot is very predictable but a nice ending semi-twist.

It is Tom Sizemore's performance that makes this film worth watching. I always liked this guy but he does a good-to-great weirdo in this movie.

7 out of 10... Too generous?? To each his own.

"Where Sleeping Dogs Lie" would have been a much better film had the director and writer tightened the screen play in which it's based. Charles Finch, the director, and Yolanda Turner, the writer, tried to put some life into the film with mixed results.

The story of Bruce, a writer that is house sitting a mansion that has seen better days, offers a lot of possibilities. Bruce made the discovery about a murder that has taken place in the house. To make matters worse, he agrees into taking a lodger, the creepy Eddie Hale. The viewer realizes right away where the story is going. The result is an uneven movie that has some good elements and with another creative team it might have been more interesting.

Dylan McDermott is Bruce, the writer. Tom Sizemore has more opportunity playing the strange Eddie Hale, who is the key to the mystery surrounding the mansion and what happened in it years ago. Sharon Stone is seen as a literary agent that wants to dare Bruce into producing a masterpiece.

"Where Sleeping Dogs Lie" is a curiosity piece that is mildly engrossing.

The script telegraphs all of its "surprises", the direction is strictly by-the-numbers and Dylan McDermott is a bland lead. There are only two noteworthy elements in this movie: the dangerous, edgy intensity Tom Sizemore brings to his role, and a couple of steamy moments provided by Sharon Stone, who was then at her best-looking phase; at one point she actually says to McDermott: "Don't fret, you 'll get the check in a week and you can have me now". Now that's what I call a GOOD DEAL. (**)

A struggling writer moves into an abandoned mansion and discovers

it's gruesome history.

Starring Dylan McDermott and Tom Sizemore and Sharon Stone.

Written by Yolande Turner and Charles Finch. Directed by Charles Finch.

This is like a soft porn film where somebody has taken all the soft porn out and left us with a pile of dodgy acting, terrible backing music and poor production.

The ending is obvious after about 20 minutes and the only good thing about this movie is one scene where Sharon Stone gets out of a swimming pool! This is atmospheric and creepy but sadly lacking in any excitement or production values. And the least that can be said about the cardboard extras at the end, the better.

4/10