Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?

Right, well for some reason I had mistaken this movie for another movie, so I was in for a bit of a surprise when I sat down to watch it. But mind you, the surprise was not an unwelcomed one, because I actually ended up enjoying this movie.

First of all, I must say that I was thrilled to see James Franco on the cast list. However, it was a shame that he was only playing a minor supportive role in the movie, as he could definitely have amped up the movie if he had been given a larger role and more screen time. And when I saw Tori Spelling's name on the cast list, a shadow fell over me. Yeah, I am not a fan of hers; must be a residue leftover from the "Beverly Hills 90210" days. But I am happy to say that she is well past that image and she actually performed quite well in "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?".

The storyline was actually enjoyable, and I was definitely not expecting that this was a vampire movie. Turns out that it was actually an entertaining movie, and writers James Franco and Amber Viera definitely delivered a vampire movie with enough creativity and new-thinking to it that it managed to stand out from your average generic and run-of-the-mill vampire movie that come a dime a dozen.

I wasn't familiar with Leila George prior to this movie, I think. And I will admit that she definitely carried the movie quite well with her performance, and he had some nice help from co-star Emily Meade.

"Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?" turned out to be a genuinely good movie, and a very surprising one at that. So I was entertained. Sure I was.

My rating for this 2016 movie is a six out of ten stars. And I will say that "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?" is a movie that is well-worth taking the time and effort to sit down to watch, especially if you like vampire movies and want a vampire movie that brings something new to the genre.

James Franco and Tori Spelling are barely in this and definitely shouldn't be on the poster/box, Emily Meade should! This movie is mostly lesbian lifetime style boredom and barely horror at all, the coolest part is when a girl is covered in blood otherwise this movie is a bologna sandwich gone wrong!

I'm sure the executives at Lifetime were proud of themselves when they green-lit the remake of "Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?" "We're letting everyone know we're in on the joke! How cool are we right now?" one of them might have crowed. "And we got James Franco!" another one probably squealed. "Tori and Ivan are also on board, but of course they would be, amiright?" I'll admit I was kind of looking forward to this, too, but there were a few things that made me apprehensive, starting with the the discovery that our heroine would be in the clutches of a lesbian vampire, not a dangerously possessive boyfriend. (Christ, does *everything* have to be about vampires and zombies now?) But what really had me wary was that 2016's "Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?" was, unlike the original, going to be intentionally campy.

I thought the campiness the 1996 original was largely overstated (Lifetime's "Drew Peterson: Untouchable" delivered far more camp thrills for my basic cable dollar). That said, the original "Mother, May I...?" is still a hoot, and it's fun because everyone involved was so earnest. For me, it's that lack of self-awareness that's essential for elevating a movie or TV show from a mere fiasco to a camp classic. When "Valley of the Dolls" was brought to the big screen, the studio thought they were making a hard hitting drama. "Mommie Dearest" was supposed to be Oscar bait. "The Swarm" was meant to be the ultimate disaster movie, instead of just a disaster. But the remake/re- imagining of "Mother, May I...?" is *trying* to be campy from the get-go, and the result is predictably underwhelming.

Most underwhelming of all is James Franco. If ever there's an actor working today who's worthy of being called the New Nicolas Cage, it's Franco, who can deliver Oscar-caliber performances ("127 Hours") and then go bats--t crazy ("Spring Breakers") without breaking a sweat. But like Cage, Franco doesn't always go nuts when we need him to. Just as Cage phoned it in on "Left Behind," Franco, as a director of a college production of "Macbeth," is literally sitting on the sidelines in "Mother, May I...?", doing little more than offering a few winking asides to the TV audience. Tori Spelling, cast as the mother this time out, does what she can to make lightning strike twice, but most of the camp value she brings to the screen has less to do with her performance--which is OK--and more to do with her being Tori Spelling, Reality Show Joke/Tabloid Punching Bag. Ivan Sergei, whose performance as the psycho boyfriend in the original was so much fun, is cast in the more subdued role of a college literature professor.

It should be noted that "Mother, May I...?" is technically proficient, with better acting (notably Leila George, who's sleeping with danger, and Emily Meade, the danger with whom she's sleeping) and better direction by Melanie Aitkenhead (not James Franco, as was reported at one time), than the original. However, the script, by Amber Coney from "the twisted mind of" James Franco, is ho-hum, Franco's mind not nearly twisted enough. At the end of the day, the movie plays like a bland episode of "American Horror Story," with all the gratuitous nudity, over-the-top performances, and bitchy lines that make *that* show fun cut out.

I was so disappointed in this movie. I am a big James Franco fan, and I expected so much more. I really liked the original "Mother May I Sleep With Danger" and I expected this one to at least be similar or relate to, maybe a follow up. But nothing could be further froth truth other than the fact that Tori Spelling plays the mother in both movies. As I was watching it, I was waiting for a moment that would hook me in, but that moment never came. I finally gave up about half way through, after my husband had already fallen asleep. It was a little campy, but not campy enough to be entertaining. I generally like vampire movies, but there wasn't even enough of that for this to truly be a vampire movie. Honestly, there wasn't enough of anything to qualify this as any particular genre of movie, just bad. Unless you have a thing for really sub-par lesbian vampire movies (and not a great attempt at that) then steer clear of this one. Wish I had a better report. :(

"Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?" delivers plenty of suspense and melodrama, but it's a mixed bag. Tori Spelling and Ivan Sergei give memorable performances, and the film builds an eerie atmosphere that keeps viewers on edge. However, the plot can feel predictable, and some scenes are unintentionally over-the-top, making it hard to fully invest in the characters' plight. With big budget movies, you expect more. Despite its flaws, it has undeniable '90s cult appeal, providing a nostalgic watch for fans of TV thrillers. While not groundbreaking, it's an entertaining guilty pleasure with enough tension to keep audiences watching.