L'enfant lumière

It's very interesting to watch a movie you saw as a pre-teen through adult eyes.

It's paced for the two hour time slot a made for TV movie must have, but it's still pretty solid.

It's one of the best TV movies in this genre. It holds up, still scary. So scary, in fact, it's a little hard to believe it IS a network movie.

I've seen this eerie film back in 1986 at my aunt's house. It was unexpected at the time, I was looking for a family movie, and it turned out to be a spooky shocker. It took place in December of 1982 where a girl named Mary survived an auto accident along with her family...her sister Jennifer did not make it. Jump a year later which was initiated from the opening, poor Mary seems to be having nitemares of her deceased sister Jennifer. She even hears Jennifer calling her name through the dark. Soon enough, the late Jennifer appears under Mary's bed. The dead sister makes nocturnal visits and Mary is astounded. Later, weird sudden deaths occur in the family(I will not say the specifics). Mary may be responsible...but is Jennifer making her do it? The movie takes a number of turns toward the climax and closing credits. For years I was appalled by this movie, merely because I did not understand it. I last saw this film in 1998 on the late night movie and appreciated it even better for the slick direction and execution of the actors. It holds an intense atmosphere, because of its disguise as wonderland with Alice(Jennifer) lurking around in it. This is a well-done TV movie and should be watched if possible. Home video rental is nearly hopeless, with this film being out of production for more than a decade. Good luck.

Almost twenty-years later, "Don't Go to Sleep" still haunts me. It is a classic of the made-for-tv thriller genre from the late-70s and early 80s on par with the Charles Durning horror "Dark Night of the Scarecrow", the Parker Stevenson thriller "This House Possessed" and the Donna Mills/Patty Duke campy "Curse of the Black Widow". The most memorable character in "Don't Go To Sleep" is that of Ruth Gordon... but I'll always remember the pool scene. Those who have seen this movie know what I am talking about. Creepy. This is what made-for-tv horror was all about before the Los Angeles Olympics, "The Love Boat", and the laughable Susan Lucci made-for-tv thriller "Invitation to Hell".

I've rated this movie higher than I would if it were theatrically released. One of the biggest problems with nearly every TV movie is pacing. Arranging the story so there is enough suspense to keep an audience through commercials tends to create awkward pacing, and this movie is no exception. But the movie has enough of a story to keep things moving forward. Direction is largely competent, except for a very poor opening credits sequence. Script is also acceptable. Characters are not especially likable, but in a story like this, that doesn't matter much.

There are two scenes that especially stuck in my memory as a child; the first being the frisbee scene. The second was the pizza cutter. Given the lack of real menace in the movie, the direction was surprisingly effective in making things creepy.

I only wish that made-for-TV productions kept this sort of sensibility.

Entirely worth tracking down for aficionados of early 80s horror.

I saw this movie as a kid and was NEVER able to get it out of my mind. A dead girl, Jennifer, comes back to haunt her younger sister, Mary, and the two wreak havoc (in the form of accidents) on the rest of their family. Everyone still blames themselves for Jennifer's death while Mary seems to think that she was the only one who TRULY cared for her. The big shocker occurs as a flashback scene towards the end of the movie where we see who is really responsible for Jennifer's death. This movie makes "Made-For-TV" look extremely good! Poor Oliver Robins from "Poltergeist" fame plays yet ANOTHER brother stuck in the middle of a very unlucky family. So far, I've only seen this movie in one rental store so it IS out there somewhere.