Le sang des innocents

The 1990's wasn't a good decade for Italy's premier horror director. His trip to the USA resulted in a decidedly average film with 'Trauma', then he made 'The Stendhal Syndrome', which was also a disappointment, and, of course, his universally lambasted remake of The Phantom of the Opera. However, he has proved with this movie that he most certainly is not down and out; as Sleepless is by far his best film in fourteen years, and one the best films that Argento has ever made. Sleepless stars Max Von Sydow as former police detective Moretti, the detective on the case of the notorious 'Dwarf' murders, 17 years earlier. After the murder of his mother, Von Sydow promised a young boy that he would catch her killer. That boy is now an adult, and the murders have started again; leaving only Von Sydow and the young man to solve the case. The murders aren't done without clues however, as left at the scene of each one is a cut-out of an animal, all of which link to a mysterious nursery rhyme.

This film is giallo at it's best. Dario Argento creates one of the best atmospheres in any of his movies for this film. Some of the set pieces are absolutely fantastic, and the film breathes an air of malice for it's duration. Sleepless is full of surprises, and through this, Argento is able to make us believe the literally anything can happen; and it often does. This is an excellent thing for a thriller to do; nobody wants to know what's going to happen next, and Sleepless is most certainly a film that has the ability to keep you on the edge of your seat, begging for more of the plot to be revealed. As ever, Argento manages to submerge the viewer into the film, and this is one of the movie's most pleasing aspects. Another thing about this movie that will please fans of Italian horror is the absolutely sublime score by the brilliant 'Goblin'. Argento and his house band have had some memorable collaborations, and this one most certainly stands tall as one of them. I would even call it the best once since Suspiria; it is that good.

Dario Argento has also become famous for the great way that he uses the camera, and this film is a fine example of that also. Dario Argento directs our attention through numerous things, and his camera work throughout the movie is as inventive as ever. Through his direction, the film manages to build up massive levels of tension. The great sequence on the train towards the start of the movie is an excellent example of this. Argento is admirable not only for his directing, but for the fact that he writes his own movies also. The script of the movie is decent enough, but the real genius in the writing department for this movie is the nursery rhyme that is the backbone of the film. The rhyme was written by Argento's beautiful daughter, Asia. It's deliciously bleak and twisted (especially considering it's supposed to be a children's rhyme!), and it creates a great mood for the film. The part in which Von Sydow reads out the final verse over the closing credits is incredible; Von Sydow's voice and the rhyme itself combine to lend the movie a dark horror vibe like no other. Argento fans will also be thankful for the fact that this film contains more than it's fair share of bloodshed. Some of the scenes even made me - a man that loves blood and gore - cringe. A head is bashed against a wall; teeth first, a young lady is viciously decapitated, fingers are lopped off, heads explode and, my personal favourite, a scene that sees someone brutally beaten with an English horn. It has to be seen to be believed, it really does.

Like many Italian horror films, Sleepless isn't the best film ever made in terms of acting, and at times the plot isn't always well paced. The dubbing is also as terrible as ever; but who cares? You don't go into a giallo expecting to see great acting and plotting, and therefore it can very easily be forgiven. Especially when the film has a great Goblin soundtrack, a solid plot and gratuitous scenes of gore. Any Argento fan will be happy movie with this movie, I can almost guarantee it; and providing that he doesn't fall down with 2004's The Card Player, Argento could be back to his uncompromising and atmospheric best.

I'm still sort of new to Argento's films but I found this film of his to be one very solid effort. The first half has this very unusual tone and atmosphere that makes you feel both uncomfortable and creeped out at the same time. The death scenes in my opinion are more tense here than in some of his older films.

The acting is very good although the occasional dubbed voice causes some actors to look like their facial expressions almost don't match their voices.

One outstanding feature is the cinematography. The camera constantly moves around and many of the settings are lit up just right enough to create it's atmosphere.

Overall, it's a very well made and solid gaillo from Argento and is well worth the effort even for fans of the genre and not necessarily Argento.

Sleepless might be Dario Argento's last truly good movie. It's far from perfect and never quite reaches the stylistic heights of his 70's and 80's work, but it's a somewhat smart re-imagining of the giallo film with enough gory set pieces to keep the gorehounds satisfied and just enough twists and turns to keep the mystery fans on their toes.

Max Von Sydow plays an aging detective brought back into a murder case 20 years later when it appears that the murderer has returned to continue their killing spree. He's joined by the son of one of the victims and, together, they team up to figure out who's behind all this mayhem.

Sleepless has its high points - the opening train sequence might be one of Argento's best and all the murder set pieces are inventive and filled with shockingly good effects that are sure to make you cringe. Also, Goblin has reunited to give us one of their most effective scores that helps the film tremendously.

There are pacing issues in the middle section of the film and the two young leads aren't as well written or interesting as one would like which makes many of their scenes drag and feel like work to get through. It's no slight to the actors, because I don't think it's their fault at all. The murder mystery is at least interesting and the killer's reveal is at least a genuine surprise.

Sleepless won't be classified by anyone as top tier Argento, but it's one of his best post-80's works.

A retired detective gets involved on a case which he was in charge of 17 years ago, about a grisly killer known as 'the dwarf' that killed people in a small part of town and now it's happening again, though this time his working with a son of one of the original victims. 'The dwarf ' was found dead after those murders 17 years ago… so could it be him from beyond the grave or a copycat?

This a pretty decent murder/mystery film by Dario Argento, I wasn't expecting much- but what I saw it was above average. With his usual flair of over the top blood and gore, stunning photography, the soundtrack by 'Goblin' really gives it an added boost and the usual unexpected twists and turns, make this film worth a look after his earlier disappointments.

It has a superb opening half-an hour of terror that is truly haunting and eerie. Though It does sag a bit in the middle of the film, losing a bit of the steam and the menacing atmosphere fizzles out- though that's when we start to learn more about the story, with clues coming thick and fast and then it picks up in the upbeat and unpredictable last half hour, where the final twist will have you on the edge of your seat with disbelief. What I liked was that the killer uses nursery rhymes from a specific book to pick their next victim, which I thought was pretty ingenious and disturbing, especially since the victims have something to associate them with the animals in the nursery rhymes.

Though the plot might have certain flaws, one being it's one -dimensional characters and secondly at times it was pretty convenient that the killer was at the right place at the right time- but otherwise it makes up for it with it's swift and creative deaths: that truly come out of left field… you cant go wrong with that opening scene on the train and at the station, with the hysteria and tension of isolation that builds up throughout that scene.

Though the death scenes might turn off certain viewers- but not if your fan of Argento, as a lot of detail goes into them and so did the setting of the film- it was beautifully shot. The performances are below average; they were kind of lacklustre or either over the top, though with the exception of Max Von Sydow, who brings a lot of class as the retired detective.

An entertaining Giallo film!

3/5

Dario Argento is one of my personal favorite directors, and many of my fellow Horror buffs will agree that the man is one of the all-time Horror greats. Films like "Suspiria" (1977), "Profondo Rosso" (1975) and Phenomena (1985) range among my all-time favorites, and Argento's repertoire includes several other masterpieces of Italian Horror/Giallo, such as "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage" (1970), "Opera"(1987) or "Tenebre"(1982). After several inferior films that he made in the 1990s, such as the decent "Trauma" of 1993 and "Two Evil Eyes" (which he made with fellow Horror-deity George A. Romero in 1990) and the disappointing "Phantom of the Opera", the master returned to his old style - and old greatness - with this "Non Ho Sonno" aka "Sleepless", a tantalizing and ultra-violent Giallo, in 2001. The good-old Giallo premise is still working greatly, and the fact that Argento borrows many elements from his older films does in no way downsize the greatness of "Sleepless". On the contrary, this is the absolute proof for us Italian Horror buffs that great Gialli can still be made in the 21st century.

In 1983, young Giacomo has to witness the brutal murder of his mother, who is one of the many victims of a Turin murder series. 17 years later, Turin is struck by a murder-series again, and the horrid crimes seem to resemble those from 1983. Even though he has spent the last 17 years trying to forget, Giacomo (Stefano Dionisi), who has since moved to Rome, decides to come back to Turin. Since the police make little progress, Giacomo and the retired homicide detective Ulisse Moretti (Max Von Sydow), who was working on the cases in 1983, begin to investigate themselves...

"Sleepless" brings the old-fashioned Giallo-greatness that we're used to from Argento. A creepy atmosphere, stunning suspense, ultra-bloody murders, an excellent cinematography and especially another ingenious score by Progressive Rock band Goblin - this film delivers all the great elements that we love Argento for. Argento has once stated that this is the most brutal of all his films which is not exactly true. The violence and gore are extreme, no doubt, but films like "Tenebre", "Phenomena" or "Opera" are at least equally violent, if not more. Dario Argento is not exactly known for his tameness when it comes to violence, and this is yet another (immensely stylishly) ultra-brutal Argento experience. As I stated above, Argento uses some elements he has used in his older films - but he does so in an great manner. Elements like a creepy nursery-rhyme are downright ingenious and give this the tantalizing and superb atmosphere that is typical for Argento. An absolute must-see for Horror fans, especially my fellow Argento-enthusiasts can not allow themselves to miss this! Great!