Don't Go to Sleep

Finally, i've found this movie, just by searching google with keywords ghost, daughter and shoelace :D I'm 26, and like others from my generation who've posted here, this movie somehow gave me an everlasting impression. The only two things I remember from this movie is the shoelace scene, and (Very vaguely though) a scene with a Frisbee? I could swear the name Jennifer was used in that scene, and now, looking at the cast list, I see there really was a Jeniffer character. Creepy...

I wonder why this particular movie has made such a strong impression on people of my age. To bad I don't think it's anywhere to be found. Same problem I have with Fortress (the one with the school class, and the guys with the scary masks). Another movie which I'll never forget, even though it's been well over 12 years since i've last seen it. The same goes for this movie. I've think it's 12/15 years since i've last seen it, en still, the scenes i've mentioned are like yesterday...

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.

I recently heard about this movie and found a 'collector's copy' (read: bootleg) on e-bay(it's a made-for-tv film that was never released on video). To say this movie is scary, creepy and one of the best tv movies ever made is a complete understatement. After watching it, I was stunned and totally freaked out. Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper are amazing as the parents of a little girl who keeps seeing the ghost of her dead sister, killed a year earlier in a mysterious accident (I guarantee you M. Night Shumaylan used this film as an inspiration for THE SIXTH SENSE). The scene where Weaver and Harper confront/attack each other over the death of their child is frightening and heartbreaking. That scene alone should have netted both of them an emmy, especially Harper. She's brilliant.

Frightening, eerie, creepy, and very ballsy for a tv movie from 1982 (produced by Aaron Spelling!). Current television MOW writers should hang their heads in shame when they compare the current disease-of-the-week drivel they churn out with this classic ghost story (written by actor Ned Wynn, son of actor Keenan Wynn). Whoever owns the rights to this (I'm assuming ABC) please get it out on DVD or else I'M gonna start bootlegging it! The public has GOT to get this!

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".

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.