Sleep No More

What if when we are deprived of sleep we not only take away our own mental functionality but we deprive something out in the great unknown of something it needs as well? A group of folks look into treating sleep as an illness theorizing that if they could find a medication to get rid of the "illness" we would no longer need sleep. After a clinical trial goes tragically wrong, they attempt another trial on themselves sure that they are on the verge of a break through. What could happen?

So, I like the idea of this because, and maybe this is just me, it kinda has a Freddy Krueger feel even if it is a far cry from Freddy. We all need sleep and it is when we are most vulnerable. We have no idea what goes on while we are sleeping. So, I like the idea but the delivery could have been much better.

This is a slowly paced film and I got the feeling that it is supposed to be set in the 80's from the music and some of the clothing. There isn't a lot of character building so you never really get a chance to become invested in these characters. The acting and effects weren't too cheesy even though it is clearly a lower budgeted film. This isn't a polished film with all the works but it isn't that bad as far as low budget films go. This is one you really have to watch and come to your own conclusions as to whether it is good or not. For me it is a "Meh" film.

What I liked: 80's music and vibe. The disturbing visions that they encounter are very reminiscent of Stranger Things from Netflix. What I didn't like: Predictability. A lot of yelling and chaotic stuff that didn't really help the story. They touched on many different paths that the story could have taken but didn't really fully commit to any. The ending was a bit ambiguous. Overall: Wait for it to come out on Redbox and spend a few dollars. Anything more than that and your throwing your money away.

Yet another horror movie that I had never heard about prior to stumbling upon it here in 2024. And given my life-long romance with the horror genre, of course I needed no persuasion to sit down and watch the movie. I had read the movie's synopsis, but have to admit that I had no expectations to the movie. So I suppose that writer Jason Murphy and director Phillip Guzman had every opportunity to impress and entertain me.

The storyline was fairly adequate. I mean, it was somewhat of slow paced narrative, but the contents of the storyline were certainly interesting enough to maintain my interest in watching the movie. So while writer Jason Murphy didn't exactly put together the most scary of horror stories, there was just something entertaining about the movie, something sort of surreal in a sense, that actually played well in favor of the overall impression of the movie.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Sleep No More", aside from actor Keli Price. And believe it or not, but that is actually something I do enjoy. I like seeing new and unfamiliar talents on the screen. And I will say that the cast ensemble they had put together for this movie put on good performances.

Visually then I will say that the effects in the movie were good. It wasn't a movie that relied heavily on special effects to carry the narrative. But whatever special effects were in the movie actually served their purpose well enough.

The music in the movie was good, because it definitely helped to set the 1980s vibe and mood, which was the era the movie's story was set to take place.

However, I have to say that this is not a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing.

My rating of director Phillip Guzman's 2017 movie "Sleep No More" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Takes a stab (pun intended) at both period authenticity and an original concept for a horror film... not bad! You'll enjoy this at a late night feature, and probably want to give it another spin. Just remember, it's not in the upper tier of horror features. Still, nice job.

Ok so the acting is pretty good, but as said in the title it's a film that wants to be a horror (which it fails at) and be like the 80's film The Breakfast Club. The reason why it fails, forgetting the horror and yes they are clearly depicting grad students, but despite the good acting these people are in their 30's, late 30's in some cases. We want to like them but they should be acting like adults and scientists physically, however they act like teens and make no coherent sense in numerous scenes. Putting on glasses like Velma from Scooby-Doo does not make things younger nor make us think they are therefore intelligent. In the end you are left feeling I know what is MEANT to be going on but I can't actually see this occuring and quite frankly if it did it's a little too late anyway. If you don't like or know 80's music it's a mark of 3.