Parasomnia (2008) Reviews

• A conspiracy of good IMDb reviews

  BenjAii2009-10-17

  It's somewhat telling that most of the great reviews for the film on IMDb all come from people who have only reviewed one film in their entire IMDb career and yes you've guessed it, that film is "Parasomnia". I've often suspected suspiciously good reviews on IMDb for what turns out to be an anything but good films as underhand marketing , but it seems fairly transparent in this case. That's not to say Parasomnia is terrible, but it stops well short of being the good or great film it had the potential to be. On the plus side, it has a great baddie in Patrick Kilpatrick who does a brilliant job projecting menacing and evil, I could easily see him having what it takes to play a truly memorable baddie on a par with Hannibal Lecter. There are some beautiful visuals in the dream sequences, in fact if the film had decided to explore that terrain more it might have been something better. The actual concept of devious misuse of hypnosis is great too. Although I understand suspension of disbelief is necessary for immersion in any good story, it's the mark of a good story that it succeeds in letting you do that. If you find yourself being annoyed at what you find illogical or just plain silly, then the story is losing you and that's what kept happening to me with this film. Other reviewers have mentioned this here and I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but I will say the setup at the ending was particularly ludicrous and disappointing, not too mention the varying mental age of a character that is only supposed to have experienced a few years of life. All in all, there is the germ of a great idea here in diabolically misused hypnotism, but sadly this film fails to realise it into anything special.

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• Creepy

  john-souray2009-09-28

  This film is very creepy indeed. Unfortunately, not for the reasons the film makers would hope. There's a mastermind serial killer too, but he's not what's creepy either. He's just your standard comic book villain, a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Freddie Kruger, though with nothing particularly fresh to add to either. Incidentally, for even the vilest and most reprehensible of criminals, can they be detained chained in a stress position, on their feet, arms outstretched 24 hours a day week in week out? I suppose in the world that gave us Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, anything's possible. No, what's really creepy about this film is the central character, Danny. This unappealing young man, aided and abetted it's true by some ludicrously lax security arrangements and a doctor entirely careless of any notion of professional ethics or patient confidentiality, wanders into the hospital room occupied by what can only be described as a highly vulnerable and defenceless young woman, and on the basis of nothing whatsoever (her chronic sleeping precludes from being able to give anything like informed consent) imagines himself to have some sort of special relationship with her. Seemingly within days, he has arrogated to himself the right to abduct her, believing (completely falsely, as we discover) that he is better able to care for her than anyone else, and within minutes of getting her back to his apartment, is sexually molesting her though she is (again due to her sleepiness) entirely unable to consent or resist. Our suspicions as to why he would feel this connection are pretty soon confirmed. He is of course more or less unable to form any mature adult friendships, let alone sexual relationships, so instead falls back on this essentially infantilised woman, who because of her permanent sleeping has a mental age corresponding to a lived experience of only a few years. The scene where she discovers ice cream is particularly cringe-making, and the coyly knowing look she gives him when he gloatingly says he'll have to clean her up again causes a particular shudder of horror. But again, I'm afraid, not that shudder of horror the film makers were hoping for, but a much more straightforward spasm of revulsion. We can all see clearly what's on the end of our forks here - it's the paedophile's perfect dream of innocence, sexual compliance and utter dependence. Horrible, horrible, horrible. What else have we got in this mish mash? Twisted dreamscapes not quite as good as del Toro. The compulsory "You need to go to the police" argument, where the lead character always has a reason for not doing so even though it's the only sensible course of action. The automaton sequence, much praised in the comments here, though completely and utterly pointless ("It serves no function!", as Sigourney Weaver memorably protested in Galaxy Quest) and looking to me just like the Abominable Doctor Phibes rehashed in one of the Saw derivatives. Jeffrey Combs does his best though, so a star for that, and a couple more because you have to keep lower rankings for films that are even worse than this, and in general this is well-shot and competently performed.

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• Has Potential of Cult-Movie

  claudio_carvalho2009-04-30

  While visiting his friend Billy (Dov Tiefenbach) in the rehabilitation of a local psychiatric hospital, the arts student Danny Sloan (Dylan Purcell) decides to see the serial killer Byron Volpe (Patrick Kilpatrick), who is a deranged hypnotizer that used his ability to control his victims and keeps saying "tick tick" that is arrested wearing a hood to cover his eyes, in a cell in the end of the corridor. When he passes by the room of Laura Baxter (Cherilyn Wilson), he becomes fascinated with her angelical beauty and discovers that she has Parasomnia or the Sleeping Beauty syndrome, sleeping most of the time and awaking briefly on a few moments only. Billy visits the girl in other occasions falling in love with her; when he finds that she will be transferred to serve as experiment in a clinic with bad reputation, he decides to abduct Laura and bring her to his apartment. However, Byron also loves Laura and controls her nightmares, and uses his power to bring her back to him in a trail of blood. First of all, the weird "Parasomnia" definitely has potential of cult-movie. The absurd and odd story begins like a romantic tale (I believed it would be an update of Sleeping Beauty), introducing the gorgeous and lovely Cherilyn Wilson (her breasts are perfect); shifts to horror, supported by a magnificently bizarre cinematography that recalls in some moments Guillermo Del Toro's "El Laberinto del Fauno"; a cameo of Sean Young and John Landis; the cult Jeffrey Combs in the role of Detective Garrett; and a creepy and evil villain, performed by Patrick Kilpatrick. The overture of "Romeo and Juliet" is used in one of the most bizarre, disturbing and imaginative scenes I have ever seen in a horror movie. Last but not the least, there are lots of gore to satisfy the fans. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Sonâmbulos" ("Sleepwalkers")

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• Above average horror movie hybrid of The Cell meets Silence of the Lambs meets Tim Burton

  Michaelckdk2010-08-03

  OK so the movie does not have a high budget. The acting from the two younger leads is mediocre at best. But the psycho killer character and the unusual production style are what keep the momentum and interest in this movie going. I found elements of "The Cell", "Silence of the Lambs", and "Saw" all wrapped in one. The quirky style of many scenes in the movie has elements of Tim Burton and "Puppet Master". The creepy and astounding score also lend major points to an otherwise average horror thriller story. The movie was genuinely creepy and somewhat scary at several moments, but scary in a suspenseful way and not so much a frightening way. With the slew of horrible horror movies, high budgets and low, this one definitely stands out as above average and unique in it's own way. If you can get past the amateurish acting of the two young leads and the low budget aspects of the film that are apparent here and there, you will find a fantastic and gripping horror movie.

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• Hollywood misses the boat again and we lose... Again. Great film we won't see!!

  petervenkman572009-05-19

  OK, I'm now convinced that, not only is Hollywood illiterate but now they don't even know how to watch movies. Why doesn't his movie have a big release in this country? While visiting with a friend in L. A., I saw this at a special screening in Hollywood at the Egyptian Theater. The director said they were still looking for a distributor. A fact I find unbelievable. I had never heard of this film yet what I saw lit up in the dark was one of the best... I was going to say horror movies... but JUST PLAIN MOVIES that I've seen. Instead Hollywood gives us over-blown remakes of remakes. This is one of the most original, fun, and entertaining films I've ever watched. Are these guys asleep at the switch? This movie is really interesting because it starts out slowly and then begins turning the thumb screws down until you're about to yell. We see this kid (Danny) through a series of very bad decisions... get himself deeper and deeper into a hole until you wonder how he's ever going to be able to get out of it. What's cool is his actions are completely understandable because of his obsession with this sleeping girl..(The chick who plays her is VERY HOT!!!! BTW). This movie does something that you just don't see in movies now. The build to the end gets more and more intense and reveals more layers and convolutions than a Nixon investigation. I'm not going to say more than that, 'cause I don't want to give anything away but the last half of this movie is just plain great. This has one of the best endings in a film ever. Judging from the films I've seen in the last few years this must be hard to do. The look and mood of the film is unique. The movie is lush and creepy like a dream that you don't want to wake up from. You just want to go back there and revisit those places and live in that world with those people. OK, I'm gong to be kind and imagine that Warner Bros, Sony, MGM, 20th Century Fox and all those guys have never heard of this film either... Yeah.. That's it.

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