Sleepwalkers Year: 1992 Director: Mick Garris Written by: Stephen King Threat: Shapeshifter Weapon of Choice: corn cob Based upon: none IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
None

The tyranist's thoughts
I've had this one sitting in the giant bin that holds the HFC Collection for the better part of 3 years. I had been warned that I might really hate it and so I've been very hesitant to watch it. After reading Rish's review of Mick Garris's latest King adaptation, Riding the Bullet, I finally caved.
There's a new kid in town and he really likes Tanya (Madchen Amick). Of course, he has a hidden motive, and once she finds out what it is, all hopes of a relationship are off and the gore is on.
I like a lot of the actors that appeared in this. It's always nice to see Mark Hamill. Alice Krige is creepy in ways many actors can only aspire to. I even like Madchen Amick despite Rish's best efforts to convince me otherwise (How did the fact that I all but worshiped her; seeing this damn movie on opening night back in 1992, attempt to convince you otherwise?--Rish). There are numerous cameos that the horror cognoscenti among you will enjoy as well.
Too bad there wasn't much of a story for all those actors to play in. That sounds harsher than I meant it. This ends up being pretty typical of a translation of Stephen King story to the screen. Why do they always end up being far less scary than the original stories? Why is the sun alway shining so much? Why do the monsters seem so much worse than they were in my imagination?
Directors rarely manage to make something visually great out of a King source. There are a few obvious exceptions, but for the most part, I feel like they somehow miss the intimacy of King's voice and end up trying very hard to be faithful without understanding what it is that makes the stories great in the first place.
I shouldn't complain. This really is somewhere in the middle of the pack as far as King stuff goes. I've seen much worse. Still, I wouldn't recommend it. There just isn't enough here that we haven't seen before to make it worth the time.
Posted: January 24, 2006

Total Skulls: 10

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?