Sleepless

Comment: Who else can give you a killer dwarf, a grisly and horrific night train murder chase, and an entirely new use for expensive gold fountain pens?

The closing credits reveal the nursery rhyme used by the killer to stage the murders was written by daughter Asia Argento.

I agree with other reviewers that Artisan International's bare-bones release doesn't enhance the experience, but this is still the best (and only) release available to North American viewers. Sadly, it's now OOP (out of print) but you can still purchase it online from Amazon through third-party dealers.

Remember: Dario knows how to keep you entertained!

Comment: "Sleepless" accurately describes the serial killer in this superb giallo from Dario Argento, the Italian Hitchcock who directed such horror masterpieces as "Deep Red" and "Suspiria." The killer can never sleep because he is constantly waiting for the right moment to begin killing again.

Seventeen years ago, there were a series of brutal slayings that had a pattern. Each victim represented an animal from a nursery rhyme. A children's author, a dwarf, was suspected of being the serial killer; the dwarf committed suicide and the killings ended. Now, the nightmare has begun again and it is believed that the dwarf has either returned from the dead or there is a copy cat. Perhaps it never was the dwarf.

Max von Sydow (Father Merrin in "The Exorcist") investigated the original dwarf killings. He comes out of retirement to help solve the latest murders.

"Sleepless" has numerous scenes involving beautiful women being chased up staircases and through trains. They reminded me of Argento's earlier works, such as "Suspiria," and Mario Bava's gothic masterpiece "Baron Blood." The soundtrack from Goblin was awesome; it helped increase the tension to a fever pitch level. There were many gruesome deaths; the body count was relatively high. It is easy to see that this is when Argento's movies began becoming increasingly more gruesome and gory.

"Sleepless" may never receive the status of classic giallo that Argento's earlier works have achieved but it is an extremely enjoyable, fast paced ride with twists and turns. The true killer was not as easy for me to identify as they have been in other gialli. "Sleepless" is definitely on a par with "Opera," "The Card Player," and "Trauma." It has more style and class than Argento's latest gore- and sex-driven works for Masters of Horror: "Pelts" and "Jennifer."

My only complaint is with Artisan. An anamorphic format should have been made available along with the full screen format. Otherwise, the audio and video are great and there are English subtitles for those of us who have a hard time clearly hearing every word.

"Sleepless" from Artisan is highly recommended for those who are fans of Italian gialli and fans of Dario Argento.

Comment: An old case from the 80's brings back ex-cop Max von Sydow (Minority Report) who was on the case at the time. The killer was suspected to be a dwarf back then and now as well, so he thinks. Helping Sydow is Giacamo, played by Stefano Dionisi and the two of them are on their own investiagation. While on the investigation, Sydow finally realizes that the killer is using an old childs nursery ryhme in which the killer leaves paper animals and the animals represent the people the killer kills. This thriller's only fuel is Argento's style of direction, although there are a couple unexpected moments and when they reveal the killer but the acting is really bad and some times annoying. The scene where Argento strolls the camera down a carpet, I was waiting for someone to trip and fall in front of the camera. For those Die Hard Argento junkies.

Comment: If you go into this movie expecting to see "Deep Red" or "Suspiria" you probably will be disappointed for it's not on that level. However, with that being said "Sleepless" is a much better film than people give it credit for. While Argento couldn't match the brilliance of his earlier films in the 70's and early 80's this effort is much better than that of his efforts throughout the 90's.

The avid gore hound will be happy with over the top violence in the murders and the soundtrack by the now familiar "Goblin" is insanely pulsating. The first 15-20 minutes are worth the price alone, amzingly gripping and suspensful. After that the middle may fall into the tedious catagorie but pulls itself together at the end.

The story involves Max Von Sydow (The Exorcist) as a retired detective, with memory lapses, who finds that the "killer dwarf" murders he believed he had solved 17 years earlier are beginning once again. Now he must team up with the now adult son of one of the victims from a previous murder.

While this film is a far cry from his earlier giallo's Argento shows flashes of brilliance that dubbed him "The Italian Hitchcock" Well worth an evening for the avid Argento or giallo fan!

Comment: I recently got through watching the core of Dario Argento's work(75-87), and was sufficiently impressed that I decided to immediately check out some of his less acclaimed work. First I viewed Two Evil Eyes, and was surprised by how good his segment was, and felt it was nearly equal to some of his very best work. Next I viewed this film, Sleepless, and well, I think the title of the review pretty much says it all. I don't demand my time back, I may check it out again some day, but as of right now I'm not terribly excited about this film. On the plus side, it's got a really cool soundtrack, and is quite extraordinarily brutal and gory, more so than any of his other films.(It's no surprise that it's unrated) The soundtrack is by Goblin, and is quite reminscent of their classic work, particularly for Deep Red, but with more actual instruments and fewer synths.(and far more natural sounding synths too, for the most part) I've heard them score 8 movies, I believe, and generally find there work to be quite good,(if somewhat flawed), and this is definitely some of there very best work. The rest of the film, however, is either average or subpar.

Sadly, the film is largely lacking in the style department. The set design is fairly conventional, and there isn't a whole helluva a lot of interesting camerawork. (Though a widescreen version would certainly be more impressive in this regard.) Quite a few perspective shots, but not that much else, and those aren't terribly exciting anymore. Furthermore, many of the kills are very straightforward and conventional, with little buildup or flare. Still, it has it's moments. The double murder early in the film, both on a train and at the station is easily the best. More stylish than any of the other kills, and it actually has a long, reasonably suspenseful buildup. Sadly, the actresses portraying the two victims are quite bad, which brings it down a bit, but it's quite an effective section nevertheless. Also, the decapitation murder is done very well, with a nice long shot moving across a rug for extraordinarily long time whlie the Goblin score pounds away. As it ends we see the victim's shadow, seemingly suspended in the air, and then see the decapitated head plop on the ground. Definitely a grisly and effective scene. Despite there relative lack of style, most of the other murder scenes are at least fairly effective through their brutal, disturbing nature. We have some horrific stabbings, drowning, face-smashing, pen-jabbing, a really nasty gunshot wound and, worst and weirdest of all, the old english horn repeatedly smashed into the mouth bit. Still, the brutal nature of much of the violence in Argento's earlier films was made far more effective by the beautiful, highly artistic nature of the film surrounding the violence, or even the violence itself. Sleepless largely lacks this contrast, and suffers for it. Also, the effects aren't nearly as convincing as you'd hope for such a recent film, but they work pretty well anyway.

The murder-mystery is of no great interest. For the most part, people just sit around and talk, waiting for the next murder or the next break in the case, rather than doing all that much actual investigating. The characters themselves are of no great interest either. Max Von Sydow gives the best performance, as a retired detective drawn back into work by the murder's in the film, which seem to be a continuation of a supposedly solved case which he worked on nearly 20 years earlier. Other than that the performances are pretty hit and miss, and never all that great. The 2 first victims are particularly bad, as is the homeless man Leone, and a witness who attempts to extort money from the killer. Most everyone else is at least passable, though no one is really sympathetic at all, other than Von Sydow's character.(and he isn't all that likable, really)

If you've seen and liked Opera, Deep Red, and Tenebre you might as well check this out. You'll probably enjoy, even if you're not likely to be terribly impressed. Worth a look for Argento fans, but definitely want to rent it, if at all possible. Definitely not the first Argento film you should see.