Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

doc8998 While Sleepstalker certainly fails to reach the lofty goals you can see those involved reaching for, it still falls into one of those "guilty pleasure" movies. The acting's weak, the special effects are underwhelming, (even for 20 years ago,) and it overstays its welcome by a bit, but you can see that effort was put in to attempt to create a new Freddy/ Jason/ Pinhead character that might, at the very least, capture some of that audience. While most of the actors involved aren't horrible, you can tell that many were still in the early parts of their careers, and while they give it their best shot, the performances are always on the wrong side of good, but they never fail so profoundly that it makes you want to shut the movie off. You'll recognize the ever-present Ken Foree from his long career in these types of movies in a limited run as a police officer. William Lucking, "Piney," from Sons of Anarchy, also takes a small role as another detective, and a young Giuseppe Andrews, (Deputy Winston from Cabin Fever,) also makes one of his early film roles. The main characters however, have had mostly middling success in front of the camera since- with Kathryn Morris as Megan, Michael Harris as The Sandman, and Jay Underwood as Griffin all gathering more than 50 roles apiece in their careers, you're bound to have seen one of them at some point. Michael Harris as the Sandman is perhaps the best of the three, (although Kathryn Morris is perhaps the most consistent of all of them throughout,) actually making the Sandman reasonably creepy at times with his lullabies that are also inconsistent, with occasional attempts to sing, while other times reciting them eerily. It's a shame, because some of the acting inconsistencies would oh so easily be overlooked if there had simply been a little more money tossed at the budget. The Sandman is not just a name given to the killer- although that is how it begins. Eventually, like all good movie maniacs, the supernatural angle kicks in, and he actually becomes a being of sand. While the look of Sandman is reasonable when he takes form, just not enough is done with this great power with the exception of traversing under doors and through ventilation shafts. They do make attempts within budget to show a few things, ie: accidentally dipping fingers into water, making the tips disappear, or using the abrasive sand as a weapon on 2 occasions, but when they do try for these more dramatical effects, it usually looks, at its best, bad... at its worst, horrible. One thing I did remember after watching this again for the first time in nearly 20 years was just how eerie the lullaby playing (Sleep Baby Sleep, sung by Teresa Straley,) on the record player during flashbacks actually is. I remembered it sticking with me for a long time after I viewed this 20 years ago... I watched it quite a bit- was a favorite fallback B-Movie of mine at the time. And after rediscovering this gem tonight, I know that song will stick with me again. A sorrowful lullaby that fits the tone of the movie quite well. And that's where Sleepstalker, besides the music, hits another high note... As the pieces begin falling in place, this movie becomes a bit more than the sum of all its parts. As the movie begins linking past with present, antagonist to protagonist in multiple ways, it achieves a level of sadness that most B-Movies cannot do- mostly because they make the mistake of trying to force emotion down your throat. Sleepstalker waits until the last 1/3 of the movie to begin giving you everything you'll need to put it all together successfully, (although certainly, it can be figured out before that,) but it allows you to come to your emotions on its background on your own. Will it put you in tears? No. Yet somehow, it strikes a chord much more naturally and, despite its supernatural maniac derivative, full of real feeling that the likes of Freddy Krueger's child killing or Jason's revenge killing just never really achieve. It truly is a shame that this movie didn't quite make the cut. There's so much here that really could have made for a great franchise, but you can tell that the studio wanted a new maniac, they just weren't sure if there was room for one, and the budget suffers at times. After viewing this, I have to believe that the extra budget and time would have proved there WAS enough room for another maniac on the big screen. Still, with the limited resources available, I applaud the filmmakers for still putting out a movie well worth viewing once. This movie seemingly reformed in my memory, much like the Sandman is capable of doing after drifting under a doorway, and I'm glad it did- and I'm glad that it urged me to find a copy on DVD (I'm grateful Lion's Gate ever even put it on DVD,) and after sitting down and watching it tonight, I'm more than happy I made the purchase.

capkronos If you asked a sample group of dedicated horror fans, "What has been the worst decade for the genre thus far?," chances are the majority would tell you it was the 1990s. Not that all 90s horror films were bad; there are actually many good ones from this time... "Sleepstalker" just doesn't happen to be one of them. In fact, this is the exact type of gimmicky, one-idea film that ran rampant throughout the decade that gives the 90s horror haters their case in the first place. Slasher films in particular had gone incredibly stale by this point. Jason, Freddy, Michael, Pinhead, Chucky and Leatherface had literally bled the sub-genre dry throughout the 80s and early 90s. By the time the mid 90s hit, desperate filmmakers were coming up with some of the dumbest and most absurd concepts imaginable to try to keep the ball rolling. It wouldn't be until the following year that "Scream" (1996) revitalized things. Only "Scream" ultimately ended up having an even more disastrous effect on these kind of movies when everyone started annoyingly trying to copy the smart-ass characters, constant "clever" film references and self-aware humor. But that is another story for another day... Now back to "Sleepstalker..."A serial killer known as The Sandman (Michael Harris) has already killed five families. As he's busy slaying mom and pop from Family #6, young Griffin manages to escape. The police, led by Detective Bronson Worth (William Lucking), show up and finally apprehend the psycho. Seventeen years later, The Sandman is on death row awaiting execution. Luckily for him, the man assigned to give him his last rites is a Satanic, white- eyed preacher (Michael D. Roberts) who offers him a chance at revenge. He's given an upside down cross, uses it to cut his hand, bleeds into the sand and then - after his execution in the gas chamber - returns to life. Now a monstrous-looking supernatural entity who has the ability to transform into sand at will (to sneak under doorways, through keyholes, etc.), The Sandman has three days to hunt down and kill a now-grown Griffin (Jay Underwood), who's working in L.A. as a freelance journalist. If The Sandman is able to track down and dispose of Griffin, he will also gain immortality in the process.After establishing its premise, we are then treated to... Well, not a whole lot actually. The Sandman (who is given an utterly predictable childhood trauma back story in brief flashbacks) kills a few people in surprisingly tame ways. Someone's thrown off a balcony. Another is drown in sand. A head is knocked against a wall. There's nothing memorable or clever going on here despite ample opportunity for both, and there's also a curious absence of blood and gore; almost as if they were trying to avoid an R rating (which the film got, anyway). Though the makeup design on the killer is actually really good, the other fx; a mixture of simply reversing the film (for the sand fx) and primitive and dated early CGI; are quite poor. The absolute worst thing about this one though is its complete lack of logic and how stupid the characters are. Our heroes learn early on that water is an effective means of fighting off the reanimated killer (who is - of course - made of sand and easily dissolved), so what do they do? They run from him, attempt to shoot him, heave a Molotov cocktail at him and fight him in other silly ways. If I were around to help, I'd be yelling something like, "Hey, go stand in the shower!" or "Why not take a relaxing dip in a hot tub until this guy's time runs out?" Speaking of time running out, the killer is given his three days to kill his target and has ample opportunity to do so throughout the film. During one scene, Griffin is even behind bars when The Sandman pays him a visit. Instead, the killer decides to taunt him and waits until the last minute of the last day to really make his move.I really do have to give some credit to the cast, though, for at least trying. Despite being given some extremely corny dialogue, Harris gives an effective performance as the killer, and Underwood and Kathryn Morris (playing the obligatory love interest) are as appealing as possible under the circumstances. Cult horror star Ken "Dawn of the Dead" Foree, looking atypically dumpy here, gets a few scenes as one of the detectives, but it's a forgettable, throwaway part.

GL84 When a serial killer returns from the dead only now in an immortal body composed of sand to finish off the lone survivor of a massacre, he tries to get his friends together to stop him before he can complete his mission of revenge.This one actually turns out a lot better than it initially should be, due in large part to one of the more creatively-imagined killers as it manages to combine a somewhat goofy-in-concept killer with one that maintains an aura of creepiness as he does here, with the creepy physical look that actually does a decent job of melding human characteristics onto a base of human sand, creating a great look and a clever concept that works well. In addition, it also works well in the gore department as, for a change-over, it's not blood and guts but instead a variety of sand-based concepts, having your skin stripped in a vicious sandstorm leaving just bones and ragged clothes, projectiles and such make for a good time, even if they're overall effect is undeniably campy and goofy. There's also some pretty tense scenes here and there, from the opening where the killer's caught in a family's house, a couple decent stalking scenes amongst his friends and a rather enjoyable finale, where the original tactic of having the killer accomplish his task before being finished by an integral plot member is a lot of fun. All-in-all, this here is a pretty decent slasher.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity

davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits As a child, Griffin (Jay Underwood) was sent to sleep by his parents who rested his troubled little mind and told him there was no such thing as 'the Sandman.' On that same night, a serial killer going by that very name breaks into their home and 'puts them to sleep.' Now, seventeen years later, he's executed on death row and Griffin, now a successful writer, is able to lay his past to rest. Or so he thinks-the 'Sandman' just made a pact with the devil to be resurrected and come back to finish the task and kill Griffin. But, as the story progresses, twists and turns occur that shed a different light on the whole topic...I've been in a horror kinda mood all of this week, and so, out of the many films I've had piled up to be watched, I selected this little horror piece.I can't say it succeeds in being really scary in any way, and the soundtrack is kinda irritating ('sleeeeeeeeeeep, baby, sleeeeeeeeeep'-I'd turn into a serial killer if I heard that all the time!) And some of the character motivations and dialogue shed a whole new light for me ('I've heard all the serial killer excuses in the world...ate too much fast food...', never heard that one before!!!) As for the performances, they're generally all pretty terrible with the exception perhaps of Michael Harris as the Sandman, even though he kept reminding me of Henry Silva out of Nico and Morty out of The Fear.But, there is a clever twist at the end of it, I suppose, and some okay effects in places. So generally not much to write home about, but not a completely wasted horror experience.'Ate too much fast food...' **