DVD Review: Sleep No More (2018)

October 3, 2018

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

In the mid ’80’s a gaggle o’ graduate students are conducting sleep deprivation experiments (involving an untested drug), which of course go completely sideways resulting in their control subject going berserk and dying. Besides most likely getting a big, fat “F” for the semester (bummer), our heroes’ experiment is completely shut down by the powers that be. This doesn’t set well with our plucky protagonists, and they decide to continue the experiments…on themselves (I mean what could go wrong…only one person went apeshit and clawed their own eyes out…probably a fluke)! Naturally it doesn’t take long for the gang to start seeing spectral visions and monsters, and to begin turning against one another. Will they be able to keep it together and survive the horrors in the darkness for the 200 hours the experiment runs?
I’ll tell you creeps right off the beastly bat; Sleep No More is one fun time in the ol’ horror biz! Featuring a unique premise (sleep experiments, drugs, and smokey beings existing in a place just left of our own dimension), cool lookin’ ghosts n’ monsters (as I just mentioned), a strong cast, and that ’80’s vibe that’s all the rage these days (and that your’s cruelly can’t get enough of…’cuz I lived that shit yo) this fright flick fires on all cylinders!
This next positive point probably only matters to me, but how many of these ’80’s set flicks have you seen where they filmmakers just rely on some spacey synths to set the ’80’s vibe (and granted, this flick has that going on as well)? Well, Sleep No More goes it one further and actually has some licensed tunes in the mix (including Bananarama’s Cruel Summer, Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf  and many more)…oh and it’s own faux slasher flick called Night Vulture (which I could use more of).
The only real drawback to this release lies in the DVD itself rather than the film, as it contains absolutely zero special features…not even the film’s trailer. Sleep No More is an entertaining picture, and I really am interested how it came about…a commentary would have been more than welcome!
Lack of bonus material aside, I still highly recommend this release of Sleep No More; it’s a slick flick with a nice ’80’s vibe, and will doubtless entertain anyone that digs on Stranger Things or the material it references.
 

 

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