Sleepwalkers: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Sleepwalkers: Collector's Edition

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Stephen King movies are always hit or miss when it comes to translation on screen. For every The Shining and Misery, there is a Dreamcatcher and The Dark Tower. It seems that the prolific horror writer has a tendency of being a “love it or hate it” type of experience for the most part. However, there are a few “in between” films that fall into the cracks of his cinematic history, and Sleepwalkers happens to be one of them. Despite being caught in the mire and grime of the 1990s, Sleepwalkers feels a lot older than it is. Whether it be the Sony walkmans, the hairstyles, or the cars of the day, Sleepwalkers would feel right at home with a myriad of 1980s horror films, and even is stylized like one in many ways. Cheap, cheesy, and completely fun, Sleepwalkers is a forgotten bit of Stephen King horror that makes its way to Blu-ray with a great looking collector’s edition.

The opening scrawl of Sleepwalkers sets the film up with no need for any other explanation. From an ancient text, King describes a nomadic group of shapes shifters known as “sleepwalkers” as “Nomadic shape-shifting creatures with humane and feline origins. Vulnerable to the deadly scratch of the cat, the sleepwalker feeds on the life-force of virginal human females. Probable source of the vampire legend”. From there the film quickly evolves with a pair of the supernatural shape-shifters moving to a small town in the Midwest. Famished and starving to feed upon the life force of another being, the incestual relationship between Charles Brady (Brian Krause) and his mother Mary (Alice Krige, most known for being the Borg Queen in First Contact and Star Trek: Voyager) are getting ready to feed and move on. Charles has found their next victim in the form of Tanya Robertson (Madchen Amick), and getting ready to strike.

Tanya and Charles seem to be falling in love, but no matter the feelings that he feels for his young victim, Charles has no choice. The only choice that he has is to garner her trust and set her up for the ultimate sacrifice. However, Tanya is able to evade his grasp and get away, but her suffering is not over, as Charles is more resilient than she could possibly imagine and the real fear is not Charles himself. The real fear is the ravenous hunger of a mother who will do anything to protect her offspring and finish the feeding frenzy that she has started once and for all.

Sleepwalkers is a slightly bizarre, but entertaining film. I love Stephen King, but this is definitely some of his lessor work. The film has a good setup, and doesn’t spend too much time wallowing in backstory. Instead we get what we need to know about the sleepwalkers from a cryptic opening and then savor in the chase as Charles tries track down his prey and devour her. With that being said, there are some definite plot holes in the film. The attraction and fear of cats hints at the ancient Egyptians and their worship of cats, but it doesn’t seem to do anything but throw us into the thick of things. The fear is strange, and the relationship with the felines is tenuous at best. Charles himself also is the main protagonist/villain of the movie, and while I like that he’s set up as the conflicted anti-hero, it seems that the actual CONFLICT is left on the cutting room floor. On one hand we’re supposed to believe that he actually is attracted to Tanya and feels conflicted over “eating” her, but his change over to completely evil is so sudden and violent that we forget that he ever had a sense of conflicting morals. It just happens within a blink of the eye and that aspect of the story is left in the dust as mother dearest takes over.

The acting is pure 1990s cheese, with Alice Krige helming the production as the over attentive mother. Just like she was in Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Voyager, Alice hams it up as the European mother who just wants to protect her brood. The only thing is she’s a beautifully destructive mother and she does so with obvious glee and gusto. Madchen and Brian do the typical 80s/90s horror jaunt, but we also get a fun little cameo from a younger Ron Perlman in the form of a douchey state police officer. Sleepwalkers is no bastion of horror ingenuity, but it’s a fun little film that Scream Factory has rescued from obscurity and a great little bit of Stephen King history. Despite the fact that it’s pure and utter goofy cheese.




Rating:

Rated R for strong violence and sensuality, and for language.




Video:

I don’t see any information about a new 2K or 4K remaster (Scream/Shout Factory is usually VERY apparent when that happens), so I’m assuming that the master they used is the same one used for the 2012 Image Entertainment encode. While a nice new remaster would have been appreciated, the image seems to be fairly free of digital artifacts and print damage. The image is clear and clean, with a typical early 90s hue that borders on earthy and ruddy at the same time. Facial details are more than impressive, and the overall clarity of the disc is quite good. Sometimes it’s a bit soft and the blacks crush a bit, but the 1990s CGI (as Charlels and mommy dearest shape shift) is clean and well replicated, with only a few hints of banding to act as a digital deterrent.







Audio:

Like most of Scream/Shout Factory rescues, the 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix is likely the identical encode as the Image Entertainment disc (I have no proof, but from the information received from other reviewers in the industry, it is a match for the old one). The 2.0 track is front heavy and simplistic in design, but it is still rather spacious with the squalling of cats and haunting early 90s score. Dialog is well placed up front and evenly distributed between the two mains, and some lfe is baked into the two channels. Like most, it is not a wild and modern 5.1 or more.1 mix, but an accurate replication of the typical 80s and 90s horror flicks we’re used to, and does so without any issues whatsoever beyond the limitations of the stereo track world.







Extras:

• NEW Audio Commentary with Director Mick Garris And Actors Mädchen Amick And Brian Krause
• NEW Feline Trouble – An Interview with Director Mick Garris
• NEW When Charles Met Tanya – A Conversation with Actors Mädchen Amick And Brian Krause
• NEW Family Values – An Interview with Actress Alice Krige
• NEW Feline Trouble: The FX Of Stephen King's Sleepwalkers – Interviews with Special Make-up Effects Creator Tony Gardner And Prosthetics Designer Mike Smithson
• Behind-The-Scenes Footage
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Still Gallery

Final Score: ​

Sleepwalkers is not the best of Stephen King, but it is nowhere near the worst either. Instead it’s one of those middle of the road flicks like Pet Semetary that are fun, but never achieve the greatness of some of his works. The film has been released once before by Image Entertainment, but has been out of print for quite some time so it’s nice to see Scream Factory rescue the title with a new edition with plenty of new special features for a worthy collector’s prize. The video encode shows a nice palette and the special features make for a robust collector’s edition that blends nicely with the snazzy new cover art and slipcover. Fans of the movie should be well pleased and it makes for a worthy addition to any horror fanatics collection.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Brian Krause, Madchen Amick, Alice Krige, Ron Perlman, Cindy Pickett, Jim Haynie
Directed by: Mick Garris
Written by: Stephen King
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 89 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 6th 2018

Image

• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Cheesy Horror Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I remember watching this as a kid.

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. I watched it at the theater back then when I was 19 years old. Nostalgic, where did time go? I need to watch it again.
On another note I bought An American Warewolf in London and Salem's Lot both on steelbook.

 

[Asere]

I bought the 2012 release by mistake. Should I exchange it for this version? From what you mentioned the video and audio is perhaps the same.

 

[Michael Scott]

I wouldn't freak out about it TOO much unless you're a fan of the extras (which are nice). the audio and video seem pretty similar by what I can ascertain

 

[Asere]

I wouldn't freak out about it TOO much unless you're a fan of the extras (which are nice). the audio and video seem pretty similar by what I can ascertain

I had given my wife the movie to return but by the time she got my message to not do it after all it was too late. Oh well I will now wait for a price drop to get this version.