SLEEPLESS aka I Cant Sleep

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Argento is the greatest director ever. I'll get that one out of my system out front. This movie, however, was one of the biggest disapointments of my life. Opera was awe inspiring, Suspiria is a classic of all time, Deep Red was beautiful, and Tenebre was a great movie, but this was a big let down.

I went into this with high expectations, wondering what Dario Argento could do with modern technology. Not much. The character acting in this movie is horrible, and the script isn't much better. The only good actor was Max von Sydow, but there was no support.

Argento also has a tendency to play heavy metal or cartoony music at the dumbest places and yes, he does it again. Like the Arrow said, he makes all the same mistakes he normally does. The ending resembles Tenebre's blood soaked finale, but when the credits role it goes into this odd cops montage (a stupid way to end the movie). I also had a huge problem with the whole dwarf thing...i won't spoil anything but the entire dwarf plot ends up stupidly.

So....whats good about this movie..? Argento's direction is spot on as always. He probably could have made Gigli watchable (or maybe not). He has some great shots and a great train sequence early on.

The music in this movie is also great. In the opening titles when Goblin's score plays I already had a great big grin on my face, which unfortuneately didn't last. The storyline is also relatively interesting...

Overall it was Argento's worst effort that i've seen so far, but i found things to like and looking back at my review, I make it out to be horrible. It's actually a good movie and worth watching, but for Argento it was a letdown.

3/5

[Cronos]

i was surprised with it, overall i liked it but there was some very bad acting and some cheesy gore effects. i did like the story though and liked the ending

7/10

[Jason13thh]

I was pleased to see Mister Argento (I am an Argento fan) coming back to his roots: the giallo genre.

This film has sometimes a made for tv look but fortunately for us it is Argento and you can see that in a few scenes (the train-sequence, the red carpet-scene)

The gore is over the top even if sometimes it looks fake but whatever. The killer is cruel and sadistic and that is typically Argentesque.

The cinematography is good,too. (Taylor, he was director of photography in Opera,too.)
The agressive score by The Goblins is oustanding and old-style I like this score very much.

The acting is not bad at all.

Overall note: 7/10

[blacksnake]

Sleepless, is an Italian film which is dubbed into English. The film starts off with a prostitute leaving a client's house and getting onto a train. While on the train she sees that she has accidentally taken a folder of theirs with info and pictures of killings they have committed. The murderer then tracks down the prostitute and kills her and so begins a bunch of murders in Italy. A retired police detective named Ulisse Moretti, soon starts to investigate the murder and is helped by a young man named Giacoma, wgo remembers Ulisse, as a child because a killer killed his mother as a child and Ulisse, promised that he would one day find that killer. They soon start to believe that it may be the same killer and Ulisse's blocked memory soon starts to come back. Also at each murder is a clue left by the killer which is a piece of paper set in the shape of an animal from a poem that is helping inspire the killer to murder the victims the way they do and how to choose them. Sleepless, has good direction, a good screenplay, good performances from everyone involved, good cinematography, good film editing, good production design and good set decoration. Sleepless, is smart, intriguing, compelling, interesting, is well made, has good cinematography and visuals, is very unpredictable, is entertaining and is a very well done horror film from horror film director Dario Argento, who after making horror films for a long time still proves that he can make very good ones. I just think it is too bad that many of his films are hard to find and few cities get his films so people miss out on them. For those interested in horror look for any Dario Argento film whether it be new or old. I also am personally looking forward to Dario Argento's next film The Card Dealer, and I hope it gets a good distributor and is easy to find on video if it doesn't come to theaters.

[42ndStreetFreak]

"Sleepless" is hurt by BAD dubbing, obscure plotting and a confused revelation finale, plus the silly 'Killer Dwarf' idea, complete with a dire 'comedy round up the Dwarf suspects' sequence with dreadful comic musical scoring.

But it has Argento's first full frontal shot, a new and pretty good 'Goblin' score, some very violent and nasty deaths (this ranks up there with "Deep Red" in the sadistic murder stakes..it even steals the teeth bashing scene) and a nice turn by Max Von Sydow.

Far from classic Argento though due to the plodding pacing, out of place non-humour, truly bad Englisg dub (Von Sydow and his voice aside) and confused and messy final revelation.

[IamNoOne666]

I too was very disappointed with this, there are some good scenes in it but overall I have no desire to see it again.

[spacemonkey]

This ones also hard to find....must see it...must see it....

From what I hear Argentos earlier films are his best, Suspiria, Opera and Inferno have all been great! With a few glitches here and there but good.

But like someone mentioned, he does continue to make the same mistakes. Mainly with the music being completely out of place at times and the usual illness that continues to ravage Italian cinema: plot holes galore and illogical situations up the wazoo.

Yet even though they have these imperfections in them...I continue to enjoy them on a regular basis. Go figure!

[ComeNightfall]

Originally posted by IamNoOne666
I too was very disappointed with this, there are some good scenes in it but overall I have no desire to see it again.

I have to agree. And, I knew who the killer was about halfway into the movie.

[Inglorious]

I have been literally millimeters away from picking this up... but I would much rather prefer to see Inferno first. I loved Suspiria and thought Phenomena was alright.

[Romero&Juliet]

The mere MENTION of this movie gives me a giant hardon!

Seriously, I dont know where you guys are coming from. I thought it really well paced and wayy more enjoyable than anything he's made since Suspiria. I could've been having a really good day, or something, when I watched it.. it just.. WOW, knocked me on my ASS.

[Jason13thh]

Straight up Romero&Juliet !:)

[Inglorious]

Originally posted by Romero&Juliet
The mere MENTION of this movie gives me a giant hardon!

Seriously, I dont know where you guys are coming from. I thought it really well paced and wayy more enjoyable than anything he's made since Suspiria. I could've been having a really good day, or something, when I watched it.. it just.. WOW, knocked me on my ASS.

You'd make a good salesperson. I all of sudden have the urge to see this film... hmmm...

[Romero&Juliet]

Hahah, I'm flattered, thanks!

Lemme know what you think.

[Slider0322]

Originally posted by Romero&Juliet
The mere MENTION of this movie gives me a giant hardon!

Seriously, I dont know where you guys are coming from. I thought it really well paced and wayy more enjoyable than anything he's made since Suspiria. I could've been having a really good day, or something, when I watched it.. it just.. WOW, knocked me on my ASS.

I can't see how anyone can say that unless they've never seen another Argento. I guess if it was my first I'd say that same thing.

[Romero&Juliet]

Well, I've seen about everything he's made and while I drool over him like ANY other horror fan, I can see that he's not exactly a saint.

It could've just exceeded my expectations or, like I said, I could've been having a good day..?

[Pink Corduroy]

I was pleasantly surprised by "Sleepless." Admittedly, I went in with lowered expectations due to Argento's dodgy '90s work. But I did think it had a lot going for it, including some very nice setpieces and awesome Goblin score.

Awesome, that is, EXCEPT...

Originally posted by 42ndStreetFreak
...a dire 'comedy round up the Dwarf suspects' sequence with dreadful comic musical scoring.

I completely agree. The music in that scene bugged me because there's really nothing even attemptedly "comical" about the scene at all besides the fact that THERE'S A BUNCH OF LITTLE PEOPLE IN THE SAME ROOM! HAW, HAW, HAW! Jesus.

But overall, I do like the film a lot. Doesn't hold a candle to his '70s and '80s work, but there's still the occasional "flare" moment.

[dellamorte dellamore]

A good litle film that is prob only meant to hold us over for La Terza Madre , which should be the equivalent to GR's Land of the Dead , as far as swan songs go for two horror masters , even if GR is getting the royal treatment by Universal , DA is still a Euro horror curiosity .

[Pink Corduroy]

I cannot wait for "La Terza Madre." I can't even imagine what it will be like. It's been so long coming, it will definitely be an event film for Italian horror fans. Anyone heard any new updates since he announced it as his next project?