Rating: ****
Starring: Dennis Weaver, Valerie Harper, Robin Ignico
A family of four moves in to a sleepy little town in California in hopes of moving on from the tragic death of their eldest daughter, Jennifer. Parents Phillip and Laura try their best to maintain a picture perfect family life but it soon crumbles down when Laura's mum decided to join in, much to the children's disapproval. Days pass by and Phillip begins drinking again and the kids bicker with each other more constantly. What's more concerning would be that their now-only daughter,, Mary, starts to hear voices from under her bed and catching glimpses of their late eldest.
Who the heck wears a pink ribbon in their 80s? |
When I first decided to watch Don't Go To Sleep, I never expected much from it bar a tame ghost movie with some deaths. True, it turns out I was precisely that shindig, but much like the case of another TV bodycounter, Dark Night of The Scarecrow (1980), this little screen nightmare puts up the ante for creepiness and molded a pretty neat surprise at the end. A lot of this owes to the fact some of its scenes really tapped into childhood fears and anxieties such as deaths in a family, devolution into dysfunction, and the ole-time classic "thing under the bed", dramas that may have frightened us as children tackled here with a subtle yet brooding intensity thanks to a superb direction.
I rather have monsters under my bed, thank you! |
The only flaw I see here is how well these scares hold on to a typical horror fan: some may find it goosebumps-inducing, others will find it outdated and barely scary. Perhaps someone with a patience for slow-burning haunting/slasher hybrid might enjoy this, but those who prefers splattery, gore-tainted bodycounters will not find a keeper here. But as far as my opinion goes, I absolutely love this creep-fest, not much for the scares but more on how well executed it is. Yes, there are some slow parts and, since the killings are limited to simply the family members, not a lot tends to happen in said slow parts save probably some bickering or casual conversations that may or may not be red herrings, but these are something that are easily overlook by the right audience.
Pizza Cutters as Slasher Weapons? What-a next-a, America?! |
Bodycount:
1 female suffers a heart attack
1 boy fell off a roof
1 male electrocuted in a bath tub with a dropped radio
1 girl immolated in car explosion
Total: 4
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