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Sleepwalkers aka Stephen King's Sleepwalkers [Blu-ray]
(Mick Garris, 1992)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Columbia Pictures Corporation Video: Image Entertainment
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:29:11.346 Disc Size: 19,568,778,450 bytes Feature Size: 18,820,952,064 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.88 Mbps Chapters: 16 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: September 4th, 2012
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: VC-1 Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1755 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1755 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, none
Extras: • Trailer (1:52)
Bitrate:
Description: Only Stephen King, the dark genius behind Misery, The Shining and Pet Sematary, could have written Stephen King's SLEEPWALKERS, a classic horror story that takes a perfect Norman Rockwell town and turns it inside out. Brian Krause and Alice Krige star in this terrifying tale of modern-day vampires who prey on virtuous young women. Madchen Amick plays the sexually curious virgin who falls for the new boy in school (Brian Krause), only to learn too late that he's a life-sucking Sleepwalker. Mutating at will from golden boy to savage monster, Krause stalks Amick to feed his seductive mother. As the tension mounts (and the casualties pile up), the town's tabbies gather for a final, chilling showdown with the monsters in their midst— and we all know it's not nice to hurt people's felines... With cameo appearances by Stephen King and Clive Barker.
The Film: Teen hunk Krause and his incestuous mother Krige are the last of a line of creatures who feed on the virtue and suffering of small-town virgins like Amick. So when Amick takes Krause to a graveyard to make out, he transforms into the date-rapist from Hell. The creature and transformation effects are impressive, but undermined by wild swings of tone: here, for example, explicit physical horror gives way to misjudged jokey taunts, until ended by the truly laughable intervention of a fearsome kitty cat. The slide into implausibility gathers pace as the scratched and wounded Krause is nursed by his fading mother in a house surrounded by a growing horde of vengeful pussies. It's never explained why they're afraid of domestic cats, why they're the last of their line, or why they're called Sleepwalkers. Garris is left by Stephen King's typically threadbare script to extract what few frights he can with tricksy camerawork, shock effects, and flesh-ripping gore. Excerpt from TimeOut located HEREThe film, which opened today at local theaters, follows the mayhem wrought by Mary and her son Charles (Brian Krause) when they arrive in the small town of Travis, Ind. Both mother and son are Sleepwalkers, werewolflike creatures condemned to feed on the life force of beautiful young women to stay alive. They are also lovers. Before dispatching her son to find a fresh young victim, Mary entices Charles to slow dance with her to his favorite song, "Sleep Walk" (what else?), the 1959 hit by the Brooklyn guitar duo Santo and Johnny. Excerpt from NY Times located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. Image Entertainment use the VC-1 encode for their Blu-ray of Sleepwalkers. The effects don't look any more transparent than originally and the overall 1080P image quality is quite decent - clean, tight colors with a shade of softness. It seems brighter and truer than SD could relate although the single-layered visuals can tend to look a bit blocky at times. This Blu-ray seems to do its job without digital manipulations and although not upper-tier provides a fine presentation.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :No surround here with a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel stereo track at 1755 kbps which seems to do well-enough. Nicholas Pike's score sounds balanced establishing some good aura. There are instances of depth and I don't have any strong complaints. There are 'blocked' opttional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras : Only a trailer as a supplement.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze September 3rd, 2012
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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