Sleepwalker ( The Insomniac (Sleep walker) )

Sleepwalker (Blu-Ray) (*)

$25.99

Alternate Title: The Insomniac (Sleep walker)
Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Dolby Linear PCM )
English ( Mono )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( Blu-Ray/Region A/B/C )

Running Time:
50 min + Extras

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Cast/Crew Interview(s)
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Short Film
Booklet
Blu-Ray & DVD Combo

Movie filmed in 1984 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Saxon Logan

Written By:
Saxon Logan

Actors:
Joanna David ..... Richard Paradise
Bill Douglas
Nickolas Grace
Fulton Mackay
Michael Medwin
Heather Page

Synopsis:

When wealthy couple Richard and Angela visit Marion and Alex in their decaying family home, their differing social and moral attitudes create uneasy tensions. An inharmonious evening of drunkenness and sexual rivalry soon turns bloody as the guests fall victim to an unhinged attacker. Featuring a rare performance from Bill Douglas (Bill Douglas Trilogy, Comrades), and starring British screen greats Joanna David and Heather Page (both of whom would go on to work with Douglas in Comrades), Sleepwalker is an outrageous and incendiary mix of biting satire and bloody horror that is at once reminiscent of otherwise unlikely bedfellows Lindsay Anderson and Dario Argento. The stellar cast also includes Nikolas Grace, and features cameos by Fulton MacKay, Michael Medwin (O Lucky Man) and Raymond Huntely. Remastered from the only surviving print, this long-unseen mid-length film is presented here for the first time on any home video format, along with two shorts by its director, Saxon Logan, and the rare 1971 mid-length fantasy, The Insomniac, directed by Rodney Giesler.

Saxon Logan's extraordinary 49 minute featurette pitches four people into a class war situation with a vicious sting in the tale.After a not entirely stress-free journey, ('Wake me up when it's over')Richard Paradise (Grace) and wife Angela (David) arrive at the house of Albion, owned by brother and sister act Marianne and Alex Britain. When a violent storm breaches the walls and windows of Albion, Marianne is forced to abandon plans for a quiet candlelit dinner so the quartet head for a local restaurant where Fulton Mckay and Micahel Medwin materialise as all-seeing, all-knowing proprietor and waiter; a Fulci-esque pair of characters who appear to 'come with the place.' It's here the fun really does start as Richard- ('He's in videos') looking for all the world like a deserving victim from Jose Larraz's Vampyres - launches a vicious attack on Alex (the excellent Bill Douglas) and his socialist principles. Be sure this loathsome 'Tory Boy' will set your hackles rising, as his entrepreneurial claptrap embodies the sentiments of Neil Kinnock's brilliant rejection of Conservative values ('The only person is me. The only number is one. The only time is now'.) And the ladies? While Angela demonstrates she's at least a few pills short of a full valium bottle, Marianne (Page) simply drinks, while exuding a trouser-rousing air of sex and sensuality that remains right up to a veritable blood-soaked finale.Boasting a script laced with black as crude humour, Sleepwalker comes over like a head-on collision between Mike Leigh and Dario Argento, with its mise en scene often recalling the late, great Mario Bava. Frequent references to nocturnal, eyes wide shut states of being - comas, sleepwalking, the strange tale of a certain Mr. Valdemar, not to mention Alex's final terrified demand ('Wake up!') - take this film beyond the usual 'stuff of nightmares' fare and suggests that were it not for a calamitous change in British cinema policy, one Frederick Kruger may not have had things entirely his own way.After 16 years in the wilderness, Sleepwalker has stirred, playing one-off's at selected cinemas countrywide, largely thanks to Darrell Buxton who is collaborating with Saxon Logan with a view to a possible DVD/VHS release. This film certainly deserves to be seen by any self-respecting genre buff, so contact Darrell at his excellent 'Pass The Marmalade' web site. Darrell will be pleased to furnish you with the latest news because, just like Harry, he's here to help.While it may be taking things a bit too far by comparing Sleepwalker to the work of a certain Mr. Argento (gory murder scenes, a sleeping witch and a girl who emerges from a drug-induced slumber), there is another (possibly unintentional?) Suspiria moment. When this film hits the small screen, hit the pause button when Alex's computer screen displays a passage of text from a script translation. There you'll see a description of a couple arriving at a town called Freiburg.

When wealthy couple Richard and Angela visit Marion and Alex in their decaying family home, an evening of drunkenness and sexual rivalry turns bloody as the guests fall victim to an unhinged attacker. Featuring a rare acting performance from acclaimed director Bill Douglas (My Childhood, Comrades), and starring Joanna David and Heather Page (both of whom would go on to work with Douglas in his final film, Comrades), this outrageous mix of biting satire and bloody horror recalls the work of otherwise unlikely bedfellows, Lindsay Anderson and Dario Argento. The stellar cast also includes Nickolas Grace (An Ideal Husband, Two Deaths), and features cameos by Fulton Mackay (Porridge), Michael Medwin (Shoestring, The Army Game) and Raymond Huntley (Upstairs, Downstairs).

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 14 October, 2013.

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