I got to see Sleepless on the big screen on Saturday night. I'd never seen a Dario Argento movie at the movies before.
This was not a good one to start with.
The original Italian title was No Ho Sonno, which translates as I Can't Sleep. Shoulda been I Can't Act. Even taking dodgy English dubbing into account (and why the f**k did they get a dubbed version for the Italian Film Festival?), this movie had some of the most atrocious acting I've ever seen. Max Von Sydow was the sole exception as usual - there seems to be no acting obstacle that guy can't hurdle.
The story made even less sense than usual. The characters made no sense too - the killer's motivation was particularly "What the hell?" Argento didn't even bother to imbue it with his idiosyncratic visual style - apart from one striking shot of some carpet, anyone could have directed this. Many elements (including Goblin's score) were ineptly re-hashed from Deep Red. A scene on a train towards the start was good, then it went all downhill. There was plenty of gore, but it was nastier and less fun than usual. One murder scene involving a musical instrument (repeated a bit too often) was at least unique.
This was hands-down the worst Dario Argento movie I have seen. The whole front row was full of fans, and we all hated it. It sucks. Don't see it.
Posted by pearce at October 26, 2004 4:16 PM