Such a frustrating disappointment

Admirable film.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I went into this movie aware that there was some memorable moments but did not expect to be wowed by the ridiculousness on display. The concept of vampiric, shape-shifting werecats could not have been executed any better. It blends classic monster madness with the bizarre details one can come to expect from Stephen King. Many actors were given the opportunity to shine in this film. I especially connected with the performance of Sparks who brings a sincere humanity to the role of Clovis. The sheer amount of absurdity in this movie took me by surprise. A police officer is fatally stabbed in the back with a gnawed on ear of corn. Another is set on fire when the mother sleepwalker fires a handgun at a police vehicle, which promptly explodes. I found the death of Andy Simpson, Clovis' partner, too be especially impactful. Over the little time Dan Martin had in the film he stood out as an exemplary actor and supported Sparks admirably. The Borg Queen was in this movie and it was neat to see her get so emotionally conflicted by the gathering of household cats on her yard. I too have had my own share of run-ins with strange cats and I can safely say that this film accurately depicted the existential fear one experiences when confronted with multiple strange cats outside ones house. It was strange to see her bang her son but when your an ancient cat faced serial rapist there is not as many options out there waiting for you. Overall this is a funny and bizarre sit that is perfect for anybody willing to deal with seeing Mark Hamill in over-sized sunglasses.

What's a sleepwalker? How about shapeshifting energy vampires that survive off the energy of virgins, who can cast illusions, move things with their minds and transform into werecats? Oh yeah and their biggest weakness is cats, who can see them and kill them with their claws. And before we forget, the only way the males can feed their female mothers is by having sex with them. Got all that? Then if you can get your head around all of that, you're ready for Sleepwalkers.Charles Brady and his mother Mary (Alice Krige, the Borg queen!) are on the run, settling for a bit in Indiana. They've just escaped California, where they killed a young girl (who emerges as a screaming skeleton from a closet, shocking the police — including Mark Hamill among them) and left behind a house surrounded by dead cats.Somehow, Charles is able to fake the necessary paperwork (this is pre-internet) and attend the local high school, where he chases Tanya (Mädchen Amick from Twin Peaks). Is it love or is he just trying to feed his mother? Well, on their first date, he tries to suck out her lifeforce, so she jams a corkscrew in his eye. If that's not young love, what is?Deputy Sheriff Andy arrives, having been searching for Charles ever since he was speeding and trying to run down young girls (not to mention slicing. the hand off of a pedophile teacher). Oh yeah — the deputy has a partner. Clovis. A cat who sits in the front seat. As Andy attempts to save Tanya, Charles kills him, drawing the ire of Clovis, who scratches him. He staggers home, where his mother uses her powers to hide them from the police. However, the area cats are having none of this as they gather around the house.

Story Synopsis: Mother & son Mary & Charles Brady arrive in a small town, intending to stay there. But what the townsfolk don't know is that the pair are actually 'sleepwalkers' – human / feline hybrid polymorphs who subsist on the lifeforce of female virgins. As Charles courts Tanya Robertson, intending to feed her to his mother, the police begin to suspect their intentions. The town's cats – whose scratches are the only way to kill the creatures – mount an assault on the pair.Film Analysis: Today's horror fans might know Mick Garris as the producer of the Masters of Horror TV series – a series of short films made by legendary genre directors. But Garris is also a director who had obtained a bad reputation among Stephen King's followers thanks to his consistent botching of King's novels by making subpar adaptations. The problem is that King, who seems to be a friend of Garris, doesn't seem to notice the harm that Garris is doing to his works. Sleepwalkers, one of King's original film scripts, was among the first of Garris' botch-jobs.Sleepwalkers, at least in script form, is King's attempt at reinventing the vampire film. At first glance it seems an interesting & well-thought-out story. But Garris, who seems incapable of making a decent film, ruins the story to the degree that it becomes quite unwatchable.I have always hated Garris' films, due to his ineptness. Garris' primary fault is the use of his trademark clumsy humour that he injects into his films. Not to mention that he mishandles the script badly, with his characters acting like total idiots at times. King has been known to have the occasional scripting flaw – his only directorial outing, the killer machines thriller Maximum Overdrive is a good example – but it seems that even his skills can't withstand Garris that well. When you have the monster off a police deputy by ramming a corncob into his ear, you know the film's in trouble.Having said that, Brian Krause & Alice Krige make a good team of shapeshifting monsters (even if their characters' incestuous relationship is a bit off-putting). This, along with King's original ideas & the glorious image of several film directors making cameos during the graveyard crime scene analysis makes me give the film a slightly higher rating than I would have given it otherwise.

While I can't say that Stephen King's "Sleepwalkers" is a great film, it certainly is not the worst one either. In this movie Stephen King actually does try to do something original, in that he creates a race of supernatural beings who for some unknown reason call themselves sleepwalkers. These beings are psychic vampires (meaning they feed off of psychic energy as opposed to blood) who can transform themselves into bipedal were-cats. In addition, they also possess powers of telekinesis and invisibility, which makes things more interesting. This film follows two of these creatures, Charles and his mother, Mary, who are forced to live nomadic lifestyles because it turns out that regular house cats are deadly to them and always seem to find them in their new neighborhoods. Another constraint is that they can only feed off of the life force of young, female virgins such as young Tanya Robertson, who "Twin Peaks" fans will recognize as Madchen Amick. She happens to meet Charles in her creative writing class, thinking that he's falling in love with her; little does she know that Charles (played decently by Brian Krause) wants to suck the life out of her. All the actors play their parts well, however the real star of the movie is the talented Alice Krige, who plays the deliciously evil matriarch who will do anything to protect her son. A number of people have expressed dismay over the film and there is some truth in that: the direction by Mick Garris does not always flow right, the early CGI effects, although not terrible, seem a little dated today, and a few plot holes are present, such as what is it about cats that make them so deadly to sleepwalkers? Still, the movie never drags, the physical makeup they used for the creatures was very convincing and probably more so than some of the effects you see today, and the creatures are a pretty cool idea. One other thing that adds to the movie is the theme song, done by Enya, I think, that manages to be both beautiful and haunting. I'll admit that I'm a little biased in that I love just about anything from the 90s. Yet, give "Sleepwalkers" a chance. Besides, there are worse Stephen King Movies out there; just watch "Rose Red' and you'll see what I mean. 7 out of 10