This lost Stephen King movie is woefully underrated. Here’s …

Have you ever watched a movie as a child, thought it was the scariest thing you’d ever seen in your life, and then went back years (or, in some cases, decades) later only to realize that it was The movie was kind of tame, not that scary, and not bad either? I certainly have, (Hello, pumpkin head), but there are also movies that somehow retain the power to thrill you, even when they really shouldn’t.

Mick Garris’ sleep walkers Is one of those movies. Chances are, you haven’t heard of it; Released in 1992, it wasn’t a hit then, and doesn’t really have a cult following today. It is now largely forgotten, even though it was written by Stephen King (it is the first time he has written something directly for the screen), it starred twin Peaks alum (Madchen Amick, who ultimately deserved more than a film career), and featured random cameos from famous horror directors (Tobe Hopper, John Landis, Joe Dante and Clive Barker all pop up). It’s not a masterpiece, but sleep walkersIn its simple depiction of small-town fear and supernatural terror, this is rare: this is a horror movie that is genuinely disturbing. Here are some reasons why you should check it out.

The plot of Sleepwalkers is impressively simple (no pun intended!).

Different it, tripodor even Suffering, sleep walkers This is probably the most basic story Stephen King has ever written. Here’s the plot: The Bradys, a mother and teenage son (Alice Krige and Brian Cross), arrive in a small town, the teenage son begins a romance with town beauty Tanya (Amick), the son tries to suck out the life force. The girl retaliates, the son is injured, and the mother swears revenge. It doesn’t get any more complicated than that, except for the fact that mother and son are soon revealed to be energy vampires who, according to Wikipedia, “can transform into human-sized bipedal werecats.” Hey, it happens to the best of us.

The point is, there’s not much to do sleep walkers, What you see is often what you get, and in this case, that’s a good thing. This is a clean, old-fashioned horror story that doesn’t bog down allegory or, as is fashionable these days, shock. It’s a pure scare-fest, which is why it remains so watchable even after all these years.

The movie somehow makes Enya scary

probably the most famous thing about it sleep walkers It’s Enya. Wait, the Irish New Age singer is in this movie? Well, something like this; While Nicholas Pike is credited as the music composer, the film frequently uses Boadicea, a song from Enya’s self-titled 1987 album, is very influential. Why would a deep cut from a five-year-old Enya album be used in an early ’90s horror film? I have no idea, but I’m glad they did, because this song is crucial in establishing the eerie, mysterious mood of the film.

Boadicea We begin to feel the growing fear when the son, Charles, targets Tanya as his victim at an isolated movie theater where she works. The song resurfaces at the film’s fiery climax, in which Tanya again appears alone but transformed, a survivor who has just witnessed something supernatural and terrifying. As Enya begins to hum along to the song’s spare electronic melodies, the film cuts to a final, memorable image of hundreds of cats running and jumping around a bonfire at night. It’s a beautiful song that is indispensable in capturing the moody mystery of Sleepwalkers and it elevates it above just another schlocky B-movie.

Sleepwalkers has two amazing female characters

The horror genre is not known for great female roles. Sure, there’s the Final Girl trope, but how often does a horror movie feature two great leads in the same picture? sleep walkers This is a horror film that does just that, giving both Amick’s Tanya and Alice Krige’s mean mother two juicy parts to sink their teeth into. Amick plays a typical “pure virgin” woman and makes it somehow interesting, filling Tanya with a subtle desire for entertainment and adventure that makes her respond to the scary hints given by Charles the Cruel from the beginning. Makes you blind. She’s certainly naive, but wouldn’t you be naive too, if a good-looking man like Charles only had eyes for you?

As Charles’s mother Mary, Krige is the standout performer in the film and leaves the most lasting impression. (It’s hard when you have Ron Perlman chewing scenery as a police officer and Clovis the cat stealing every scene he’s in.) Mary is disgusting, a woman who not only kills children without blinking. , but also (examines notes) throws cats around and slits their necks, has sex with his own son (!), and kills entire families and most of the city’s police force .

Yet somehow, Krige makes him sympathetic. She makes you care about Mary’s love for Charles and she almost, About, ultimately pitting you against the pure-hearted Tanya. Mary just wants to live in peace and make incestuous love to her son. She can’t help that they have to kill to survive; After all, isn’t that what everyone else does too? Krige was a mother even before she was “a mother” and her Mary is one of the most memorable horror film mothers ever in the genre.

Understands that cats are pure evil

I’m not a cat person, so sleep walkers Right up my street. The only weakness of both villains is that they are fatally allergic to cats. Yes, it sounds weird, but in the movie, it’s actually cool, because this weakness somehow attracts cats to them too. They are the only people who can see them for what they really are: evil monsters who prey on young girls in order to sustain their lives.

Brady is constantly surrounded by cats wherever he goes, and if too many of them scratch and claw him, he could die. I’ve always believed that cats are good for nothing, and even though I’m not some immortal being who sucks the life force out of young girls, I also feel like those dangerous cats are out to get me. Are. I won’t reveal too much, but these cats help Tanya when she needs it most sleep walkers‘ Conclusion one you won’t forget anytime soon.

sleep walkers Streaming for free on Pluto TV. You can also rent or own it on various digital platforms like Prime Video.