Sleepwalkers (1992)

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

Well, based on his resume I'd say your gut instinct was dead on. He basically went on to direct 2 more terrible King adaptations (The Stand & The Shining) and that's about it.

He's actually done at least a half dozen King adaptations, but I don't think I've seen more than "Sleepwalkers" and "The Stand". Are any of the others any better? They've mostly just been done for TV.

[seanotron 2307]

He's actually done at least a half dozen King adaptations, but I don't think I've seen more than "Sleepwalkers" and "The Stand". Are any of the others any better? They've mostly just been done for TV.

 

The adaptation of The Shining was pretty blah, but what do you expect when you hire Steven Weber?

[sillstaw 414]

The adaptation of The Shining was pretty blah, but what do you expect when you hire Steven Weber?

 

I recall watching the very end of that one night. The major thing I remember from it (beyond the whole "completely-different-ending" thing) was when Steven Weber was doing the iconic axe-through-the-door bit... and instead of "Here's Johnny!" he just says, "Boo!" I'm not kidding. He doesn't even say it in a threatening way like Nicholson did.

 

I recall reading that one of Stephen King's complaints about Kubrick's "Shining" was that Jack Nicholson "tipped off" the audience that he would be going crazy, and that he would've preferred Jon Voight or Christopher Reeve in the role. Casting Steve Weber gave me an idea of what it would have been like if "Smokey and the Bandit"-era Burt Reynolds had played Jack instead.

[CarloVanstiphout 34]

Reviving this thread because I just rewatched it and holy shit would this be perfect for HDTGM.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p436x268lkgtc4v/copkebob.gif?dl=0

[TrevorAlonzo 38]

I saw this on tv when I was like 10 or 11. It wasn't scary. I remember thinking "Wait isn't that his mom? Did I miss something? I got to talk to somebody else who saw this. Nope he keeps calling her mother. What the Hell?"

[CaseyRafter 42]

Upvote. This movie is iconically terrible. I can't wait for June to forget that she's seen this

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Yea its amazingly awkward. I was never able to watch Charmed without thinking Leo had some super dark shit in store for the sisters.

[TrevorAlonzo 38]

Is it Sleepwalkers or crazy cat lady?

[NathanGordon 1096]

This movie is frustrating because it never bothers to explain its internal mythology -- and you can't go to the source, because this is an original Stephen King screenplay. So many questions:

 

Where/how/why the fuck do these cat-people shapeshifters exist? Except for the cursory psuedo-history in the introduction, there's exactly ONE line that references any context for their being -- the mother says something like "there's got to be more of us out there, we can't be the last ones". So are they searching for other "sleepwalkers"?

 

Is their race being hunted, or are they dying out? Are the cats other shapeshifters, or are they just regular cats? Does this mean ALL cats are after the sleepwalkers? Why? And for that matter, why are cat-people fatally allergic (or whatever) to cats? This seems like an insane weakness for one species to have.

 

On that note, it's no wonder the sleepwalkers have gone extinct -- they are fucking terrible at their jobs. The son spends the whole movie getting his ass kicked by a single teenage girl. The mother apparently can't even leave the house. How the hell have they even made it this far?

 

What exactly are their powers? The shape shifting seems to come only out of surprise or anger, rather than need. They never change shape for any useful reason, other than to simply turn invisible, stay still, and hide. What a shitty power. Oh, and they can apparently turn a car (all cars? What about other things?) invisible, and change it from a Mustang to a Thunderbird.

 

If you can feed on virgins, can you feed on children? It seems like virgins would be in short supply at high schools, especially when they're hot girls like Madchen Amick. Can they only feed on women, or are young men acceptable? Why not just go after another, easier, dumber teenager? Do you really need to take her out to several dates first?

 

Why? WHY?

[TrevorAlonzo 38]

This movie is frustrating because it never bothers to explain its internal mythology -- and you can't go to the source, because this is an original Stephen King screenplay. So many questions: Where/how/why the fuck do these cat-people shapeshifters exist? Except for the cursory psuedo-history in the introduction, there's exactly ONE line that references any context for their being -- the mother says something like "there's got to be more of us out there, we can't be the last ones". So are they searching for other "sleepwalkers"? Is their race being hunted, or are they dying out? Are the cats other shapeshifters, or are they just regular cats? Does this mean ALL cats are after the sleepwalkers? Why? And for that matter, why are cat-people fatally allergic (or whatever) to cats? This seems like an insane weakness for one species to have. On that note, it's no wonder the sleepwalkers have gone extinct -- they are fucking terrible at their jobs. The son spends the whole movie getting his ass kicked by a single teenage girl. The mother apparently can't even leave the house. How the hell have they even made it this far? What exactly are their powers? The shape shifting seems to come only out of surprise or anger, rather than need. They never change shape for any useful reason, other than to simply turn invisible, stay still, and hide. What a shitty power. Oh, and they can apparently turn a car (all cars? What about other things?) invisible, and change it from a Mustang to a Thunderbird. If you can feed on virgins, can you feed on children? It seems like virgins would be in short supply at high schools, especially when they're hot girls like Madchen Amick. Can they only feed on women, or are young men acceptable? Why not just go after another, easier, dumber teenager? Do you really need to take her out to several dates first? Why? WHY?

If cats can kill them then why can they turn into cats?

[CaseyRafter 42]

If cats can kill them then why can they turn into cats?

I dunno, but GREAT IMAGE

[AbeFroman 70]

Saw this in the theatre as a freshman in high school.

 

Remains one of the best movie going experiences I have ever had. Saw it opening night with packed house that went full MST3K on it.

 

This would make for an excellent live episode and a great Halloween episode.

[DarthFaelan 2]

Watched the best bad movie of my life last night! Cats? Check! Incest? Check! Guy getting stabbed with a cob of corn? Mother fucking check! Also you guys can watch it for free on crackle. No idea how it flew under my radar for so long.

[SlidePocket 707]

Next episode people!

[Soapstef 36]

I cannot handle Brian Krause in this movie! He's Leo from Charmed! He's a Whitelighter (healing angel) and so awesome.

He is not this strange mother fucking, virgin hunting, demon cat thing!

I did not need to know of this movies existence!