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
Review of Sleepwalkers
