Sleepwalkers (also known as Stephen King's Sleepwalkers) is a 1992 American horror film based on an original screenplay by Stephen King and directed by Mick Garris.
Plot
Charles Brady and his mother Mary are Sleepwalkersâ€"nomadic, shapeshifting energy vampires who feed off the lifeforce of virgin women. Though they normally maintain a human form, they can transform (partially or fully) into human-sized bipedal werecats (presumably their natural form) at will. They are considerably more resilient than humans and have powers of both telekinesis and illusion. Their one weakness is cats, who are not only able to see through their illusions but whose claws are capable of inflicting severe to fatal wounds upon them. It is revealed that they also maintain an incestuous relationship.
Charles and Mary have taken up residence in a small Indiana town, having recently fled Bodega Bay, California (where they used the aliases Martha and Carl Brodie) after draining and killing a young girl there. Charles attends the local high school, and there he meets Tanya Robertson in his creative writing class. Charles feigns romantic interest in Tanya in order to take her lifeforce for both himself and his mother, who is starving.
Tanya does not suspect the real reason Charles is interested in her. At first, it seems that Charles has genuinely fallen in love with Tanya (to the dismay of his jealous mother). On their first date, however, at a picnic at the nearby cemetery, Charles attempts to drain her lifeforce while kissing her. Tanya tries frantically to ward off Charles by bashing his head with her camera, scratching his face, and ultimately plunging a corkscrew into his left eye; though nothing she does seems to cause Charles more than temporary discomfort.
As this happens, Deputy Sheriff Andy Simpson (who had earlier tried to pull Charles over for speeding and seemingly trying to run down a young school girl while passing a stopped school bus) drives by the cemetery and notices Charles’ (now undisguised) car. When Tanya flees to him for help, Charles attacks Simpson and kills him. When Charles then turns to resume feeding off of Tanya, the deputy’s cat, Clovis, rises to the occasion and violently scratches him in the face and chest. Mortally wounded, Charles staggers back home to his mother who is able to make both of them "dim", i.e. turn themselves invisible, and thus keep Charles from being arrested when the police storm their house. Ominously, a small number of cats begin to gather outside their house.
Knowing that the only way for her dying son to survive is to feed, Mary attacks the Robertson household, killing several deputies and state troopers and severely wounding Tanya’s parents. She kidnaps Tanya and takes her back to her house. Charles is near death, but Mary revives him, and Charles makes a final attempt to drain Tanya’s life force. However, Tanya plunges her fingers into his eyes, killing him. Tanya manages to escape with the help of the sheriff who is later impaled by Mary on the picket fence surrounding the house. The now large number of cats that have been gathering around their house throughout the movie, led by Clovis, all jump on Mary and claw her in a violent attack until she bursts into flames. As she dies, she screams that Tanya "killed her only son". The movie ends with Mary lying ablaze on her driveway and Tanya hugging Clovis, as her savior.
Cast
- Brian Krause as Charles Brady
- Alice Krige as Mary Brady
- Mädchen Amick as Tanya Robertson
- Lyman Ward as Donald Robertson
- Cindy Pickett as Helen Robertson
- Ron Perlman as Captain Soames
- Jim Haynie as Sheriff Ira
- Dan Martin as Andy Simpson
- Lucy Boryer as Jeanette
- Glenn Shadix as Mr. Fallows
- Sparks as Clovis
Cameos:
- Stephen King as Cemetery Caretaker
- John Landis as Lab Technician
- Joe Dante as Lab Assistant
- Clive Barker as Forensic Tech
- Tobe Hooper as Forensic Tech
- Mark Hamill as Lt. Jennings (uncredited)
Soundtrack
The original music score was composed by Nicholas Pike. The soundtrack album was released on Milan cds and cassettes.
Cd track listing: (Side 2 of the cassette begins at track 9)
- 1: Santo & Johnny â€" Sleepwalk 2:23
- 2: Nicholas Pike â€" Main Titles 2:06
- 3: Nicholas Pike â€" Cop Kabob 2:25
- 4: Nicholas Pike â€" This Is Homeland 4:06
- 5: Nicholas Pike â€" Is This What You Had In Mind? 2:49
- 6: Nicholas Pike â€" Let's Go Upstairs 2:46
- 7: Nicholas Pike â€" You Didn't Get It 3:05
- 8: Nicholas Pike â€" Run To That Jungle Beat 2:24
- 9: The Contours â€" Do You Love Me 3:00
- 10: Nicholas Pike â€" Am I Beautiful? 1:31
- 11: Nicholas Pike â€" Let The Cats Run 4:31
- 12: Nicholas Pike â€" I'm Going To Make Us Dim 2:36
- 13: Nicholas Pike â€" Fly On The Chicken 2:57
- 14: Nicholas Pike â€" Impaling Doom 3:44
- 15: Nicholas Pike â€" Speedster 3:39
- 16: Enya â€" Boadicea 3:30
Reception
The film was poorly received by critics, gaining a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 15% based on 13 reviews, giving it an average rating of 4.2/10.
See also
- Vampire film
References
External links
- Sleepwalkers at the Internet Movie Database
- Sleepwalkers at AllMovie
- Sleepwalkers at Rotten Tomatoes
- Sleepwalkers at Box Office Mojo