SLEEPLESS - DVD review

If you would place Max Von Sydow directly in front of me and explain he was God, I wouldn't argue. This is how highly I regard Mr. Sydow and his career, ranging from his incredible early performance in Ingmar Berman's wonderful "The Seventh Seal" to his role as Father Merrin in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," and everything in-between and after. Image my excitement when I received the screener for 2001's "Sleepless" and realized it was not only a new Von Sydow film, but also directed by the great horror maestro, Dario Argento who is responsible for "Opera," "Superia," "Deep Red" and other classics. I have done numerous Argento reviews over the past two years and seeing these two men paired together was like a dream come true.

Over the past few years, Argento has suffered from delivering a number of sub par films. "Demons 4," "Phantom of the Opera," and "Trauma" were certainly nothing to brag about and it had seemed as if the master had lost his touch of conveying incredibly stylish and gruesome horror. Fortunately, "Sleepless" marks a return of Argento to the world of entertaining cinema. The film does not hold up against the incredibly stylish "Deep Red" or powerful "Suspiria," but it is a mark above the rest of the world's horror offerings over the past handful of years. Part of the success of "Sleepless" can be attributed to its powerful leading man, Max Von Sydow. The rest of it lies in Argento and his own unique style.

In "Sleepless," Von Sydow is retired investigator Moretti. Year's back, he investigated the gruesome murders by a serial killer called ‘the Dwarf' because of his diminutive size. However, one day a prostitute is viciously murdered and the son of the original victim comes calling for help, Moretti finds himself back on the job and trying to outrace the police to the identity of the killer and prevent more killings from occurring. Moretti may be retired, but his wits and experience with the case give him a leg up on everyboy else. The only problem is that the killer may actually be the person responsible for the Dwarf Murders and Moretti may be a target this time around.

As I have said, I consider Max Von Sydow as one of the greatest actors of all time. I also thoroughly enjoy Dario Argento's horror classics. "Sleepless" was a film that combined the two talents and created some lofty expectations. Were these expectations met? No, not really. However, that is not all that bad. I really was hoping for an incredible experience and what I did get was an above average effort. This is the problem, expectations can be tough on a film, but I was far from disappointed. I just didn't finish the film and call anybody up to recommend it afterwards. The acting is superb, Argento is apparently back in the game and has created a visually impressive picture. The DVD presentation hinders Argento's artistry a bit, but this will be covered below.

When it comes to recommending "Sleepless," I have no problem doing so. It is a very good thriller that creates a solid amount of tension and as with Argento's films, nothing is revealed to ruin the movie. "Sleepless" does not fit the giallo mold that many of his earlier pictures fall into. The horror elements are weaker, but there is enough gore and shock to keep the viewer on the edge of the seat and Argento shows Hollywood that he is still the better man. This is a good thriller and a good film. It doesn't quite compare to Argento's older pictures, but I hope this is a return to form for the master and there are greater things coming around the corner.

Video:
Watching this DVD gave me the feeling of wanting to beat somebody. It was not because of the gruesome killings or dark tone of the picture, but because of the crippling effect the video transfer had on the film. If you have ever seen "Deep Red," "Inferno" or "Suspiria," you have an understanding of what Dario Argento can do with his use of color and a camera. The guy has an incredible talent for creating visually sharp films. Unfortunately, bloody murder has been committed on the picture.

The film has been cropped from its 1.85:1 aspect ratio and the picture appears horribly marred because of this. Framing and composition are atrocious at times. The trailer is presented in widescreen and bests the feature in appearance. Film grain is readily apparent and the films many dark scenes show a lack of shadow detail. At least the colors looked sharp and well saturated. I was honestly distraught by the poor image quality of the DVD. I know Artisan generally does well, but this is one I would have rather seen Anchor Bay handle. Perhaps I'm a bit biased against pan and scan films, but watching this movie gives me ammunition for that argument.

Audio:
Dario Argento has a long-standing relationship with the rock group Goblin. Maybe their return is another sign that he is on the way back up. The soundtrack holds up much nicer than the image quality. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, the films effects and Goblins score sound great. Goblin's electronic tendencies bring some memories of Eighties film tracks, but it is modern in sound and its lively sound is handled rather nicely by the soundtrack. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, but some actors appear to have been dubbed. Surround effects are present, but not overpowering. The movie does not have the sheer surround presence of more modern (and lesser quality) films, but that is not Argento's style. A Dolby Digital 2.0 track is also provided. There are no subtitles, but the film is Closed Captioned. The sound quality of the release almost made up for the horrendous image quality. Almost.

Extras:
One feature that is not listed is the fact that this film is an Unrated cut of the movie. It is not an R-Rated version that would eliminate some of the power of Argento's gruesome murder scenes. The fact that Artisan didn't edit the film brought a small smile to my face. Other than the feature presentation, there are some filmographies on Von Sydow, Argento and a few others. A trailer and some promotional trailers for other Artisan releases round out the offerings.

Summary:
Fans of Dario Argento are going to have a love/hate relationship with this Artisan Entertainment release of "Sleepless." Argento is a visually strong director and this DVD does nothing to provide fans with proof of that. The image is cropped and this destroys the image composition Argento strived to achieve. The picture is also grainy and far from perfect. The film saw the return of Goblin to Argento's family. The sound quality is very good, but not overpowering. Supplements are a bit thin. This is really a low-rung release for Artisan and it is a bit sad because the film signals the return of the horror maestro, Dario Argento and has him teamed up with the best leading man he has ever had, Max Von Sydow. This is a good film that would have been much more enjoyable with a first rate DVD release.