Blu-Ray review: Parasomnia

December 13, 2011

E1 Entertainment
Director: William Malone
Writer: William Malone
Stars: Dylan Purcell, Patrick Kilpatrick and Jeffrey Combs
(From imdb.com)

What they say: Laura Baxter is a young woman suffering from parasomnia or ‘sleeping beauty condition’, a rare syndrome that causes its sufferers to literally sleep their lives away. When art student Danny Sloan visits his friend in the secure psychiatric unit where Laura is incarcerated, he is drawn to the mysterious dreaming girl. But the hospital is also home to notorious serial killer Byron Volpe, and he too has set his sights on Laura. Can Danny save her from Volpe’s evil intentions?

What I say:

William Malone might not be the best horror director out there but you can usually count on a solid little film from the man. Parasomnia is no exception. For a film that juts back and forth between reality and dreams, this is a pretty well told tale of a boy who likes a girl that just so happens to have a serial killer after her. Nice right?

The film, while not perfect, moves right along with very little in the scares department, but it has creepiness to spare. Performances are ok for the most part, but there are some massive plot holes that bring down the affair at times. For example, our heroine Laura wonders around town in her underwear and covered in blood, but no one seems to blink. Other than these occasional lapses in logic, the film is quite good. That just makes the mistakes stand out more unfortunately.

Picture quality wise things look pretty good. Nothing to show your home theatre off, but solid with nice detail. The dream state Laura finds herself in has it’s own look, and those scenes are pretty cool. Sound design is good as well with all speakers being used regularly.

Film: 7/10
Blu-Ray Disc: 8/10
Recommended to horror fans!