Parents' Guide to Sleepwalkers

Wildly campy and often ridiculous, this horror oddity plays less like a scary movie and more like a grotesque cult curiosity. Sleepwalkers throws together supernatural creatures, over-the-top violence, and a bizarre mother-son relationship and somehow expects us to take it seriously. At one point someone even gets stabbed with a corncob, which tells you exactly what kind of movie this is. The film rarely works as horror because everything is so exaggerated, from the chaotic car chases to the moment when a character's hand is ripped off. Even the emotional scenes tip into absurdity, especially when Mary tenderly cares for Charles while he's transformed into a giant catlike creature, a moment that's supposed to be moving but ends up strangely funny. In that sense, the movie works better as a twisted family drama with supernatural elements, something that at times feels closer to the feverish emotional world of Tennessee Williams than a traditional monster movie.

What keeps the film entertaining is how fully everyone commits to the madness. Mädchen Amick grounds the story as Tanya, playing her like a classic final girl who treats the danger seriously even when the movie around her becomes outrageous. Alice Krige, meanwhile, seems to be having the time of her life as Mary, delivering a performance that feels grand, theatrical, and completely unhinged. The special effects have clearly aged poorly, but the tactile makeup, practical creatures, and stylized lighting give the movie a texture that many modern horror films lack. Stephen King's screenplay mixes sexuality, grotesque imagery, and dark humor in a way that often makes little narrative sense, yet that chaos is part of the film's strange appeal. It may not be frightening, but as a messy, excessive camp spectacle, Sleepwalkers has exactly the kind of bizarre energy that helps turn movies into cult favorites.