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Parasomnia

5.1

/10

2660 people rated

2008•1 h 43 m•United States

A horror-thriller centered on a woman (Wilson) suffering from a medical condition that causes her to sleep her life away, waking briefly on rare occasions.

Horror

Thriller

Cast (18)

Patrick Kilpatrick

Dylan M. McKnight

Cherilyn Wilson

Record Store Owner

Janet Tracy Keijser

Nurse Receptionist

Malcolm Foster Smith

Head of Security

Timothy Bottoms

Kathryn Leigh Scott

Nurse Margaret Evans

Young Danny Sloan

Danielle Langlois

Valorie Hubbard

Mrs. Mulliner (Laura's Foster Mother)

Madison Davenport

Young Laura Baxter

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User Reviews

Ewurakua Yaaba Yankey

14/06/2025 14:50

It's somewhat telling that most of the great reviews for the film on IMDb all come from people who have only reviewed one film in their entire IMDb career and yes you've guessed it, that film is "Parasomnia". I've often suspected suspiciously good reviews on IMDb for what turns out to be an anything but good films as underhand marketing , but it seems fairly transparent in this case. That's not to say Parasomnia is terrible, but it stops well short of being the good or great film it had the potential to be. On the plus side, it has a great baddie in Patrick Kilpatrick who does a brilliant job projecting menacing and evil, I could easily see him having what it takes to play a truly memorable baddie on a par with Hannibal Lecter. There are some beautiful visuals in the dream sequences, in fact if the film had decided to explore that terrain more it might have been something better. The actual concept of devious misuse of hypnosis is great too. Although I understand suspension of disbelief is necessary for immersion in any good story, it's the mark of a good story that it succeeds in letting you do that. If you find yourself being annoyed at what you find illogical or just plain silly, then the story is losing you and that's what kept happening to me with this film. Other reviewers have mentioned this here and I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but I will say the setup at the ending was particularly ludicrous and disappointing, not too mention the varying mental age of a character that is only supposed to have experienced a few years of life. All in all, there is the germ of a great idea here in diabolically misused hypnotism, but sadly this film fails to realise it into anything special.

Fidette🦋

22/11/2022 08:17

I thought that Parasomnia was a great film to watch In "Parasomnia," a directed by William Malone ("House on Haunted Hill," "Masters of Horror,") Laura Baxter is a young woman, a "sleeping beauty," who suffers from a medical condition called "parasomnia." A childhood accident victim, she is almost sleeping her life away, becoming awake at times. While visiting his friend Billy in the rehabilitation centre of a psychiatric hospital, an art student Danny Sloan falls in love with her, unaware that her hospital neighbour,is a mass murderer called Byron Volpe. Sloan helps Laura escape from her hospital only to discover that Volpe is about to enter into her dreams. Byron, a deranged hypnotizer, used his ability to control his victims. Danny decides to abduct Laura and bring her to his apartment. However, Byron also loves Laura and controls her nightmares. This was a very good film.

TB

22/11/2022 08:17

Danny Sloan(Dylan Purcell) is an art student who is visiting a friend, Billy Dornbuss(Dov Tiefenbach) in rehab when he stops off to look at a serial killer in a padded cell, and a girl he once knew from child hood suffering from Kleine-Levin, accompanied by catalepsy, a car accident causing her chronic narcolepsy . The villain of the film is a serial killer named Byron Volpe(Patrick Kilpatrick, just oozing menace), a talented by evil mesmerist who uses his powers to cause death and destruction, his eyes black as night. Danny kidnaps parasomniac Laura Baxter(the cherubic, porcelain-skinned Cherilyn Wilson)fearing that a sleep doctor(known for his patients dying on him)might harm her. When Danny discovers that Volpe is haunting Laura's nightmares while she's asleep, causing her to kill while under a type of hypnosis, he decides to purchase a gun and raid Byron's padded cell to end his reign of terror..but, all doesn't go according to plan. Interference from a security guard and a nurse Volpe induces his spell on halt Danny from shooting Byron and he eventually escapes. Meanwhile, Detective Garrett(Jeffrey Combs)is hunting for Danny, believing he had something to do with the murder of a partner found butchered in Sloan's apartment. Volpe's goal is simple, to force Laura and Danny apart by his powers of suggestion so he can have her all to himself. William Malone may've finally done it. PARASOMNIA is the film that Malone has come close to over the years, but he needed the right kind of material to go with his stunning visual style and art direction. He also aligns himself with one hell of a cast, with a likable Purcell as the young hero in love with the gorgeous Wilson, also providing Kilpatrick with his best part in ages. Combs has also starred in Malone's FEARDOTCOM & HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, and he adds the idiosyncratic gum chewing as a trait that distinguishes his nervy detective, bummed that he must continue to come across bloody crime scenes. Tiefenbach has another memorable weirdo, his Dornbuss a quiet-voiced metal-artist whose works are used by Volpe at the end for two "orchestral symphonies" featuring two kidnapped pretty violinists playing classical tunes while "assistants"(made out of metal scrap parts and other junk yard objects)turn devices which accompany the music. Timothy Bottoms has a small role as one of Laura's caring doctors who explains her condition to Danny and later, at the end, to Danny's music-loving rock aficionado pal, Phil(Philip Newby). Sean Young has a cameo, and does it leave an impact opening the film, expressing Volpe's insane abilities to cause humans to do whatever he so wishes, including suicide. As with any Malone film, there are these really disturbing images which make you shudder, coming in the form of these creatures which pop up in Laura's Volpe-controlled nightmares, mirrors off the ground and moving in a clock-wise motion also distinctive when we get a glimpse inside what she must endure when not given brief moments of freedom awake. John Landis(American WEREWOLF IN London)has a funny cameo as a store owner, annoyed at discovering another "vagrant"(Laura, in this case)sleeping in a bed inside his establishment. Malone should be proud of this movie, because it very well could be his finest hour as a director..unlike films of the past, PARASOMNIA doesn't wallow in unpleasantness although it certainly has a nasty psychopath, probably Malone's most effective human monster(even though, Stephen Rea wasn't no boy scout).

Kunle Remi

22/11/2022 08:17

Here goes the perfect example of what not to do when you have a great idea. That is the problem isn't? The concept is fresh and full of potential, but the script and the execution of it lacks any real substance. It should grab you from the start and then pull a little on your emotions, get you interested and invested in the characters. This movie doesn't have what it takes to take off and sustain flight, and here is why. First you don't really care about the characters because they are not presented in a way that people can relate to, I mean this is not Superman or Mission Impossible here, it's suppose to be about normal people put in a stressful situation. They are not believable in the way they act and interact. Example : Jeffrey Combs as a cop over chewing is gum, frowning and looking intense all the time isn't the way to go here. I mean what is that?, he looks like he's on the toilet or something. I loved him in re-animator and the way he was playing the intense/neurotic, unappreciated medical genius was right on the money. But not for this, he tries too hard to over compensate by looking so intense and on edge but in a still mild neurotic manner, it's not natural, I'm surprised he didn't dislocate his jaw during filming. The movie is basically on life support, it barely has a pulse and it kept me waiting for something that would never come.

Lerato Makepe

22/11/2022 08:17

this is my first review but I decided to review this title because I had a real appreciation for this film. I randomly found this title and decided to check it out ... I was quiet surprised. This is quiet a beautiful film, the story line, the graphics, its all very well put together. The acting is pretty good I will give it a 7/10 there are a few plot holes but it isn't really noticeable,This is probably the best film yet by William Malone, he has come a long way from the failed feardotcom. The film itself is really enjoyable to watch, the gore is minimal, and it keeps your attention. I would suggest this for a rainy night in

Azanga

22/11/2022 08:17

Quite an interesting movie! I didn't expected to be that good to be honest. That is why it was a pleasant surprise. The only two really negative things that I found are: firstly somewhere in the middle it seemed to be stretched a little bit that it somehow loses its point (not that bad though, it gets right back into place) and secondly I was hopping to see more of Sean Young. More than her grand exit in the beginning of the movie! If you have Sean Young I think that you should use her a little bit more, not just for a few minutes! At least I got to see a lot of Jeffrey Combs, who is really great, in a role where he doesn't play someone crazy! Patrick Kilpatrick was great too. He gave me the Goosebumps! This movie was really amazing! Like a crazy painting or something an artist would have dreamed! Tick tick and the nightmare begins… Tick tick dreams and reality are mixed with one another. Dreams made of crystals and a fragile reality. What would you choose if you could? In the middle of these two worlds is a girl suffering from a sleeping disorder. What will she do? Tick tick time is passing by. A crazy movie which deserves a chance, so give it a try. I think that most of you will like this one. It is a really great thriller.

Sarah Hassan

22/11/2022 08:17

Parasomnia is a sleep disorder involving abnormal behaviour usually occurring between wakefulness and REM sleep. The film Parasomnia can be summarized as follows: Boy loses girl. Boy meets girl. Girl meets serial killer. Serial killer chases girl in her dreams (a la Nightmare on Elm Street). Add creepy hospital as backdrop (a la Session 9, etc., etc.). Rinse. Repeat. There's nothing wrong with borrowing from other genre classics, provided you have a solid original foundation to build on. The problem is, Parasomnia doesn't have that. It's a loose collection of independently intriguing ideas that collectively just don't tie together well enough for me to want to enjoy it. The limited budget and bare-bones special effects further hinder the film. Far from being an impediment to restful sleep, Parasomnia is in fact the key to it. A. Earnhart

Prince Ak

22/11/2022 08:17

Initially when I picked up "Parasomnia" from Amazon, it was simply because Jeffrey Combs is in the movie. But I must admit that I didn't particularly have any expectations to it, as I had never heard about the movie before, and happened to come across it by sheer luck. Having seen it now, I must admit that I am positively surprised, because the movie turned out to be quite interesting, and had some really interesting visuals and some disturbing images and ideas. And that was really something new and fresh to see, and it helped the movie quite a lot. The story is about young art student Danny Sloan (played by Dylan Purcell) who comes across Laura Baxter (played by Cherilyn Wilson) who is suffering from 'parasomnia'. Laura is in a health facility where the dangerous mass-murdering mentalist/hypnotist Byron Volpe (played by Patrick Kilpatrick). Byron is in love with Laura and Danny's clever plan to help Laura escape from the hospital sets in motion a murderous rage in Byron. With police detective Garrett (played by Jeffrey Combs) on the case, time is slowly ticking out for Danny, as the police and the dangerous murderer is closing in on him. Despite the story seeming like it is fairly standard and generic, it does offer something unique and interesting to the horror genre. And it is well worth watching, if not for anything else, then for the visuals alone; because there are some rather disturbing images and visuals throughout the movie. The people cast for the movie did good jobs with their given roles, and it was nice to see some new faces on the screen, and have them do good jobs with their characters. For horror and thriller fans alike, then "Parasomnia" is definitely worth watching, and I was thoroughly entertained by it.

Mohammed Kaduba

22/11/2022 08:17

I thought about giving it a three star rating, but... two is enough. This is a really bad movie! The only positive thing that I can think about is the prolonged scene in the basement or wherever when the two girls are playing the concert and all those mechanical dolls and other toys seem to coma alive. It is beautifully done and these 5,6 minutes are the only good out of more than 90 minutes. Though the premise of the film is good one, and parasomnia can give interesting plot, it is not going to happen in this movie. The acting is rather bad. The detective is super lame and unbearable to watch. It is a parody almost of 'bad cops'. The main male role is half believable in his role. This is not a horror but a parody of horror films. And the ending is ... just lol!

Døna2001

22/11/2022 08:17

I watched this movie after seeing other comments on IMDb, even convincing my wife that it was a "unique horror movie." I wanted to like this movie, but was unable to. The "love story" was good, but the horror aspect was quite bad. If the story was just about a young man who fell in love with a girl suffering from parasomnia, then it would have been a better movie. The care centre stretched credulity well past the limits, in fact it was quite ridiculous. The doctor happily ignors privacy laws and professionalism. A nurse goes into a room for a routine feeding of a dangerous patient (without security escort), and drops the tray and runs out of the room screaming for no apparent reason. The forensic patient (and the film's villain) is tied up in a standing position fully clothed - apparently for years? None of it makes much sense. The movie even had some actors that I've liked in other things, such as the detectives, but still I can't recommend this movie.