Sleepless

source: Sleepless

Non ho sonno

I was afraid that Argento, in the 2000's, gives us lousy films, as many other directors by the end of their careers; they lose their desire to perfection, their talent, their inspiration...Here the master of the giallo adapts his style to the new generation though remaining faithful to his own trademarks. Any Argento fan could recognize his style in the directing, editing, atmosphere and photography, even the soundtrack. I don't ecen speak of Max Von Sydow, as an old timer, a vet cop get out of retirement. A must see, though not being his best ever.

I must admit that have seen all Dario Argento's films and the last 3 ones were very disappointing. Being his fan I could not miss his last effort specially when I noticed that the myths since the time of "Profondo Rosso": The Goblin, were performing the soundtrack. Dario Argento is back to the old typical thriller structure: a serial killer with a nonsense-rhyme for kids is the leitmotiv of all the homicides in a very wet and scary Turin. The characters are well performed specially by the "bergmanian" Max Von Sidow. Chiara Caselli and Stefano Dionisi are fine and the first 20 minutes of film are an example of very high level cinema -the scenes shot in the train are icing- The soundtrack is less electronic than in the past with some elements of heavy metal. Rating: 5/10

This was a great thriller and kept me interested from beginning to end. I enjoyed the story, and the characters, and the excellent 80's metal vibe soundtrack. Max Von Sydow knocks it out of the park, and support cast is quite good, some exchanges between characters was a bit amateurish, but the majority of the film makes up for it. Argento still builds scenes with atmospheric tension, and some great camera work,and pov scenes. I give it a nine, I guessed wrong twice until the last 8 min. Though it's almost 2 hrs long it moves along at a brisk pace, and delivers on the gore in imaginative ways. A solid 9.

With his newest giallo "Non ho Sonno" Dario Argento proves again that he is the best Italian horror/suspense director."Non ho Sonno" is basically about a killer who murders women and leaves the police always a clue:a paper-cut of an animal(e.g.cat,rabbit).The killings are based on a children's poems,and the murder spree started back in 1983,stopped abruptly after three killings,and continues 17 years later.Many people complain about acting,but I don't care.In my opinion the cast is pretty good,and the characters are well-developed."Non ho Sonno" is also Argento's most violent and sadistic work to date.The gore is pretty extreme and there are some really ghastly murder scenes like one where the victim gets her head bashed against the wall-it really hurts watching that!Anyway if you like the works of Italian maestro Dario Argento,you'll love "Non ho Sonno".9 out of 10.

Having reviewed the brilliant Giallo "Profondo Rosso" last week I just checked out Dario Argento´s latest film "Non ho sonno". In comparison to the above mentioned classic, "Sleepless" is much straighter and more fast-paced. There are more bloody murders (A prostitutes fingers were cut off, a man gets stabbed by a fountain pen...), however the photography seemed to be not as elegant as it was in "Profondo Rosso". I´m really no Argento-expert but I think this was a good thriller with a well-developed story and lots of suspense. Even a few humorous scenes were brought on like the take when some Lilliputians have to wait for their interrogation at the police department. Main actor Max von Sydow ("Dune", "The Exorcist") is great in the lead, but also most of the supporting actors like Stefano Dionisi or Chiara Caselli are doing solid jobs! I´d give this film 8 out of 10, just for being really good Giallo-entertainment!!