The Sleeper

Shame really, the plot was good However the whole thing was spoilt by the most appalling acting I have ever seen and that includes amateur productions. It was wooden throughout and one felt like they wanted to shake the cop up to bring him alive. I agree with the last op, there were many holes in it and the script was just dreadful. Why on earth would a cop ask a frightened girl to walk alone from one house to another with a serial killer on the loose. As if that wasn't enough, he later sent her out in the dark alone to go and get help. Hunting a serial killer and only a couple of cops on the job? PLEASE I could go on but unfortunately there is not much more to comment on, the substance was that bad. If course when you see the credits you begin to understand why it was so bad. All family made and friends hired to do the writing and acting. I would be surprised if the budget was more than $200,000,,,it really was that bad. Those that wrote in the good reviews here are probably connected to the movie team,,,"" Great Acting"",,,yeah right, maybe they were watching a different movie than I did I gave it 1 point and that was only because it is not possible to give minus marks

The movie is about a unknown man who starts stalking and killing off a group of sorority girls one-by-one. He calls the sorority house and whispers the name of the girl he will kill next. I only got about half way through the movie skipping a few parts because it was extremely bad. For a film that is supposed to be stylized as an 80's film, it loses it's audience to the mistakes it makes throughout the film. First of all, the 80's-esque special effects don't have the same effect in HD as it does with film tape that was used in the 80's. Although the story line is somewhat solid, the acting makes this movie so much worse.

THE SLEEPER is a low-budget horror movie with a very basic plot about a serial killer who stalks a bunch of (female) college students. Yes, there are hundreds of movies with plots just like that but the fact that the movie is set in the 1980s is unusual for a low-budget production. The movie is actually not as bad as many of the negative reviews might suggest, but you have to keep in mind that this is a $30,000 production with mostly unexperienced actors. I guess most people who rated this movie low had their expectations set too high. They probably expected more of a plot, which is not really that important of an element in this movie. It's the way the story is presented effectively and evocatively on a very limited budget and with a cast of amateur actors that is intriguing. Director Justin Russell and his crew did get a lot of things right to make this look like a typical 1980s horror flick. The pre-credit scenes and the opening titles in particular look like they could be straight out of a vintage slasher. The look of the rest of the movie falls short in a way, though, which can be attributed to the fact that it wasn't shot on film. THE SLEEPER could probably pretty much look like a movie from the decade it tries to recreate if they had shot it on real film stock instead of digital cameras. Ti West shot THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (2009), which also takes place in the early 1980s, on 16 mm film and he managed to make it look exactly like a film from that period. If the producers of THE SLEEPER could have afforded to shoot on film, this movie would look a lot better and the vibe would be completely different. This digital footage just looks too clean and not film- like, which is not right for the time period. Therefore, you never really can fully appreciate the images shown in this movie because the look of the digital footage is quite distracting in many scenes. Nevertheless, they did the best they could with the very limited budget, I guess. Maybe the look could have been improved with the right filters, but I don't know about that. A number actors from the cast are quite good even though they seem to be amateurs who do not pursue acting as a career. It's nice to see real-looking people in a movie for a change. I'd like to see more acting performances from these people, but for many of them this is the only movie they've done so far. I especially liked Jenna Fournier's performance. She is mainly a musician and painter, it seems, but I think she should act more. She has talent. All in all, this is an enjoyable movie for fans of 1980s slasher movies. It has a good cast and most of the killing scenes are quite inventive and well done with nice practical effects. Yes, the movie is lacking an elaborate plot, and, yes, the movie should have a different, more film-like look, but if you can see over those issues and keep the limitations of low-budget productions in mind, you have an ambitious horror movie that was clearly made by fans of the genre for fans of the genre.

Talk about a waste of time. Why, oh why, do I torture myself with there poorly written, directed and acted thrillers? Maybe deep down inside I'm a misogynist and I secretly love being tortured by horrible movies. In that case, "The Sleeper" should've been a winner. There's nothing interesting or unique about this movie. Not one. It's just a rehash of better-made flicks created over the past 50 years or so. The pacing is derivative. The score is derivative. The college setting is cliched. The lack of persons on campus or in the police department is cliched. I only stayed until the end because I hate to stop movies in the middle thinking that, maybe, it'd get better somewhat. It doesn't. Pass on this one.

this movie is really really bad.... some examples : *if the killer kills someone you don't see how he kills someone you only see a knife and a sec. later you see someone laying dead on the ground. *fake because in the last scenes a girl runs away for the killer and if you see them run you must laugh because it is so fake and in the movie he chopped a head of and when you see the head laying on the ground you wanna stop the movie that head was definitely super fake..... i have seen a lot horror movies in my life and i am a collector. but if i was you i should not watch this movie.... greets Sven i hope you like this comment and if you don't follow my advice that will be an horrible mistake.

There are certain movies that you instantly put on your wish list as soon as you discover their existence. In my case, shallow as it may sound, this reflex largely depends on the cover art illustration. I have a weakness for horror movies with vintage posters, kind of like how they all looked in the raunchy seventies and lurid eighties. When coincidentally stumbling upon the IMDb page of "The Sleeper" a few months ago, with its poster image that bears a lot of resemblance with such films as "Don't Go in the House", "Black Christmas" and "The Dorm that Dripped Blood", and simultaneously reading that writer/director Justin Russell intends to bring a throwback to the typically sorority-slash movies of that same era, the film immediately climbed up in my must-see list. I still love 80's horror, many of my friends still love 80's horror and apparently a lot of people across the globe still love 80's horror, as this glorious decade continues to inspire young filmmakers in the genre. After seeing the film I can safely say that Justin Russell knows the classics, the tricks and the do's and don'ts of 80's horror and, despite of many people (semi-righteously) complaining that "The Sleeper" looks overly polished and nearly not raw and sleazy enough, I feel that he hit the exact right tone in terms of atmosphere, photography and editing. The plot is rudimentary and straightforward, like it ought to be. The year is 1981 and the cute and lewd sisters of the Alpha Gamma Theta sorority are being harassed and brutally slain by a crazed stalker. This pervert sits around his lair, drivels and drools over the girls' photographs and petrifies them with obscene phone calls. As soon as they're dumb enough to separate themselves from the group, whether to shower or go to the gym, the "sleeper" (nicknamed this way because he puts the girls to sleep and marks their pictures with "ZZZ") sees his chance to sadistically massacre them with a hammer or various other garden tools. That's the plot! Isn't it lovely? Naturally there are some massive flaws to detect in the script as well. The pacing is overall too slow and irregular and several of the intentional "spoof" moments miss their effect, like the ridiculous musical/line dance sequence. The defaults are, however, widely compensated through the extremely gross (and deliciously campy) make-up effects, the raunchy atmosphere of long lost misogynic slashers and that irresistible 80's vibe that all the cast members so vividly translate to the screen. The clothes, the hairstyles, the teenage slang … It all makes perfect sense and catapults you straight back to the eighties. Personally, I even liked the bad aspects of "The Sleeper" because the vast majority of 80's slashers were, in fact, bad but tremendously enjoyable efforts. If you're still not convinced, then please give the movie the benefit of the doubt if it were only for the soundtrack provided by Gremlin. If this band, obviously inspired by the Italian cult band Goblin, doesn't spark your sense for 80's nostalgia, nothing ever will...

The only bearable part of this flick was the dancing scene and even that was fairly tame. This flick apparently is an an attempt at being an homage to the 80s slasher movies. Nope, it don't come close, not scary, suspenseful, but rather hum-drum ~~ and VERY poorly acted. Too many people these days are trying to make horror films with a minimal budget and modest talent. In the past couple of months, I've watched over a hundred horror & zombie genre flicks, and can mark only a handful at 5 or higher. It would be nice for a classic to come along one day soon: something to mark a line in the sand. If nothing NEW can be produced by the fine cinematic minds of today, then go all out to make a movie that surpasses one of the existing classics. This film falls terribly short. I had to rate it one. Let me add that the several reviews that give a rating of 7 or higher are probably from cast or crew members, or their friends/relatives.

The Sleeper is a retro-styled slasher that pays homage to all of those movies in which sorority sisters fall victim to a homicidal lunatic, the most obvious inspiration being Bob Clark's proto-slasher Black Christmas (1974). As such, this movie offers very little in the way of innovation or surprises: all of the expected clichés are there, from the creepy phone calls, to the leather-gloved killer drooling over photos of his victims, to the oversexed boyfriends, gratuitous nudity, graphic gore, and concerned detective out to save the pretty 'final girl'. There's even an incredibly cheesy final 'shock' that makes zero sense at all. It's easy to see how some might perceive this film as a rip-off, but the fun to be had is in seeing just how close to the real deal director Justin Russell can make his movie, and to his credit, he does a pretty good job. From the opening credits, this film oozes the early '80s: the clothes, the hairstyles, the synth score, the retro props, the prowling POV camera-work—they're all spot on. Working with HD digital cameras instead of film obviously doesn't help the overall effect, and some of the kills could have been a bit juicier, but on the whole this is an admirable effort. Russell even chucks in a pointless but fun synchronised disco dance routine just for a laugh, precisely the sort of incongruous nonsense that can be found in many a genuine 80s horror. 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Look, I appreciate anyone who puts themselves out there to make something, but this was just terrible. We all know that 80's slasher movies are notoriously absurd...the only way you can successfully "pay homage" to them is as a parody, which this is not. This attempts to be a serious horror/slasher flick but it just doesn't add up. Okay, so in 1979, a random girl is killed at the same sorority house where the present-day (1981) action takes place. No mention of that murder is ever mentioned and actually adds nothing to the plot line. Then a random girl just gets invited to a sorority party for pledges...as a sophomore. I may be wrong about this but don't most sororities only look for freshmen girls as pledges? And where were the other pledges at the party? That was some party though, haha...all 8 of them! I get it, extras are hard to come by, but if this was shot on or near a college campus, it couldn't have been that hard to get "free" labor out of college kids who would get a kick out of being in a movie. Anyway, the main girl and her roommate (apparently a goth girl in 1981...) go and like the place. Meanwhile, "The Sleeper" sneaks in through an unlocked door and waits until everyone leaves or goes to sleep and then kills one of the girls who had recently had sex with her boyfriend. Though when the hammer hits her in the head, her had had magically transformed into an obvious rubber mask... Oh yeah, and he called the house before, crying and saying she would be first. Over the period of the film, the sorority girls are killed in various ways, but its never a surprise. You follow one girl who goes off on her own and we know she is going to get killed. A few other people get killed as well. The ending is just dumb: If you are "securing" a house, wouldn't you lock the doors as your first order of business? And are there really only 4 cops for this town/college? There was no suspense in this film. The part where she is hiding in the auditorium was boring, not suspenseful. You knew exactly when someone was going to be killed. The special effects were amateurish at best. The acting was bad. The nudity was silly. The girl was nice looking but if you are going to have a girl go topless for the obligatory * scene for an 80's slasher homage, then get someone better. Plus the whole scene was absurd. She takes off her top to make out with the guy for a while and then decides to leave him in the pool to "get dressed." What? Plus there was ZERO discussion of the killer. Who was he? Why was he stalking those girls? How did he elude being spotted when he lived in a basement of a much-used academic building easily accessible by a well- lit staircase? Why did he cry when he called to say who was next? What was up with his eyes? I wanted to be entertained by this movie, but when I'm laughing more than cringing, you know its bad. Watch this ONLY if you have seen everything else...and even then, reading a book or cutting the grass may be better options.

this had all the elements to be a great homage to the 80's but it fails because the acting is god awful and the effects couldn't touch what they did in the 80's with movies like The Prowler and The Burning don't get me wrong i really wanted to love this movie and couldn't wait to see it especially the old school VHS/DVD packaging the movie came in but i was disappointed on so many levels i think it was trying to copy the same element as Slumber Party Massacre but at least those movies had semi decent acting as opposed to the horrible stiff acting in The Sleeper,i'm still very interested to see what the director will offer in the future he had a decent grindhouse homage with Deathstop Holocaust that wasn't bad at all