Ulrik Hansson is a 45 year old man living in a residential district in Sweden, together with his wife Monika and their two children. The family man appears to live a pretty normal life, with a decently paid job as an architect. There is also a new home he’s built which they’ll soon move into. All fine and dandy. One night, when he and his wife are about to go to sleep, he’s suddenly having what first appears to be a heart attack, scaring his wife to the point where she’s about to call for help, until he settles down and says he feels okay again. A panic attack, perhaps? He goes to sleep, but when he wakes up in the morning, he discovers that the bed is covered in blood. In a full panic, he runs around the house, shouting for his wife and two children only to discover that they are all gone…
Sleepwalker is a Swedish thriller from 2000, directed by Johannes Pinter and written by Johan Brännström. It was apparently hyped a bit in its home country, where taglines like “the most exciting film you can see in year 2000 is made in Sweden”, which set the bar rather high. Thus, upon release some found it a bit underwhelming compared to what they were expecting, but despite this it’s actually a pretty decent low-key thriller about a man who fears he’s done something terrible while sleepwalking. It’s not very high in tension or action-packed or anything, but it’s doing a steady job of keeping you wondering together with the protagonist.
The movie starts off like a found footage movie, where Ulrik is filming his family and friends, but this isn’t the movie’s format. There are some scenes where he straps the camera to the side of his head when he goes to sleep, hoping to capture what he does when sleepwalking, and these scenes are actually some of the most effective. You can also find quite an easter-egg in this movie: there is one scene at the start where Ulrik’s children are watching a horror movie, and this movie is none other than Evil Ed (another Swedish film which is considerably more well known). And that’s not all, the actor who played Ed in that movie, Johan Rudebeck, also has a role here where he appears as one of Ulrik’s colleagues.
Sleepwalker is a decent mystery thriller, where we follow a man who appears to be in some kind of way responsible for this own family’s disappearance. And he doesn’t even know whether he is guilty or not, as he doesn’t remember anything. While I feel the ending was a little bit weak, I still found the movie to be quite enjoyable.
Director: Johannes Pinter
Writer: Johan Brännström
Country & year: Sweden, Norway, 2000
Actors: Ralph Carlsson, Ewa Carlsson, Anders Palm, Tuva Novotny, Donald Högberg, Fredrik Hammar, Mats Rudal, Sylvia Rauan, Christoffer Edström, Silke Lauren, Toivo Tolonen, Aina Lesse
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228871/
We’re in Ireland, and the year is 1905. Two carnies, Angus Shaw and his infertile wife Lily, runs a fake mermaid show where Lily plays the role of a beautiful and enchanting mermaid. One evening, during one of their shows, a mysterious fellow named Mr. Woolrich appears and privately calls them out on their act, while at the same time appearing strangely relieved that Lily was, in fact, not a real mermaid. They offer him a ride home, where it’s revealed that he’s got a mermaid captured. A real one. Naturally, Angus wants to use this creature as part of the freak show, but Woolrich strongly warns against it. Not easily deterred, Angus later brings a few colleagues back with him to abduct the mermaid, and smuggles her aboard a ship in order to take her to America. Lily tries to object to this idea, but to no avail. And onboard the ship, the mermaid soon reveals her darker side…
Georgia Perry (Radha Mitchell) is a stubborn and strong-willed young woman: she’s decided to travel around the world in her 44-foot sloop, all by herself (well, almost…she’s got her cat for company). Being used to spending time at sea, and also spending time alone, it goes pretty well at first. She’s used to enjoying her own company, and the cat provides just enough social comfort. Then, the solitude starts taking its toll…while starting with small and insignificant things like starting to talk to her cat…which isn’t uncommon…I mean, who doesn’t talk to their feline companion once in a while? Except, of course, the cat starts talking back to her. A big red flag for her mental well being there, all right. But when she also starts hearing strange noises, and a mysterious fog appears which brings with it a whole array of deceased family members who have suddenly decided to drop in for a visit, it’s time to take it seriously. Is this just a severe case of cabin fever, or is something else happening at sea?
Responding to a 911 call, a police officer enters a large house and finds a dead woman inside. She appears to have died of fright, clutching a set of rosary beads. This woman is Bryan Beckett’s aunt, who is a lawyer and confirmed skeptic, who considers everything paranormal to be nothing but pure hogwash. Upon visiting his deceased aunt’s home and subsequently moving in (mainly in order to take a break from his shattered marriage) people around him starts giving vague hints, trying to tell him that moving in might not be a good idea. After ignoring other people’s warnings that he shouldn’t do so because the place is haunted, he starts experiencing strange things which puts his skepticism to the test. There is also something about the place that bothers him, like a strange connection he can’t really figure out. When things go a bit out of hand he seeks medical help, but instead finds himself teamed up with a young psychic who wants to help him reveal the house’s trouble past – or that of the skeptic’s own mind.