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SLEEPLESS

SLEEPLESS marked a return to form for Dario Argento. After a steady streak of failures like PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, TRAUMA, and TWO EVIL EYES, Argento decided to return to the giallo days of old, crafting a film that has that DEEP RED feel to it, a brutal crime thriller that strains believability but delivers the goods with gory aplomb. While his previous giallo, THE STENDHAL SYNDROME - a truly great film - was experimental and ultra-convoluted, SLEEPLESS is completely straight-forward. It's narrative speeds along like a bullet, never resting, never boring the audience. This is as close as Argento has ever been to his old self in more ways than one.

With SLEEPLESS, Argento has crafted a kind of self-homage. There are numerous references to his earlier films. Like in DEEP RED, a nursery rhyme is a crucial plot element. Like in THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, a mysterious sound plays an important role in solving the mystery. Several murders are lifted from Argento's earlier work, a similar character dynamic from THE CAT O' NINE TAILS exists in the film, a puppet is used in a similar fashion as the one in DEEP RED, the paper animals from INFERNO show up and the killer's obsession with murder novels figures in both SLEEPLESS and TENEBRAE. And that's for starters! How about the killer wearing a yellow jacket like in THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, an old man with a trusty animal companion - thankfully the old man's parrot doesn't get to avenge his owner's death like in PHENOMENA - and a set of murder weapons lying on top of a red cloth? This is drinking game material for Argento fanboys. Two important behind the scenes elements are also in place. Ronnie Taylor, Argento's director of photography on OPERA returns as does Goblin, delivering their finest score in quite a long time. All the pieces are in place for a classic Argento giallo.

And he delivers.

The plot of SLEEPLESS is the well-worn murder mystery story. 17 years ago, a string of ghastly murders rocked Turin. The prime suspect, a dwarf, vanished during the investigation. His body was later found floating in a river. He had committed suicide. The police investigator in charge of the case, Moretti, retired soon after, never fully convinced that the dead man had been the one responsible for the crimes. Now, two women have been murdered and the police are beginning to notice the similarities between these recent killings and the "Dwarf Murders" of nearly two decades ago. Giacomo, a young man who witnessed his mother's murder at the hands of the Dwarf Killer - though, it should be noted, that he never actually saw the face of the murderer - when he was just a child, has returned home and soon joins up with the aged Moretti to track down the killer and avenge his mother's death.

This is every bit a classic giallo set-up and the execution of the story doesn't try to break any new ground. Instead, Argento executes every one of the old plot machinations with amazing energy, pumping new blood into the tired old material. The murder set-pieces - which have long been Argento's bread and butter - are among some of the best he has ever filmed. The opening sequence of the film - a great, thrilling chase scene aboard a moving train - rivals the opening of SUSPIRIA in pure tension and excitement. The violence on display is rather extreme - a woman has her fingers cut off, another has her face repeatedly bashed against a wall, fingernails are removed rather messily, a pen is shoved through someone's cranium and a man has his face blown off - but also strangely comical. The film's most disturbing image - a woman being stabbed over and over again in the mouth with a French horn - is also it's most blackly comedic.

In some ways, SLEEPLESS is a paean to the old school gialli. Made in 2001, SLEEPLESS is set in the world we know today. The police have the ability to use DNA evidence to ID the killer, place trackers on cell phone calls and monitor their databases for similar crimes. Argento doesn't really give a shit about any of that. Instead, he places his focus squarely on Moretti and Giacomo, allowing them to do what giallo heroes have always done: follow clues, make phone calls, interrogate possible suspects and throw themselves into danger. Argento's follow-up to SLEEPLESS, the 2003 stinker THE CARD PLAYER, is the exact opposite. In THE CARD PLAYER, Argento sticks with the police and uses their modern techniques to solve the crime. It suffers because of it.

SLEEPLESS is the perfect throwback film for both Argento fans and fans of the giallo film. It's gory, sexy, over-the-top and this close to ridiculous all while being supremely entertaining, tense and frightening. This is vintage Argento.

Oh and it stars Max von Sydow. What more could you ask for?

Essential viewing.