homecoming8 "Sleeper" is supposed to be a homage to 80's slasher movies like "The Prowler, Halloween, Black Christmas, Friday the 13th and Prom Night". That explains why it is set in the early "80's. Also why a lot of scenes are copied from several of those classics. However it does not explain the bad points: - Music so annoying you want to turn off the sound more than once. - A dull and slow story that isn't entertaining or even interesting for a minute. - An "albino looking" killer that's supposed to be scary because of some light blue contact lenses. - A cheap and terrible camera/montage crew, which ineptness is really shown during the final chase scenes.I love the slasher genre, but it's more than just a bunch of gory special effects. Sure, "The Sleeper" has a couple of them, they rank from laughable to OK but overall not really convincing. But besides that, this movie has nothing more to offer: bad director, terrible cast without a spark of charisma and the story is avoided of any tension or thrills. Not using your FastForward button is in this case a mission:impossible. Stick to the classics instead or watch "You're Next" if you're looking for a slasher homage.

Coventry 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...

Michael 'Hallows Eve' Smillie This film is obviously trying to use the 80's style Slasher movie script. But in my mind it tries too much and fails. I know the 80's horror movies didn't need much of a script or much in the way of acting but this movie actually doesn't make any sense. I asked the questions "why is this guy after these girls" and "what is his reason for killing them"? I was hoping that by the end it would at least answer those questions, and I was wrong. You're left not knowing who 'The Sleeper' (the killer) is or why he is after these particular girls (yes I know that movies like 'FRIDAY THE 13th' and HALLOWEEN' had a bit of the same thing but at least they had a back story as to why these people were being killed). As for the acting, not good. I'm not sure if thats what they were trying for or if it was on purpose. If it was bad on purpose then they did a good job, but it looked like it was bad by mistake to me. And as for the killings, they were at least better than the storyline but you didn't get to see the actual action of the kill shots, it kind of cut to the aftermath each time, which was annoying, as an avid horror fan I wanted to see the hammer smash in to the girls head with blood squirting out. So I give this movie a 3 out of 10, only because they had a good idea (the 80's thing), but they didn't do it right.

culmo80 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 nude 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.