14. Slumber; movie review

SLUMBER
Cert 15
85 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong supernatural threat, injury detail

Apparently, the word nightmare is derived from the Old English 'mare' or 'night hag' - a demon which terrifies people with horrifying dreams.
And, you guessed it, the aforementioned fiend paralyses children in their sleep and scares them literally to death.
Frights during the night are the regular fodder of low-budget movies and are again the subject of Jonathan Hopkins' Slumber.
Unfortunately, he falls into the same trap as many of his peers - his film is not very frightening and his storyline has too many plot holes to be convincing.
The premise of Hopkins' movie centres on a family whose young son (Daniel Bond) is the prey of one of the aforementioned night demons.
The poor young kid lives in terrible fear of going to sleep because the evil spirit arrives and his family also become spontaneously possessed.
Out of desperation, his mum (Kristen Bush) and dad (Sam Troughton) turn to the medics for help.
This is where Slumber really goes off the rails because their therapist turns out to be a lass (Maggie Q) who has her own horrendous night terrors.
Yes, that's right. A woman who has spent her entire life in fear of what happens when she falls asleep is making a living out of persuading others that there is nothing to be afraid of.
Worse than that... when she wires them up for observation, she either drops off, plunging herself into her own nightmares or wanders off to the vending machine leaving all hell to break loose.
Oh, and there's Sylvester McCoy. This is the former Dr Who as I have never seen him before... a grizzle grandad who may offer the solution to the nocturnal demon.
But, sadly, he is as unable to save Slumber as he was the original Doctor Who back in 1989.
Instead, it races into a rush of horror movie cliches.

Reasons to watch: if you have never seen a supernatural thriller before
Reasons to avoid: is plain daft rather than scary

Laughs: none
Jumps: one
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 3.5/10

Producer James Harris: "We're convinced that the thrilling combination of Richard (Hobley)'s writing and Johnny's vision as a director is a winner."

The big question: Why do so many low-budget movie directors turn to horror?

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