"A creepy, neo-Hitchcock stalker drama, infused with uneasy twists and a slow-burning intensity. Check it out. Then check under your bed..." - Simon Crook, Empire Magazine
I first heard about Sleep Tight when it was being shown at the Chicago International Film Festival. When I was going through the horror section, it was the film that appealed to me the most. Regretfully I never made it out to see it. Once I was able to finally see it, I decided to just save it for one of my posts.
Jaume Balaguero directs this Spanish horror flick that appears to pay homage to 1960's classics Rosemary's Baby and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho; the main character, apartment concierge Cesar, resembles Norman Bates a little bit. He's a lonely man who is cursed with the inability to be happy, and for the past few weeks he's had his eyes set on a resident named Clara.
While Cesar seems friendly, he also has a dark side. In the time that he's known Clara, he has been secretly harassing her through letters, text messages, and emails. For every unknown message she receives, Clara slowly starts mentally breaking down.
Clara has a boyfriend who is often away. While he is absent, Cesar sneaks into Clara's apartment to hide underneath her bed at night. As soon as she drifts off to sleep, Cesar injects her with a shot to make her remain in a deep sleep. While she lays completely still, he cuddles up next to her where he spends the remainder of the evening. Cesar's secret eventually gets out and he must find a way to keep from getting caught.
While Balaguero isn't necessarily breaking any new ground, I would still say that Sleep Tight is one of my favorite releases to come out in the last few years.
-CS
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