The Sleeper (2012)- The 80s Throwback Slasher Flick That may Have Started the Retro Horror Craze- Fitz of Horror Review
Written by Bryan Fitzgerald (Fitz of Horror) May 30, 2018
Synopsis– This is an 80s style throwback horror paying homage to the Slasher films of that era. It’s about a group of girls who live in the Alpha Theta Gamma sorority house. It’s 1981, the girls are throwing a pledge party to recruit some new girls. But there’s an unknown stranger lurking in the shadows watching their every move. The girls start getting threatening calls and the voice on the other end of the phone scares them. Who is this person and what does he have planned for them?
First of all let me say how thankful I am that I have a mind and opinion all my own because had I listened to the Rotten Tomatoes (33%) or the IMDb (4/10) reviews I would have passed up on one hell of a fun throwback slasher flick. I know there is a large group of fans that feel the 80s retro horror sub genre is getting a bit overdone and is losing its once original touch, but I urge you to check out The Sleeper because this just may be the one that started the trend.
If I just picked this movie up blindly and watched it, I would almost bet that I had just watched some forgotten 80s slasher movie. It has the feel of a Black Christmas or Slumber Party Massacre because it mostly takes place in one sorority house and its immediate surrounding areas and fits in with the Savini era Friday the 13th and Prowler movies because of its unflinching violence and believably gory kills.
The film is set in 1981 and focuses on a group of sorority girls and their pledges on the night of a sorority house party but little do they know that a psychotic killer has been doing his own homework on them and plans on carrying out his sadistic plans this very night. The Sleeper (Played brilliantly by Jason Jay Crabtree) has a desk in a small room where he has pictures of each of the girls he plans to kill and a telephone that he makes crazy and incoherent calls to the sorority house before each over the top murder. After he kills one girl he pulls the next picture down and marks it with lipstick “ZZZZs” to make it clear that they will be the next one to go “to sleep”.
I loved how each murder was essentially broken down into its own segment and each segment ended with a grizzly murder that was dished out by everything from his trusty hammer to knives, axes and rope. Throughout the film, the boyfriend of the first girl to be murdered, continues his search for her convinced she is still alive but along the way he discovers that other girls in the group have gone missing too and that prompts him to enlist the help of a gruff investigator who makes it his mission to save the girls that are left before they meet the fate of their sorority sisters before them.
I would also like to touch on a particular sequence towards the middle of the film where some of the girls were at a bar having a drink trying to relax as their friends have gone missing around them. As a strange rap type song begins to play, everyone in the bar gets up and randomly takes part in some weird line dance style group choreographed dance. The scene only lasts for about two minutes but between the song and the overall out of place feel of it all, I was strangely mesmerized. How do you set apart your slasher movie from all of the others? Include a wildly out of place dance scene. I personally don’t feel like it either adds to or takes anything away from the movie, it is simply there so deal with it.
With a killer synth soundtrack from Gremlin (an obvious Goblin tribute type band), practical FX that were both very realistic and creative with a Giallo touch and a director in Justin Russell that has a keen eye for staying true to the 80s slasher movies that this film perfectly mimicked, The Sleeper is definitely worth your time and a shining star in the independent horror world.
The Sleeper also boasts an indi horror all star cast with early performances from Jessica Cameron (American Guinea Pig: Song of Solomon), Jason Jay Crabtree (Bong of the Living Dead), Tiffany Arnold (Bong of the Living Dead) and an appearance from the one and only John Bloom aka Joe Bob Briggs as a doctor.
Speaking of the one and only Joe Bob Briggs, here he is with a special Sleeper announcement and some very interesting facts/stats about the forgotten slasher gem!
Up until now this was a tough movie to find but thanks to Scream Team Releasing, the team that brought you The Barn and 10/31, they are bringing this indie slasher classic to Blu ray this June in a 2 disc special collectors edition limited to just 1,000 copies and there are even 40 ultra limited Red VHS editions available (order below)!
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Bryan Fitzgerald
I am a huge fan and supporter of independent horror and the dedicated people involved. I grew up watching all of the great slasher films of the 80s and also have a love for creature features and anthology horror. As horror fans the best way to help indie horror is to talk about it and to spread the word.