The Sleeping Room is a 2014 British horror movie that was directed by John Shackleton. It had its world premiere on August 23, 2014 at the London FrightFest Film Festival and stars Leila Mimmack, Joseph Beattie and Christopher Adamson . Funding for The Sleeping Room was raised using equity crowdfunding and is credited as being the first British film to use this method.
Plot teaser
Blue (Leila Mimmack) is a call girl working out of Brighton that has been sent out to an old building that Bill (Joseph Beattie) is trying to restore. She’s somewhat surprised when he shows little interest in having sex with her, but ends up staying in the house with him since he has paid for her time. As she is looking around Blue discovers a mutoscope, through which she sees a series of moving images depicting a hooded man (Christopher Adamson). Shortly after that, Blue and Bill discover a secret room that is the key to unlocking many dark and terrifying secrets relating to Blue’s family, and the death of her mother.
Reviews
“A superb example of modern British horror, The Sleeping Room, like fellow Frightfest movie The Forgotten, marks a new bright future for genre filmmaking in the UK that, in a perfect world, would be held in the same esteem as Hammer’s prolific output.” Nerdly
“The Sleeping Room is an accomplished directorial debut from Shackleton. It’s a slow burner that relies on brooding atmospherics and a growing sense of dread fuelled by throw backs to the darkside of the Victorian seaside resort’s long forgotten history. Shot out of season there’s a rainy, end of the road feeling that permeates Blue’s search for answers and the need to escape the chains of her past, Bill’s alter ego and ultimately from this town for good.” Britflicks
“What really shines through is the sheer pace and bare-boned narrative efficiency, which represents both the film’s most idiosyncratic strength and its deepest flaw. While this breakneck pace never allows the viewer’s attention to meander from the plot’s unstoppable trajectory, it also leaves certain story elements somewhat underdeveloped…What it does pack into its lean, 75-minute running time though, is effectively creepy and satisfyingly lensed, and the shocks are permeated with a melancholy calm, mirrored in the constant lapping of the sea, which gives the whole film an unsettling sense of stillness, even as it rushes by.” Exquisite Terror
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