‘Parasomnia’ Review – Nightmarish Debut Welcomes A Promising New Voice

There is almost nothing like the period between dreaming and waking. Technically, it is called Hypnopompia, and it has all kinds of effects, many of which are immediately recognizable to most of us. Strange sensory experiences; visual, audio, and tactile hallucinations; even sleep paralysis. It happens because parts of our brains wake from REM sleep before our dream state is gone. Trying to decipher and delineate between these states, even if we logically know what is happening, is nearly impossible to manage. And that is one of the many things that makes horror movies centered around sleep so terrifying. We have all felt these feelings, but what if they were real? What if something malevolent was behind them? It is a disturbingly easy path to travel down, and, because of dream logic, there is little limit to what can be done onscreen with them.

In Parasomnia, writer/director James Ross II, in his debut feature film, bites off a lot. Is it more than he can chew? Probably. But there is still plenty to enjoy and a lot of great ideas. Essentially, Parasomnia focuses on Riley (Jasmine Matthews), who suffers from debilitating night terrors and actively tries to protect herself and those around her from them. Mostly, she accomplished this by adhering to a strict sleep schedule, with help from her boyfriend, Cam (RJ Brown).

At the outset, it is clear that she has undergone considerable trauma, and Matthews manages this difficult role with relative ease. The effects of her trauma are clear, but she never buries herself in hysterics to sell the impact. Instead, much of her performance is internal, which provides depth not seen in many films of this type. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that there is something very real in her terrors that is crossing over into the real world. Is this a predictable outcome? Sure. But if that wasn’t bound to happen, there would be no movie to speak of.

Ross II understands a great deal about the form, despite this being his first full-length film. He wears his influences proudly, from FPS shooters to Insidious and most heavily to A Nightmare on Elm Street. The script offers just enough backstory to keep the audience engaged. There is not much more to it, but Ross II also understands his audience and what they want. There are certainly moments where the pacing slows and the audience may get antsy, but he always picks it up just in time. There are also some iffy effects in which it becomes clear that there were budget limitations. But he always makes up for that in subtle ways. For instance, he, along with cinematographers Mark Doering-Powell and Christopher Lee Fatt, uses colors, especially blue and red, in ways that make both Riley and the audience question the reality of what may be around the corner.

Speaking of around the corner, the moments of found footage and chase sequences work even on their own. Ross II, because of framing and camera movement, dares you to look around that corner, just waiting to pounce on you. Yes, there are numerous jump scares, and not all of them work. But there are enough that do to make the journey of Parasomnia worth it. The labyrinth that these scenes take place in is not elaborate, and the director removes color to hide some of the shortcuts taken. This works if you allow it to. Sure, it is imperfect, but if you dive into the logic of dreams (or are they?), then it makes enough sense to pull you through.

Parasomnia is nowhere near perfect, but what it does well, it does very well. James Ross II has an understanding of horror as a genre, nightmares as a subgenre, and the use of tone and color to create high impact with limited money to spend. This film will likely be one that we look back on when we see how far James Ross II travels and continues to succeed. All of the promise in the world is there and this one is a good movie to spend on a sleepless night.

Parasomnia is now available to stream on Shudder. 

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