Sleepless (DVD)

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Video:
Watching this DVD gave me the feeling of wanting to beat somebody. It was not because of the gruesome killings or dark tone of the picture, but because of the crippling effect the video transfer had on the film. If you have ever seen "Deep Red," "Inferno" or "Suspiria," you have an understanding of what Dario Argento can do with his use of color and a camera. The guy has an incredible talent for creating visually sharp films. Unfortunately, bloody murder has been committed on the picture.

The film has been cropped from its 1.85:1 aspect ratio and the picture appears horribly marred because of this. Framing and composition are atrocious at times. The trailer is presented in widescreen and bests the feature in appearance. Film grain is readily apparent and the films many dark scenes show a lack of shadow detail. At least the colors looked sharp and well saturated. I was honestly distraught by the poor image quality of the DVD. I know Artisan generally does well, but this is one I would have rather seen Anchor Bay handle. Perhaps I´m a bit biased against pan and scan films, but watching this movie gives me ammunition for that argument.

Audio:
Dario Argento has a long-standing relationship with the rock group Goblin. Maybe their return is another sign that he is on the way back up. The soundtrack holds up much nicer than the image quality. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, the films effects and Goblins score sound great. Goblin´s electronic tendencies bring some memories of Eighties film tracks, but it is modern in sound and its lively sound is handled rather nicely by the soundtrack. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, but some actors appear to have been dubbed. Surround effects are present, but not overpowering. The movie does not have the sheer surround presence of more modern (and lesser quality) films, but that is not Argento´s style. A Dolby Digital 2.0 track is also provided. There are no subtitles, but the film is Closed Captioned. The sound quality of the release almost made up for the horrendous image quality. Almost.

Extras:
One feature that is not listed is the fact that this film is an Unrated cut of the movie. It is not an R-Rated version that would eliminate some of the power of Argento´s gruesome murder scenes. The fact that Artisan didn´t edit the film brought a small smile to my face. Other than the feature presentation, there are some filmographies on Von Sydow, Argento and a few others. A trailer and some promotional trailers for other Artisan releases round out the offerings.

Summary:
Fans of Dario Argento are going to have a love/hate relationship with this Artisan Entertainment release of "Sleepless." Argento is a visually strong director and this DVD does nothing to provide fans with proof of that. The image is cropped and this destroys the image composition Argento strived to achieve. The picture is also grainy and far from perfect. The film saw the return of Goblin to Argento´s family. The sound quality is very good, but not overpowering. Supplements are a bit thin. This is really a low-rung release for Artisan and it is a bit sad because the film signals the return of the horror maestro, Dario Argento and has him teamed up with the best leading man he has ever had, Max Von Sydow. This is a good film that would have been much more enjoyable with a first rate DVD release.

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