We’ve run into a real string of bad movies lately, haven’t we? Not that I thought Parasomnia was going to be any different, and not that you haven’t come to expect bad movie write-ups from me, but when you hoe the low budget road, there’s usually some awesome surprises waiting for you. Besides, this one was written and directed by William Malone, the same dude who did House on Haunted Hill and Feardotcom (yeah, okay, also not great but at least these were legitimate theatrical releases and starred people like Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, and Stephen Dorff), so I suppose one could gleam a glimmer of horror hope from this one. But all hope was quickly dashed and there weren’t any surprises waiting for me. Only a mundane, low budget fantasy lost in a shitty dream world of love, blood, and madness.

Parasomnia concerns our main man Danny Sloan, who happens upon a girl while visiting a friend in the hospital. This girl, Laura Baxter, suffers from a condition known as parasomnia, which means she sleeps for most of her life, only waking up every now and then for a few minutes at a time. Plus it has to do with the way you dream, etc. Anyway, Laura is being kept in the psych ward of the hospital. Danny becomes immediately smitten with this sleeping beauty and starts making regular visits. Unfortunately for Laura and Danny, she’s got one nasty neighbor. It turns out that the guy in the padded cell next to her, chained to the wall with a mask over his face, is a deranged murderer, know for his hypnotic powers. But the problems for Laura and Danny don’t end there.

A bunch of doctors are planning on taking Laura away to do some experiments on her. Danny does some research and finds out that the doctor who will be performing the experiments has a terrible track record of killing his test subjects. So, not wanting to lose Laura, Danny steals her from the hospital. However, this does not go unnoticed by Byron Volpe, the insane killer in the next room, who has “control” over Laura and torments her in her dreams. He claims she is his, but Danny takes her anyway.

Life outside the hospital with a girl who only stays awake for a few minutes at a time isn’t all roses for Danny, but he loves her so he is willing to put up with it and help her out as best he can. But when Volpe, from the hospital, starts getting into Laura’s dreams and mind fucking her into killing people and attacking Danny (when she’s awake), things become a little hairier. Now the cops are involved and every bloody trail leads to Danny. So Danny figures the only way to be clear of everything is to go to the hospital and kill Volpe. However, Volpe uses his amazing mental powers and turns the whole hospital into one gruesome killing floor. Danny narrowly escapes.

So…um…I think at this point Volpe has escaped and has kidnapped Laura. Yeah, and Danny tracks them down. Volpe, using mind control, gets Danny to tell Laura he hates her so that she will want to be with Volpe, but the spell is interrupted and stuff happens but I won’t spoil it for you. You know, Parasomnia had potential what with the gore and the creepiness of Volpe’s character, but it was ultimately a victim of its own limitations, let down by an awkward plot, poor acting, and the low budget effects of Laura’s nightmares. So it goes, huh? Oh well, onward we march into the mouth of badness!

Check out the trailer for Parasomnia!