Dead Awake (2001)

Director:

Marc S. Grenier

Writer (WGA):

Terry Abrahamson (written by)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

Sleepwalking in a nightmare

Plot:

Desmond Caine suffers from insomnia and spends his nights walking the streets. One night, he witnesses a murder, generating a strange chain of events in his life.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Insomnia | Wheelchair | Sleep Walk | Electrocution

Cast

Stephen Baldwin	...	Desmond Caine
Macha Grenon	...	W.D.
Michael Ironside	...	Skay
Edward Yankie	...	Det. Gary Belladonna
Janet Kidder	...	Kimberly 'Kick' Birmingham
Maxim Roy	...	Chaney Streeter
Claudia Ferri	...	Lena Savage
Karen Elkin	...	Alma Blasquez
Frank Schorpion	...	McCoy Wright
Conrad Pla	...	Veronica
Daniel Brochu	...	Pit Bull Owner
Gillian Ferrabee	...	Gloria Magik
Lorne Brass	...	Udo Magik
Michelle Lipper	...	Vicki
Donovan Reiter	...	Horace Ramirez

Also Known As:

Dead of Night (Canada: English title) (working title)
Wild Awake (Canada: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexual content and violence.

Runtime:

Canada:100 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:18+ (Ontario) | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Locomotion Films

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie, when Desmond is talking to UDO, the door of the red Mercedes is closed. When the shot expands to a wide view for a brief moment before scene change, the door is open.

Great Idea, and well done but and opportunity missed perhaps!

This was a pretty good little thriller. The idea revolving around insomniac Desmond Caine, who wonders the streets at night and witnesses a murder, was good. Did he really see a murder, or is his brain playing tricks on him. It soon becomes apparant that he did really see a murder, which he becomes the lead suspect for, and his life is then in danger.

This is a well paced and soldily directed thriller with good twists and it has a dark and funny comical edge to it. The good thing about this film was that it had a fairly original idea and the film is entertaining. The end was kind of a let down in some ways though. I do think this idea had the potential to be a really good dark and eerie thriller, ore of a horror, while this is more of a quirky thriller.

The cast is good. Stephan Baldwin is good in the lead, as is the gorgeous Maxim Roy as his wife. It is Michael Ironside who steal the show though, he is excellent as one of the strange characters that Desmond meets on his nightly journeys.

Overall this was solid and watchable but most definately not best way to have handled a great idea (much like the handling of Schwarzeneggers 6th day), but it certainly wasn't the worst. 6/10