moonspinner55 Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper are well-cast as bickering marrieds with two kids who move into a new house apparently haunted by the ghost of Jennifer, their deceased eldest child--whom only the younger daughter can see or hear. This Aaron Spelling-produced TV movie is pitched way over the top. Between Weaver whining about his reputation at his new job and crusty curmudgeon Ruth Gordon as Harper's mother (who moves in along with the family), it's doubtful any spirit would want to attach itself to this noisy brood. Hectic supernatural thriller picks off its cast unsympathetically, while director Richard Lang shows no talent for handling child actors. Derivative teleplay by Ned Wynn (actor Keenan's son) is full of familiar elements, tastelessly rendered.

Foreverisacastironmess This isn't exactly a movie that I would deem a forgotten classic, but it's certainly a hidden gem and I can get why it's fondly remembered by pretty much anyone who caught it during its original run on TV. I found it almost right from the start to be a very solid and worthwhile watch that rises above its considerable limitations thanks to a good cast and a very compelling and for me, ultimately satisfying mystery horror story that pays off. Much like another exceptional vintage TV horror movie, "Dark Night of the Scarecrow", it's a terrific example of less being a lot more. It's very subtle and light in the use of its horrors, and to me in this instance it makes the film come off as more engaging and enjoyable because of it. It was good to see a nice old-fashioned scary movie stand on its own merit without relying on gore, nudity, or even a single solitary gosh-darned naughty word! Part of the reason I like it is because to look at it really isn't much of anything at all, in fact it looks more like a 70s picture than an 80s one. At the beginning the story is very plain and average, but before you know it shocking things begin to happen and the tone becomes stranger and stranger, and it gradually builds up to something that I found to be quite profoundly chilling. The homely filming locations help set an eerie summer atmosphere and hazy air of mystery that works very well to the film's advantage. You know, a viewpoint aided by the fact that it has a very young and neurotic shouty Oliver Robbins in it, is that it could be seen as a kind of anti-Poltergeist movie, only in this one the family loses big time! To me that's what really makes it stand out from a lot of other horror movies of the time, that in an era of family-centred horrors where, generally no matter what happens, the sacred family unit will at least prevail and more or less make it out okay, this unknown was the one that had the balls to actually kill off that unit, and with a child nonetheless! It's all done in a very modest way with the violence being implied rather than graphic, but it was still shocking and very daring to me, I was taken aback by how ruthless a movie it was with its characters. In that regard it is a lot more brutal than most other horror flicks that I've seen! I mean jeez, they kill old funny gal grandma, bratty little brother, amiable alcoholic father, and one poor girl is condemned to a psych ward for life for crimes that may not have even truly been her own fault! The body count is low, but they are characters that are given just enough development that you care a little, and I like how they take the time to touch upon the grief , like in a scene where Valerie Harper and Dennis Weaver have a big dramatic confrontation over their son's death. Both actors get genuinely worked up and into it and it's a very heartbreaking scene. Big props to Robin Ignico as "Mary", she really steals the whole show as she gradually transforms from a seemingly regular little girl with a dark secret to a small adult as she is corrupted by the merciless ghost of her sister "Jennifer", who preys upon Mary's guilt and unconfronted grief at letting her die to manipulate her into doing away with most of her own family! I love the brilliant climactic scene that sees Mary looking like hell in a straight-jacket in a padded room being interrogated by a doctor, where it finally reveals what really happened on the night of Jennifer's fiery death, and it's a doozie! The revolving camera and overhead shots are stylish and disorienting. They reveal a lot of vital information in those few minutes that perhaps would have better been spread out over the whole film, not that most people wouldn't have figured out the twist already.. The little epilogue is so nightmarish as Jennifer finally has her mommy right where she wants her and you see the surreal and memorable image of her silhouette rise from the bottom of the bed and then emerge into the light with a hideous frozen grin on her face... The first time I watched? Could freaking not get that leering face out of my head for the rest of the night, it was like it was superimposed onto my retinas! It was an awesome and over-the-top way to end the film on a high note and it gave me a great chill, loved it! Tiny nitpick, as much as I like how there turned out to really be a Jennifer, just think how much more disturbing a film it would be if Mary had been schizophrenic and had a split-personality the whole time, and the approach to the horror would have been revealed as psychological rather than supernatural. It's far from a perfect film, it drags and lacks in parts and is a slow-burn for sure..but as far as sheer creep-factor goes, "Don't Go to Sleep" delivers very handsomely. And one thing that it certainly never made me wanna do was go to sleep!!

PaulJ7460 It's funny reading how many people remember this movie. I was one who saw it originally in 1982 on ABC and was probably impatiently waiting for them to re-run it, because I liked it so much. Well, I have the repeat telecast from 1985 from "The ABC Saturday Night Movie." It drove me crazy to find it on an old VHS tape. I just converted it to DVD so I have the complete version. I don't know if this movie was ever cut when it was shown in syndication which is usual for more commercial time. I guess I have a found gem and should put it on ebay or ioffer.com. The acting is pretty good and Valerie harper and Ruth Gordon are priceless. Dennis Weaver always seems to get parts of a drunken father or abusive husband (see "Intimate Strangers"). See this movie if you can!

treyswint-2 I saw this as a kid in '82, without really knowing what it was. It's a well made TV movie about an all-American family that has lost a daughter in a car accident. The surviving daughter does not seem to be coping well.....She starts hearing and seeing strange things. Is she really hearing and seeing her dead sister, or is she having hallucinations? Is she mourning her dead sister, or does she have a guilty secret? The movie is typically TV-paced, meaning that it starts out a little slow, but steadily picks up steam until deaths start happening. Which sister is the killer? I don't want to reveal TOO much, but I will say that the closing scene has successfully creeped me out for 20 years.