Arrow Video is the king of deluxe Blu-ray releases of foreign films. We recently saw the release of Mario Bava's horror film Shock on Blu-ray.
Director Michael Venus has been inspired by director Mario Bava. So he brought his unique vision but with a hint of Bava to his film originally entitled "Schlaf" but for American release it is "Sleep".
Marlene (Sandra Hüller, Requiem), is a woman who is plagued by horrific dreams. The dreams are of a place she has never been, during an investigation she find the remote village is real. She suffers a nervous breakdown and is admitted to a psychiatric ward. Determined to discover what happened to her mother, Mona (Gro Swantje Kohlhof), follows and finds herself in Stainbach, an idyllic village with a dark history. Will they escape? You will have to watch the film to find out!
Sleep is an interesting idea for a horror film, but the film to me felt a bit muddy in the execution of the story. And the foreign language didn't help as you had to keep reading instead of watching the film. It's a shame it was not dubbed in English.
Arrow Video has transferred this in High Definition 1080p. The audio soundtrack is the original German language DTS-MA 5.1 audio. If you don't understand German language no worries there is the option for English subtitles. It does look stunning on Blu-ray but that is to be expected as it is a new film.
Arrow Video is never satisfied with a bare bones Blu-ray release so Sleep has been loaded with on disc bonus features. Take a look at what is included in this set.
* Audio commentary by film critic and historian Kim Newman & author Sean Hogan
* A Strange Dark Magic, a visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
* Sleepwalking through National Trauma, a visual essay by film critic Anton Bitel
* Dream & Folktale in Sleep, an interview with anthropologist, dream researcher, and filmmaker Louise S. Milne
* Talking in their Sleep, director Michael Venus and star Gro Swantje Kohlhof in conversation
* A Dream We Dream Together, a compilation of film festival introductions created during lockdown by director Michael Venus and the cast of Sleep
* Making Dreams Come True, a glimpse behind the scenes of Sleep
* Deleted Scenes
* Marlenea's Sketches, explore the many obsessive dream journal sketches that are only glimpsed in the film, created by artist Christoph Vieweg, presented here in full
* Trailer
* Image gallery
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Oink Creative
* Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by Alison Peirse, an interview with director Michael Venus, and Brothers Grimm fairy tale 'Frau Trude'
* Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Oink Creative
Watch The Trailer Below:
As you can see Arrow Video really went above and beyond filling up this Blu-ray release with bonus features. Kudos to them on that.
If you are a fan of foreign horror film Sleep may be just the right film to scratch that itch. You can add Sleep to your collection by heading over to Amazon.com and get your copy today.
Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) Arrow Video's Blu-ray release of Sleep receives....
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