Written and directed by James Ross II, after her friend vanishes, Riley must confront the demon from her night terrors that may have crossed into reality, while facing her own tragic past. Starring: Jasmine Mathews, RJ Brown, Sally Stewart, Stephen Barrington, Danny Brown and Simon Longnight.
When it comes to indie horror, there’s one element which can make all of the difference and that’s the atmosphere. Even if everything doesn’t work perfectly, if you can still craft a presence and tone which has tension, suspicion and a plethora of ominous, foreboding and dark notes, then you have something. That’s the case with Parasomnia, every single choice might not be stellar, but the foundation is rock solid.
James Ross II manages to quickly build a sense of fear and trauma into the air of Parasomnia. It has a good personality right from the start, the direction is well done, especially to bring through a range of styles. It moves around through reality and dreams, nicely establishing the difference between the two before intensifying the tone as the film moves forward, and they begin to blend. It progresses well and the pacing is good, especially as Ross keeps it to under ninety minutes.
Another big strength of Parasomnia is the performances, Jasmine Mathews makes for a terrific lead as Riley. She gives her such a steadfast persona, being very controlled and logical, while also communicating the quite severe brokenness which lies beneath. It’s a great performance to capture the trauma and also the determination to move forward. Stephen Barrington is another highlight as David, he brings a charming, fun yet genuinely concerned personality to the table. RJ Brown ticks all the right boxes, and Sally Stewart goes all in, in a very satisfying way.
The only element really holding back Parasomnia is how the film plays out in its final scenes. There is a resolution there, and a nice big, bloody, finale but it gets lost in creating that violence and seems to forget to add more backstory to make it sincerely satisfying viewing. It’s the type of ending that does arguably make perfect sense, but there’s simply not enough detail to make it truly effective and memorable.
Parasomnia displays a lot of promise from James Ross II as his debut feature, there are some great skills at work, and it’s well put together. Its ending may not pack the punch it had the potential for, but there’s a lot to enjoy, it has an excellent atmosphere, it moves well, and it has a great cast. Ross perfectly hits that note of ‘something is not right here’ and that in itself is satisfying to watch. Jasmine Mathews is terrific, it’s entertaining and worth watching for any horror fan.
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