Sleepless (2001 film)

Detective Ulisse Moretti (von Sydow) is investigating a series of murders in Turin in 1983, known as The Dwarf Murders. The main suspect, a giallo novelist named Vincenzo de Fabritiis, a person with dwarfism, turns up dead and the case is considered closed. However, seventeen years later, a similar series of murders begin and draw the since-retired Moretti back into the case. Moretti teams up with Giacomo Gallo (Stefano Dionisi), whose mother was murdered in the 1983 spree, to determine if de Fabritiis is still alive or was actually innocent of the crimes for which he was accused. As the murders continue, the investigating duo discovers that the murderer is arranging their murder to an old nursery rhyme about the killing of animals.

Ultimately it's discovered that Giacomo is the murderer and that he had begun killing while he was just a child, hence why de Fabritiis was suspected due to the similarity in height. Giacomo also reveals that the only reason the murders stopped was because he had traveled to another country where he continued murdering according to the nursery rhyme.

• Max von Sydow as Ulisse Moretti
• Stefano Dionisi as Giacomo Gallo
• Chiara Caselli as Gloria
• Roberto Zibetti as Lorenzo Betti
• Gabriele Lavia as Dr. Betti
• Paolo Maria Scalondro as Chief Inspector Manni
• Rossella Falk as Laura de Fabritiis
• Roberto Accornero as Fausto
• Barbara Lerici as Angela
• Guido Morbello as Young Detective
• Massimo Sarchielli as Leone
• Diego Casale as Beppe
• Alessandra Comerio as Mrs. Betti
• Elena Marchesini as Mel (Kitten)
• Aldo Massasso as Detective Cascio
• Conchita Puglisi as Amanda
• Barbara Mautino as Dora (The Little Rabbit)
• Luca Fagioli as Vincenzo de Fabritiis (the dwarf)
• Daniela Fazzolari as Maria Luisa
• Rossella Lucà as Mara

Sleepless received a mixed response from critics. On movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 50% based on ten reviews, and is certified "rotten".[1] BBC Online wrote, "If this movie commits one crime, it's that the rest of it is never quite as good as the bravura opening. Don't let your guard down, though, because there are some cruelly well executed set-pieces that are enrobed in a constant sense of dread."[2] AllMovie gave the film a generally negative review, writing, "this feels like an Argento retread – the murder mystery recalls his 1971 Cat o' Nine Tails a little too much, and the overly familiar horrific elements (pace, editing, music, screaming) have little impact."[3]

The film was first released in cinemas in its native country of Italy on 5 January 2001. Later that year, Sleepless was released in the United States in limited theaters on 24 August 2001 from Artisan Entertainment before shortly being released on home video formats in the winter.

The original US video release from Artisan Entertainment was heavily edited for content. Every murder sequence in the film was trimmed down for less graphic violence, including the decapitation murder of the ballet dancer which omits the image of the head hitting the floor. In all over a minute worth of footage was cut. A US DVD was also put out by Arisan of an unrated and fully uncut version with all the gore intact.

European DVD releases of the film are completely uncut.

The German 2013 Blu-ray edition is heavily censored, nearly three minutes shorter than the director's cut.

• Sleepless at IMDb