He Sees You When You’re Sleeping (2024) Review
A young man’s Christmas homecoming turns into a nightmare as a killer in a Santa suit gruesomely picks off his estranged, wealthy family for their fortune.
This low-budget festive slasher from director Charlie Steeds is by-the-numbers stuff that plays out as both stilted and awkward. The film’s pacing is near static and lifeless and whilst some performances are fine, unfortunately others are less so.
HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING makes far too many nods to better movies and does itself no favours in doing so – a serial killer escaping from a sanatorium (HALLOWEEN), the same serial killer has the surname of BATES (PSYCHO) and even the plot – nefarious people playing upon someone’s previous trauma in an attempt to have them lose their marbles and end up back in the sanatorium, smacks of PSYCHO II, amongst many others.
The film’s promotional poster harks back to the festive horror heyday of SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, and CHRISTMAS EVIL but fails to deliver on that promise. Whilst neither of those flicks were perfect, they still hit the spot when it came to dishing out the gore. Steeds’ movie gets swallowed up with the family’s attempt to inherit the estate and forgets to scare, thrill or chill in the process.