Director: James Ross II
Writer: James Ross II
Stars: Jasmine Matthews, RJ Brown, Sally Stewart
Synopsis: 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.
The best thing about film festivals is discovering a film from a talented director you know nothing about. It isn’t a secret that there’s a lack of Black filmmakers in the horror genre. They haven’t been able to tell the stories they want to tell, or their stories have been told by white filmmakers — with Black characters often killed first or reduced to the “magical negro” trope. Director James Ross II has two horror short films under his belt, and now he has a feature film recently acquired by Shudder to add to that.
Ross’ new feature film Parasomnia was screened at Panic Fest as part of Shudder’s block of programming. He’s one of the few Black directors or writers with a project at this year’s festival, so it felt only right to step out and show my support. The movie follows a woman named Riley (Jasmine Matthews), who struggles with sleep — something many people can relate to. Her bedtime rule is that she must fall asleep after everyone else in the house, a habit rooted in a traumatizing childhood experience. This routine is a mess for her boyfriend Cam (RJ Brown), who otherwise seems like the perfect fit for her. Riley is surprised by her foster brother David (Stephen Barrington) and his girlfriend for her birthday. At the end of the night, everyone goes to sleep, and Riley begins to have dreams of being chased through an abandoned building. She then sees her father stabbing her mother in a dark cell. The night terrors she had as a child are returning with a vengeance.
I love when a filmmaker is inspired by other films, isn’t afraid to show it, and incorporates those influences into their work. Ross pays homage to several films, and he does it in ways that aren’t over the top or corny. Riley can fall asleep, enter her dreams, and uncover things about her past she didn’t previously know — a plot detail clearly inspired by A Nightmare on Elm Street. The third act introduces elements of voodoo and spellwork reminiscent of Eve’s Bayou. Riley’s first-person chase sequences echo Paranormal Activity. These breadcrumbs show that Ross knows his stuff when it comes to film history.
Parasomnia runs 1 hour and 25 minutes. I enjoy a tight runtime, but not when it takes away from the plot. The movie moves so quickly that, while taking notes, I could tell things were missing from the final cut. We don’t get any flashbacks with Riley and her foster parents; seeing all three of them alive together would’ve given us a better sense of her home life. We’re introduced to the mysterious villain, The Seer, in the third act through Cam’s mother — a voodoo priestess hell-bent on getting revenge for her husband’s death. It would’ve been more effective to receive these plot points earlier, perhaps through Riley’s research, and bring Cam’s mother into the story during the second act. These issues could’ve been improved with a script that didn’t rush through plot points or introduce major characters so late. Some visual effects weren’t executed well, and the story left a lot to be desired. These are things that can be improved upon in future projects.
Ross is a skilled filmmaker with a promising future, but this movie ultimately ends up being a Shudder release that didn’t fully work for me.
