SPECIAL BONUS! A REVIEW OF SLEEP NO MORE

The very lovely Simon Meade moderates two really good Doctor Who Fan Pages on Facebook  (Journey Into The TARDIS https://www.facebook.com/groups/journeytardis/ and The Ark In Space https://www.facebook.com/groups/arkinspace/ - check them out!). He's asked some of the members to write up reviews of a Capaldi story of their choice to help commemorate his departure from the show. 

Knowing that a lot of fans don't have the nicest things to say about Sleep No More, I thought I would tackle it and give it some more positive representation. Deciding it might also be fun to put one more entry in the blog before the year was over, I decided to post it here. 

Hope you enjoy this Special Bonus. Happy Holidays!  

SLEEP NO MORE

In all honesty, I adore the "Found Footage" genre. It's not even a guilty pleasure - I think it's a great way to put a story together. I haven't just enjoyed the popular stuff like Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. I've gone into more obscure realms like The Last Excorcism. I've even gone all the way back to the beginning and sat through Cannibal Holocaust (be warned: you will lose just a little bit of your soul if you watch this movie). Found Footage works especially well for scary stuff. So much horror, nowadays, feels so overproduced. The are so many super-choreographed, slow motion sequences going on that we're too busy marveling at the visuals and actually forgetting to be frightened. Found Footage returns things to a nice brutal raw state. The horror becomes very natural again. And that can be very effective.

When I heard Doctor Who was doing a Found Footage story, I was a bit on the ecstatic side. I know a lot of fandom was very uncertain about it - but I was looking forward to it. I was pretty sure, even before I saw it, that I would love it.

I was right.

One thing that I really appreciate about Sleep No More is that it immediately sidesteps one of the biggest problems of the Found Footage genre. The "Why would anyone keep holding on to a camera during all this horrible stuff?!" problem. A few years back, I sat through the movie Cloverfield. About two-thirds of the way into the film, I could no longer suspend my disbelief. For the plain and simple reason that I could no longer support the idea that any human being would still be filming everything while he was trying to leg it out of a city that was being attacked by a Godzilla-like giant monster. He would have dropped the camera ages ago cause it was slowing him down too much and the movie should have ended at that point.

Sleep No More sets up a clever premise that enables us to maintain our belief. Rasmussen, a clearly mad scientist, has created a special story for us using the security cameras of the space station he's on and the helmet cams of a rescue team that arrives there. Later, of course, things get even more surreal as we discover that the very dust can stream footage. But, for me, it all works. We can enjoy the rawness of the genre without having its credulity pushed too far. And Doctor Who can delve into a whole new realm effectively. In order to truly cement the boldness of it all, we get the first episode in the long history of the show that doesn't use the title sequence. These clever conventions, alone, cause me to fall in love with this adventure.

But there's so much more to Sleep No More than just a clever use of the genre. It really is a cool story. Yes, perhaps a few elements are a bit hard to swallow. Monsters made of eye-boogers is a bit of a stretch. But that's probably the closest I come to a genuine complaint. Otherwise, I think the whole thing flows quite smoothly. There's definitely a lot of tension and suspense to the tale. Most of it created by the cinematography. Yes, it's a futuristic sci fi story on a space station - but it still feels like we're watching something real. And that makes it feel all the creepier.

This is, perhaps, not Mark Gatiss' best script. I don't mean that in a cruel way. It's still very solidly written - it's just that he has stories I enjoy better! I certainly like the futuristic society that he creates here, though. Particularly the way everyone says "May the gods look favorably upon you." It's a nice touch.

Sleep No More offers a few nice twists, too. Most of them evolving around Rasmussen, himself. As we learn, more and more, what this special video is all about (he did warn us not to watch it!) we have to give some serious props to Gatiss. He put in some nice layers. And the final reveal of what Rasmussen truly is becomes a very iconic and chilling moment. I will, forever, remember the image of him crumbling away and pointing out: "You have something right there in the corner of your eye"

Speaking of endings, I love that Sleep No More joins the ranks of stories like Genesis and Victory of the Daleks by having a conclusion where the Doctor doesn't quite win. The Sandmen will continue to proliferate while our heroic Time Lord merely takes off in his TARDIS happy to have his skin intact. There's meant to be a sequel, of course. So far, it hasn't happened. I almost hope it doesn't. It's just so much creepier to leave things off on this note.

I know lots of people don't share the same opinion that I have of Sleep No More. A Doctor Who episode being shot in such a manner strayed too far from the show's established formula. But that's actually why I do like the episode so much. It's yet more proof that Doctor Who can do anything. Even if it's not always accepted so well by everybody!