This is a great horror movie. It’s about a top-secret government experiment and how it causes psychological harm to people. Written/directed by John Farrelly, and based on a creepypasta of the same name, this is his first feature film that unhides what humanity can do when pushed over the edge. Nevertheless, this motion picture starts at snail pace but later switches gear into a psychological thriller as the test subjects begin to hallucinate then finally climaxes in a grisly physical horror climax in its final act. The Sleep Experiment has some pretty decent twists and turns along the way (some more obvious than others), but overall has a very solid story with a great performance from the entire cast.
Two investigators; David (Anthony Murphy) and Robert (Barry John Kinsella) initiate an investigation into ethics within Porton Down secret research laboratory. They are focused on one particular experiment that they consider horrible, which was called The Sleep Experiment, carried out amid the Cold War era. This involved five prisoners who were declared Enemies of State and placed in an air-tight gas chamber. To ensure they stayed awake for thirty days continuously, airborne stimulant gases were continuously pumped into them. They would be set free if they managed to complete the experiment successfully erasing their sentences as criminals.
The opening scene depicts a car driving through pitch-black night on 16th May 1961 towards an undisclosed location. On arrival outside are armed guards dressed in protective outfits while gravity pulls each of five blindfolded men downwards through building walls where stairs lead into darkness of underground bunkers: these men are all convicts under national security charges- Luke (Will Murphy), Patrick (Sam McGovern), Edward (Rob James Capel), Sean (Brian Moore) and Eric (Steven Jess). While he sits before two detectives fifteen years later, Christopher (Tom Kerrisk) talks about his involvement in this process.
As we get to officially start the experiment itself, you can get to know them better. They all introduce themselves and tell why they were in prison before they began the experiment as well as their backgrounds. The prisoners had been charged with attempted or actual murder. They hope that completing the experiment will enable them to leave prison and go back to their families. The two detectives think Christopher is a man who created this sleeping experiment for the army back in 1976.
Continuing, Christopher tells them that those five men were not chosen randomly but they actually volunteered for it as individuals. In particular, detectives charge Christopher of killing nine people during an experiment he was conducting. On the fourth day of the experiment, Eric starts going insane while Patrick has an attack of asthma. At this point guards enter room and take out Patrick for medical attention purposes. In fact, on Day 5 (the very next day), upon his return to the experimentation room where other prisoners are immediately suspicious about him having come from somewhere else separately from them Patrick comes in through a door different from others’.
For the next sixty minutes of this movie Christopher would go into great detail about his designs and things he knows to the police, as the timeline of the film jumps back and forward between 1961 and 1976. During this interview Christopher realizes that Robert is connected personally to this experiment after knowing that one of those who were tested was his father. On Day 12 Patrick suffered another asthma attack, and again he had to be escorted out of the room. Eric and Sean have severe hallucinations while they continuously scream wanting to be released from the experiment. The next day, in a different condition from other test subjects, Patrick came back into experimental room.
Luke even becomes more suspicious of Patrick just to find out later that for twelve days he has been note taking everything that happens around them. Edward suffers from a severe hallucination where he thinks that Luke killed his daughter. In confronting Luke Edward reveals Patrick’s book which he had stolen earlier on. It turns out that all along Patrick was undercover as one of the test subjects. After making Edward believe that he actually murdered his own daughter until when Edward broke down mentally and killed Luke painfully.
On Day 14 with Luke dead and so many others mentally losing it due to their isolation, scientists make a decision terminate an experiment by sending armed guards immediately into their room. The moment these guards step inside the dark room cautiously they are attacked brutally by inmates thereby causing further deaths in process too. The survivors among these guards manage to get prisoners out of here only so they could then seek medical help straightaway. By exiting before saying sorry for what happened with Robert during this session in 1976 Christopher left it behind.
Following up from such interviews detectives continued with their inquiries which led them to chemical engineer who also assisted with conducting such tests on people within sleep experiments. Not only did Christopher design it but also participated being a leading scientist as well, according to them finding out much later on. David raced to Christopher’s house only to find out he had fled town earlier in the day. In the basement of Christopher’s home, David finds and plays a tape recording only to discover the terrible truth about Christopher’s motives and what ultimately happened to each of the five prisoners.
From a directorial standpoint John Farrelly achieved his goal in The Sleep Experiment. This story has an excellent pace for both timelines, while cinematography is fantastic and so is soundtrack. At just one hour and twenty minutes you might think it is short but it gets right to the point without dragging its feet on anything. The Irish psychological thriller, The Sleep Experiment, is definitely worth watching as well as serving as an impressive debut for John Farrelly.
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