The Stay Awake — The Stay Awake(DVD)
From the late 1980s, The Stay Awake is a South African-made supernatural slasher. It’s a largely bloodless/ gory-less affair, though it has a fair bit of POV stalking, twists of arty Euro horror, demonic shenanigans, and a fair bit of high camp/ 80’s dumbness in its make-up. Here from Cheezy Movies is a recent region free DVD, of this lesser seen/ known slasher.
The Stay Awake (aka Stay Awake) is from 1988. It was the one and only film directed/ co-written by one John Bernard, co-written by Johan Bernard- who I’m guessing is some sort of relation. He was a Producer (with sixteen TV series episodes/ TV movie credits), actor ( thirteen TV credits), and three writing credits- The Stay Awake, and two TV credits.
The film opens with a flashback to the year 1969. With a mix of arty Euro horror tropes, and eerily posed dead body footage. As we get a voiceover discussing a serial killer who has got a death sentence for raping & killing six women. We see the figure of a man being led down a bright white light-lite corridor and then put inside a very illuminated gas chamber. He jibbers ‘n’ jabbers about being evil- before shifting into a deep demonic voice promising he’ll be back.
We then jump forward to the year 1986- and for some unexplained reason, we’re in Europe, at a catholic girls school at dusk. The rapid roaming POV camera work going through the school’s gate, over its garden & inside the large building is very reminiscent of the Evil Dead films. Inside the school, we find a selection of ‘students’ and their aerobic teacher- both of whom look of similar twentysomething age.
As the film unfolds, and the students do their sponsored ‘stay awake’. The entity roams the corridors and classrooms of the nighttime- as they watch horror films, do excise and various other activities. Both the students & teachers are not drawn very well. I guess the only notable/memorable character is the plump caretaker- who has a penchant for laid-back trad jazz.
Most of the runtime is built around stalking/ POV shots- which are often edged by creepy mumbles, growls, and animalistic sounds. When the entity does speak it moves between sounding gruffly demonic & more than a little Freddy Kruger-like. When we finally get to see the entity- it certainly is a very odd-looking creature- it's green and has a mouse-like head with glowing red & black eyes. It also has a rather buff/ muscular body.
There are a few attacks/ kills- but it’s often difficult to see exactly what is going on, as the nighttime shots are so murky. When they start to fight back, we get a few neat scenes with the creature and javelins being thrown.
All in all, The Stay Awake is somewhat of a curio. If you’re looking for a gory & intense slasher with some memorable & entertaining characters you certainly won’t get it. But if you are after a supernatural slasher high on the stalking, with some Euro horror touches in the mix this may appeal. Though I must say you’ll have to have a fair bit of patience as the pacing is a little out in places, and of course enjoy 80’s camp/ dumb behaviour.
As with all Cheezy Movies, this is a very bare-bones affair. The scan looks a step up from VHS quality- though it features no glitches or jumps, and on the positive side some of the scenes are fairly bright and well-defined. On the flipside- the nighttime shots are often very murky, with it often being difficult to see what is going on.
Once again, it’s great to see Cheezy Movies reissue another lesser-seen/known cult film from the past. And while The Stay Awake is far from a lost masterpiece- I think if you’re a slasher fan, and enjoy seeking out/ seeing the more obscure/ wacky side of the genre this is most certainly worth a look.