Director – Peter Sullivan (The Flight Before Christmas, Summoned)
Starring – Haylie Duff (Addams Family Reunion, Napoleon Dynamite), Tobin Bell (Saw, Manson Family Vacation), and Shae Smolik (The Hatred, Trafficked)
Release Date – 2017
Rating – 2/5
Anything can be turned into a horror flick when enough creativity is applied. I’ve seen horror films inspired by Disney flicks, children’s fairy tales, and even inspirational stories from the news. Horror can be found in every aspect of life if you have a big enough imagination. Sadly, most bigger budgeted flicks lack creativity and sometimes is left at the door and the title alone is left to sell the film. Several months back I reviewed the Walmart horror flick Crooked Man. This was a wreck of film that relied on the title alone.
A few weeks back I was sent a press release for the 2017 horror film The Sandman which gave me the same vibe as Crooked Man. I was a little curious when I saw it was produced by Stan Lee and starred Tobin Bell. Once I received the film for review it I remembered how Stan Lee was in the news recently because family and friends was taken advantage of him due to his age. Any hopes I had for this film went out the window knowing that Stan Lee was not in the right mindset for this.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows Claire (Duff) who gets custody of her niece when her father, Claire’s brother, is found dead. The state suspects abuse and keeps a close eye on the child but Claire knows her brother would never hurt her. What Claire doesn’t know is that her niece has a special ability. She can summon The Sandman to protect when she needs to and this has caught the eye of a secret government agency who wants to capture it and train it to work for them. **Spoiler Alert**
I wanted to like The Sandman. I mean, who wouldn’t? It was produced by the man, Stan Lee and stars Tobin Bell. But I knew that it wouldn’t be that great considering the state of Lee’s mental health and Bell hasn’t been in a good horror flick outside of the first three Saw films. I went into it with an open mind and was severely let down.
The acting in this one isn’t bad but I’ve seen better from lesser known casts. Haylie Duff delivers a decent performance but her emotional range does not make her an effective lead. This film is also an example of giving horror icons small roles and then billing them as the star. Tobin Bell is second across the top of the poster but isn’t in the film a fraction of the time as most of the cast. It was cool to see him in the film but you could tell he was not that invested in his role. The supporting cast tries their best but their characters are not that well written.
The story for this one is the same as Firestarter by Stephen King except the pyrokinetic is replaced with summoning The Sandman. In both films we follow a small girl with special abilities as she tries to avoid a government. Not much in the way of creativity and what we get is a slow moving film that is predictable and painful.
Finally, if you want gore you will need to go elsewhere. The creature does look cool but he is not that menacing. In fact, it acts like an old man instead of this deadly creature. Overall, The Sandman was a let down. The cast was not that involved, the story lacked, and the effects was not where they needed to be. This one was a huge let down. Skip it.
