A Swedish/Irish co-production!!! That in itself make this little-known horror film pretty unique, I'd say. Has anyone actually seen this? It's a vampire tale based on a novel by Sheridan Le Fanu and has an amazing multi-national cast that includes towering greats such as Patrick Magee of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) and Fulci's THE BLACK CAT (1981), Per Oscarsson from THE NIGHT VISITOR (1971) and ENDLESS NIGHT (1971) and former James Bond villain Curd Jürgens. Even Italian actress Marilù Tolo, from CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN (1971), MY DEAR KILLER (1972) and THE SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS (1982), somehow ended up in this one. This really has me intrigued for sure! Any thoughts on this rarely discussed film?
Here's what Per Oscarsson has to say about SLEEP OF DEATH. I interviewed Mr. Oscarsson for Shock Cinema Magazine.
SC: The Sleep of Death (1981) is another overlooked horror film from director Calvin Floyd. You play Colonel Gaillard in this film version of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s story of a young Englishman’s strange adventures while touring Europe in 1815.
PO: The Sleep of Death was filmed in Ireland. There was so little money that the hotel manager threw out the actors, because the bill had not been paid. Many people were fired and replaced – the cameraman, the main actor. There were lots of rewrites. Calvin Floyd was a nice man, but not a great director.
Cool. Sounds like the film had a troubled production history but it still sounds awfully fascinating. Really want to see it.
Per Oscarsson also appeared in another great low-budget horror movie filmed in Ireland and Sweden. He played the Monster in Calvin Floyd's TERROR OF FRANKENSTEIN [aka VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN] – and his is one of the best depictions of the monster I've ever seen. Oscarsson is a brilliant actor, whose career in international cinema was sadly curtailed by his difficulties with the English language.