Danish painter Lars Olufssen (Lindhardt) hasn’t had any success in a decade. In order to find peace and inspiration, he takes to the Canadian wilderness. When he becomes involved with the affairs of a local art school he meets amateur painter Eddie (Smith), a good natured, but psychologically challenged, middle-aged man who, at night, goes sleep walking. Eddie the sleep walker is a little different from his alter-ego; he has a penchant for snacking on living things. At first, only rodents and small animals. Initially unaware of Eddie’s quirk, Lars agrees to house him while the authorities find a more permanent solution. With each of Eddie’s nighttime killing sprees, Lars becomes artistically aroused, discovering that he needs to witness more gore to inspire his paintings.
The gloriously ridiculous premise could have been lifted directly from the Roger Corman classic Bucket Of Blood where a disturbed outsider artist accidentally breaks into ‘the scene’ by killing a cat. In order to meet escalating expectations, he has to kill again and again to satisfy an adoring art-cafe audience who lavish his ‘sculptures’ with praise. Here the art cafe is an art college and it’s Eddie who does the killing rather than the artist himself. Corman’s film was made for pennies and shot in half a week. However, of the two films, it’s ‘Eddie’ that feels rushed.
I wanted to like this more than I did. While there are some absurdly funny moments, much of the dialogue falls flat. The first half rockets along so that you barely notice or care about the flaws (asides from a didactic score, better suited to children’s TV), but by the final act there’s been a few too many narrative developments forced through in dialogue rather than driven by character.
It’s also a cop-out to make a film about a painter and never show his work. Much of the art-related dialogue or direction is clumsy. The filmmakers seem woefully unfamiliar with the world they are depicting and apparently averse to even basic research. All of this laziness dilutes the charm they’ve built. The well-chosen cast are the film’s greatest asset but all are deserving of a comedy with more meat.
Eddie: the Sleepwalking Cannibal (15)
Dir: Boris Rodriquez; DK/CA horror/comedy, 2012, 90 mins; Thure Lindhart, Georgina Reilly, Stephen McHattie
Premieres July 12
Playing nationwide
