Based on one of the most popular Creepypastas in internet history and its namesake, The Russian Sleep Experiment brings to life the account of what supposedly happened to five people forced to stay awake for fifteen days. Though initially released in January 2016, I only had the chance to watch it now. I was pretty satisfied with how it came out and I think it's a good adaptation of a story and lore that I was a big fan of.
(Warning: This review is full of spoilers!)
Foxy Rating: 7.5/10 Sleepless Nights
Perfect For: People who love Creepypastas and NoSleep entries, or anything horror
Where to watch: Youtube
Age Rating: Young Adults & Up (due to gore)
The Good
In the Creepypasta, the story barely touches on the people involved in the experiment: it was never discussed who they were, just that the test subjects were political prisoners during the second World War. I love that this short took the time to humanize its characters, we are given glimpses of a back story that helped explain their involvement in the war and why the Russian government deemed them dispensable enough to be put through such an unethical experiment. Instead of just five nameless subjects, there were three German POWs (Prisoners of War) in the film, and all of them had their own stories to tell. I think it praise-worthy that by the end, it posed a question of morality: regardless of the POWs being good people or not, no human being deserves what happened to them during the experiment.
Another detail worth noting is that there wasn't an overuse of jumpscares. Unnecessary jumpscares often break down any horror media, reducing it to no more than cheap thrills. The Russian Sleep Experiment banked its scare factor on the atmosphere and nature of the plot, rather than give the audience a quick "Boo! Here's a monster!". There was technically one surprising scene, when Ulrich was hallucinating, but I don't count it as like, a "jumpscare" jumpscare, do you get what I mean? My favorite scene would be when the scientist is falling asleep on his desk and the three test subjects were watching him from the other side of the glass. Now that's creepy!
The Bad
The Russian Sleep Experiment is a solid effort at translating a well-known story in visual form, but I believe there were a few shortcomings that didn't work as good as it was when expressed in a literary format. I've narrowed the cringe factors into three points:
1. The fake accents are almost comical.
Maybe it's just me, but whenever Hanz and Felix were chatting I can't help but be reminded of DJ Flula. The fake accents sound like what an English-speaking audience would expect a German accent would sound like. Maybe to some it was deemed acceptable, but it took away part of the appeal of the film. It would've been better if they just let the dialogue between the test subjects be wholly in German: it doesn't make sense for two POWs to be talking in a language their captors can understand. And on that note, Glow's Zoya the Destroya sounds more Russian than the scientist.
2. Failure to establish the era.
I LOVE WARTIME THEMES, there I said it! Which makes it a bit disappointing when something that claims to be set in the 40s fails to deliver it visually. My first impression of the short film was, "hmm, is this like a modern version where they set it in later times?". It didn't occur to me that it was going to be in 1945 until the scientist started his logs. As much as I don't want to compare it to Papers Please (The Short Film), I felt like this was worth pointing out. To any filmmaker out there, please, do not scrimp on the budget for props. Vintage things aren't difficult to find, you can even fake it like what Papers Please did. I think both short films were probably made on the same budget, and yet The Russian Sleep Experiment failed to establish the "feel" of the era. Sure, there were a few nods to the 40's here and there, but the scientist just ended up looking a bit hipster with his glasses. At least give him a damn fur hat or an arm band!
3. Less could've been more.
The short had enough budget to have soldiers dressed in full military garb escort the POWs in the facility, and they also had money to spare for a few quick hospital scenes. At 28 minutes, The Russian Sleep Experiment could've done more if they just focused on the important bits and cut down the run time in half. Papers Please only used two settings: inside and outside the border checkpoint, and yet it was enough to establish the unsettling wartime vibe. This production could've spent its money decorating the "research facility" set instead of wasting on scenes that are unnecessary.
Overall, I quite like this adaptation. It's surprising to me that I've only come across it recently when it's over two years old by now. I really love it when smaller filmmakers give Creepypastas a go, because it's always interesting to see how people will interpret the stories we loved. I think The Russian Sleep Experiment was a nice enough attempt to do that.
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