Movies
‘Laura Hasn’t Slept’ – Watch the Original Short Film That Became This Year’s ‘Smile’ [Video]
Originally made for Paramount+, Parker Finn‘s Smile was instead released into theaters and has scared up an incredible $215 million worldwide to date, a massive success for Paramount that’s sure to jumpstart Finn’s career here in the horror industry. But where did it all begin for the filmmaker? It was back in 2019 when Finn made the short film that became Smile.
Titled Laura Hasn’t Slept, that 11-minute short will be available on Smile‘s Blu-ray, and it has also been uploaded to YouTube by the official Paramount Entertainment Australia account.
Finn explains, “Laura Hasn’t Slept premiered at South by Southwest in 2020, and that’s where Paramount first saw it. This is the origin of everything that became Smile.”
Caitlin Stasey (Kindred Spirits) and Lew Temple (The Devil’s Rejects) star in Laura Hasn’t Slept, which begins with Stasey’s Laura explaining a recurring series of dreams to her therapist. She’s being pursued by a mysterious smiling man in her dreams, and soon Laura realizes that she may not actually be in a therapist’s office at all. She may be trapped in another nightmare…
The influence of A Nightmare on Elm Street can be felt in Smile but even more so in Laura Hasn’t Slept, which essentially plays out like an Elm Street short. There’s no Freddy Krueger here, of course, but rather Lew Temple’s Smiling Man, who’s eager to show Laura his true face. It’s an exceptionally well made horror short, showcasing Finn’s clear talents in the space.
Watch Laura Hasn’t Slept below and grab Smile on 4K & Blu-ray on December 13.
In Smile, “After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she can’t explain. As an overwhelming terror begins taking over her life, Rose must confront her troubling past in order to survive and escape her horrifying new reality.”
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
You must be logged in to post a comment.