Don’t Go to Sleep 1982

A family of four—the parents Phillip Dennis Weaver and Laura Valerie Harper, their son Kevin Oliver Robins, and daughter Mary Robin Ignico—move to a new home with Grandma Bernice Ruth Gordon, mourning the loss of their sister Jennifer Kristin Cumming. They hope this change will help them begin anew and put Jennifer’s tragedy behind them.

Seeking to start fresh, the family believes the house could be a place to heal and build a new life together. But soon after settling in, Mary hears a voice that seems to come from beneath the bed, calling her name as if Jennifer were still nearby. When Mary investigates, she discovers that Jennifer has returned as a ghost and begins to appear to her repeatedly, revealing a chilling wish to kill the entire family except for Mary.

This devastating revelation unleashes a sequence of twisted fates: Kevin’s iguana somehow ends up in Grandma Bernice’s bed, triggering a fatal heart attack for the elderly woman; Kevin’s attempt to retrieve a Frisbee from the roof ends in a deadly fall; and Phillip, while bathing, listens to a radio that ends up electrocuting him, leaving Laura to scramble to safety, though she sustains an arm injury in the process. Believing Mary to be the killer, the authorities place her in a mental institution as she grapples with the horror of what she may have done.

A pivotal flashback reveals the siblings’ hidden tensions: Kevin, feeling overshadowed by Jennifer, persuades Mary to join in a prank by tying Jennifer’s shoelaces together. The prank spirals out of control when a van collides with the family car, and while everyone except Jennifer manages to escape, she screams for help as Mary races to warn their father. But Phillip is unable to rescue her before the car bursts into flames, leaving Jennifer to perish in the wreck.

In the present, Mary insists that she is actually Jennifer, as the deceased sister possesses her living self, blurring the line between victim and perpetrator. Later, Laura lies in bed when Jennifer’s ghost appears at the foot of the bed and greets her with a chilling greeting: > “Hi, Mommy.” The film closes with Laura’s terrified screams echoing through the room, leaving a house full of unanswered questions and lingering dread.