Close Your Eyes (2004)

"Should we try Australia?"
 - Clara Strother (Miranda Otto)

A reluctant hypnotist (Goran Visnjic) agrees to help a fiesty policewoman (Shirley Henderson) to track down a serial killer, using the dreams and memories of a little girl who was abducted but escaped. Despite a clumsy script, uneven acting, unimaginative lighting, and frustrating characters, the story is still intriguing and director Nick Willing moves things along more than competently. There’s something, well…ironic about a stressed out hypnotist who can get anyone into a relaxed state – except for himself. Visnjic is an interesting actor to watch, and Miranda Otto adds some acting class in a small role. Be warned: for the most part, nothing happens, but there are moments of severe cruelty and brutality, with the lives of not one but two little girls threatened. Also known as Hypnotic and Doctor Sleep. Rating: 2.5 of 4 reviewed 14 Nov 2007

"It's nowhere near innovative, but it scares you as you rarely get scared in movies these days."
- Gene Seymour (Newsday)

"If you can overlook its TV-episode look, occasional lapses in logic and detours into lurid overkill, this old-school psychological thriller, which marries a tracking-the- serial-killer narrative with occult themes, is a creepy diversion."
- Megan Lehmann (New York Post)