Introductory Section:

When the name “Sandman” come to mind, many points to Neil Gaiman’s popular dark fantasy comic series and graphic novels. And the recent Netflix series which only lasted for two seasons, though the show was faithful to it source material while receiving mostly positive reviews. Apart from that, the Sandman name been used in other various projects within the entertainment medium over the years. This ranges from fictional characters, including Neil Gaiman’s title character to literature, music and title episodes from various tv series. This also include a few videogames and even certain individuals in real life especially in sport entertainment like wrestling. When it come to films, there’s been several movies that gone under this name over the years which being us to 2017’s The Sandman.

Written and directed by Peter Sullivan, this tv movie is particularly noted for a couple of things, starting with the cast. Firstly, it starred Haylie Duff in essentially her first SyFy Original which is quite a surprise when it premiered in 2017 on cable network. Secondly, it also starred Tobin Bell who’s famously known as John Kramer / Jigsaw in the popular ongoing Saw series. And thirdly, it’s being executive produced by Stan Lee who best known in the comic book landscape for the creation of various Marvel characters. Though it’s uncertain how much involvement Stan Lee had over the film, considering this was one of his last projects he did before his death. That being said, this make The Sandman somewhat of an interesting film, though not anything unique but interesting enough to check out. Haylie Duff plays a photographer in the film who learns her brother been killed and must protect her niece that possessed an uncontrollable power to summon forth a malevolent entity.

As mentioned in my review on 2012’s Home Invasion, Haylie Duff is one of those actresses that really doesn’t get enough love and attention. While her sister, Hilary Duff has become successful within the family friendly and rom-com genre through films as well as tv series. Haylie Duff on the other hand, seems optimistic in other revenues, exploring different genres, and this include the horror genre. That being said, Haylie Duff is kinda more an alternative choice for those who hope to see her sister explore other genres. In fact, Hilary Duff tried her hand in the horror genre with 2018’s The Haunting Of Sharon Tate but was critically panned, though it’s become somewhat of a guilty pleasure film due to her involvement. Though Haylie Duff has more experience in the horror genre with films (despite the low budget) like Nightmare, Backwoods, Fear Island, The Lost Episode and Desecrated which also bring us to The Sandman.

Official Summary:

(This section contains spoilers, thus read with caution)

Wanted for multiple murders across the country, Colton Blake (Jason-Shane Scott) goes on the run with his eight year old daughter Madison Blake, (Shae Smolik) whose psychic ability allows her to uncontrollably summon a malevolent entity called the “Sandman” (Morgana Ignis) that’s actually responsible for the deaths. In the midst of raiding a closed convenience store late at night for supplies, the Sandman materializes to murder Colton.

While conducting a pinup photo shoot assisted by her boyfriend Wyatt (Shaun Sipos), photographer Claire Blake (Haylie Duff) receives a call to identify her estranged brother’s body at the morgue. With the mysterious Dr. Valentine (Tobin Bell) present, Detective Price (Ricco Ross) interviews Claire and reveals that her brother was wanted for murder. Claire demands to see her niece, she observes that Madison behaves hysterically while under the eye of Dr. Cushing at a hospital. Madison claims that the Sandman is responsible for killing her father as well as paranormal activity plaguing the hospital. Abigail Farmer from the Department of Children’s Services confronts Claire to intimidate that she will never be able to obtain permanent custody of Madison due to her lifestyle. Dr. Cushing prepares a typewritten report on his computer recommending that Madison remain at the hospital for observation, until the Sandman supernaturally deletes the directive. And then proceed to physically manifest and kill Dr. Cushing, violently impaling him in front of a patient whom in horror hides underneath a gurney.

One Week Later: Claire brings Madison home where she tries to get her gifted niece to adjust to normal living condition. Later that night, Madison suddenly awakens from another nightmare encounter with the Sandman to find bruises on her arm. Madison tells Claire that the malevolent entity followed her, but Claire continues to be confounded by her niece’s claims. Claire’s disgruntled neighbor, Stanley sees a news report about Colton Blake’s death that identifies Madison as having moved in with Claire. The next day, Stanley, along with his dog, menacingly confronts the little girl outside about her father being a murderer. Claire confronts Stanley whom warns that he’s spoken with Abigail Farmer in an attempt to kick Claire out of her home.

Later that night, the Sandman begins to haunt Stanley inside his home, chases him into the garage where the entity materializes and proceeds to kill him inside his car. Claire takes Madison to the hospital in the morning for examination and treatment of the bruises on her niece’s arm. However, the attending pediatrician suddenly becomes suspicious of Claire while giving treatment on Madison’s bruises. Claire returns home from the hospital with Madison to see the police investigating Stanley’s house from across the street. The mysterious Dr. Valentine, who is also there investigating inside the house, notices Claire amidst the police from outside. Claire asks Madison if she knows anything about Stanley’s death, but her gifted niece tells her to go away amidst the situation. Claire decides to conduct her own investigation to find answers, researches online into her brother’s history for any clues.

After filling in her boyfriend with information, both Claire and Wyatt ask Madison about what really happened to Colton. Madison explains that she unintentionally conjures an uncontrollable creature from the book “The Sandman Comes At Night,” and the creature will kill anyone who poses a threat to her or it. However, Colton had promised Madison that it would all be over soon until he was killed by the malevolent entity. Wyatt agitates Madison by aggressively questioning her claims, causing psychic activity to erupt and disturb the bedroom. Abigail comes to the house to threateningly compel Claire to turn over custody of Madison voluntarily amidst the situation. When Claire angrily refuses to compel, Abigail warns that she will return with the police if Claire don’t turn over custody of the child.

Wyatt takes Claire outside where he argues that giving up Madison is the safest option for them before the situation get worse. Having seen the couple leave, Abigail sneaks back into the house to find Madison who she eventually finds in the bedroom. Wyatt and Claire suddenly rush back inside in time to witness the Sandman killing Abigail in a swirl of supernatural sand. Later that night, Claire suddenly awakens from a nightmare that depicts her giving birth to a grotesque baby made of sand. Although Madison refuses to elaborate on the subject, Claire tells Wyatt that she believes Colton may have found a way to stop the Sandman. Wyatt initially suggests calling the police, but seemingly agrees to help Claire to avoid things getting worse for them.

Claire convinces Det. Price to let her search Colton’s impounded car under the pretense of looking for Madison’s stuffed animal. Claire finds a book by Dr. Amanda Elliott (Amanda Wyss) and steals a GPS containing the psychiatrist’s contact information. Claire leaves a voicemail on the phone for Amanda, who she asks to call back amidst the situation with her gifted niece. Claire returns home to find both Wyatt and Madison has gone missing as she search around the house but couldn’t find them. Wyatt drives Madison to an unknown junkyard where he, with murderous intent, attempts to beat the little girl to death with a brick. Madison psychically stops Wyatt’s hand in midair to gain the advantage over him, amidst the situation between them.

Through her power, Madison summons forth the Sandman, who proceeds to violently kill Wyatt in the middle of the junkyard. After searching around town, Claire eventually finds Madison alone at a local diner, who was having a late night drink. Madison refuses to reveal what happened to Wyatt, but requests that Claire take her to the mausoleum to visit her parent’s crypts. Amanda finally calls Claire who she informs about the situation and a possible solution to their predicament in stopping the Sandman. Amanda confirms that Colton was on his way to see her as she believes her hypnotic image therapy technique can remove the Sandman from Madison’s mind. The mysterious Dr. Valentine oversees a team of heavily armed men, tasked with taking Claire and Madison into custody.

Madison summons forth the Sandman, who proceeds to kill most of the men, however both she and her aunt are captured. Dr. Valentine proceeds to question Claire at his secret facility, revealing that he knows about the girl’s abilities and includes summoning the malevolent entity. Claire shows Madison’s book about the Sandman to Valentine and explains that her niece brought her fear to life. Dr. Valentine highly expresses his interest of nurturing, training, and developing Madison’s power for unknown reasons. Dr. Valentine shows Claire the containment chamber where Madison who’s being held in isolation against her will. During a test of Madison’s psychic levitation ability, Madison is nearly able to summon forth sand through an air vent.

Dr. Valentine’s superior suddenly puts a stop to his experiments by sending in an elimination team to carry out a cleanup protocol. The agents pump gas into Madison’s chamber, allowing her to summon forth the Sandman to wreak havoc in the facility. Now unleashed, the Sandman begins violently killing all of the heavily armed men before him within the secret facility. Dr. Valentine gives Claire instructions on how to escape the building before the Sandman kills him as well amidst the chaos. Madison gets free and flees the secret facility with Claire amidst the chaos as they search for a safe place to rest. Despite Claire’s objections, Madison continue to uncontrollably summon forth the Sandman to kill armed guards along the way.

Claire rushes Madison to Amanda, who immediately hypnotizes the little girl and attempts to remove the malevolent entity. Amanda’s voice guides Madison through a dream state encounter with the Sandman, during which she’s seemingly able to unbind the entity from the girl. Madison awakens, but the Sandman suddenly bursts out of Amanda’s body, causing Claire and Madison to scatter to a construction site outside. In the trio’s final confrontation, Madison uses her powers to psychically combat the Sandman by dropping concrete on the creature. Claire turns on the power to a loose cable while the Sandman walks under it, electrocuting the creature and causing it to crystallize into a solid form. With the Sandman finally destroyed, Claire and Madison embrace one another amidst the aftermath as they’re able to start a new life together.

Final Assessment:

The Sandman 2017 is a fairly decent horror film, going by SyFy Original standard, with an interesting plot about alittle girl with extraordinary and yet uncontrollable powers. Enough to summon forth a malevolent entity from her mind to wreak havoc on innocent people within a quiet town. The design of the Sandman creature is both cool and creepy looking especially in some close-up shots which helps to sell the film with it marketing. However the special effects in the film especially when the Sandman materializes doesn’t hold up, though that’s mostly to be expected coming from a SyFy Original, giving it that tv movie quality vibe. The ending is mostly decent, though it ditches the horror aspect and kinda go more into a comicbooky style direction with the fight between Madison Blake and the Sandman creature. This would explained Stan Lee’s involvement with this film, going from supernatural horror to being a superhero type movie with it climax.

As for the cast, Shae Smolik does a good job as Madison Blake who struggles with these powers throughout the fim and losing her parents. Tobin Bell however feels criminally under utilized as his mysterious Dr. Valentine really doesn’t do much throughout the film. That being said, Haylie Duff does mostly a decent job as protagonist, Claire Blake who must protect her gifted niece from this malevolent entity. However her character seems more worried or confused at times, rather then looking frightened and horrified amidst the situation. Though this really isn’t Haylie Duff’s fault, but more on the script that she had to work with to give the character expression amidst the situation. But that isn’t enough to completely derail the experience of the film, the story still remains interesting with a heavy focus on mystery amidst the horror and action elements. Overall, The Sandman 2017 isn’t a great horror film but as a SyFy Original, it’s decent enough tv movie to enjoy watching to kill time in your day.