Sleepless (2001)

Sleepless (2001) is an Italian giallo film directed by Dario Argento. It begins with Angela, who has just had sex with a man and is being verbally attacked by him for not satisfying him. As she collects her belongings, she accidentally knocks over a chest filled with bladed weapons, causing her to flee in fear. In her haste, she takes a blue scrapbook that belongs to an unknown serial killer in Turin, known as ‘The Dwarf Killer’. The killer then contacts Angela and threatens her life. Unable to find help from the train conductor, she turns to her friend Marta at the station to retrieve the scrapbook. However, unbeknownst to Angela, the killer has also followed her onto the train. He chases her and ultimately cuts off one of her fingers as she attempts to escape.

Marta boards the train in search of Angela, who failed to meet her at the station. As she looks for her friend, she discovers Angela’s gold pin and blue scrapbook hidden behind a chair. With some quick thinking, Marta avoids being trapped on the train and takes the book with her to her car. Unfortunately, the killer is still on her trail and forces his way into her vehicle, ultimately killing her in the driver’s seat before taking back the book. Detective Ulisse Moretti, who led the investigation into the murders in 1983, has remained in close communication with Giacomo Gallo, the sole survivor of the original spree who witnessed his mother Maria being stabbed to death with her own English horn. The first three murders were coined ‘The Dwarf Murders’ due to suspicion falling on Vincenzo de Fabritiis, a crime novelist with dwarfism.