Leofwine_draca
A very below average adaptation of a Stephen King short story, hindered by being a TV movie. Unfortunately, after an interesting first hour, the film begins to fall apart in the second half. The best moments in the film are when the gang begins to appear in Matheson's class and he can't believe it. The thugs aren't really very scary and don't do much, apart from killing some extras.The 'exciting' ending occurs when Norman is forced to re-live that fateful night which occurred 27 years earlier. The acting is nothing to write home about and there are hardly any special effects. The trouble is that it's very, very mundane and we've seen it all before, this film offers nothing new. Some parts of it are silly, very silly indeed. Now I like a laugh as much as the next person...but not at the expense of this boring, stupid movie!
classicsoncall
Ever wonder to yourself what Stephen King must have been like as a kid? Could have been really creepy or as normal as the next guy. I'd just like to know where the imagination came from. Though not as terrifying as "It" or "The Shining", this picture still manages to capture that Stephen King quality of fear and anxiety right around the corner in the midst of normalcy. I had to chuckle at Dr. Bernardi's 'see something, say something' approach to the students following the death of two classmates; isn't that always the case until somebody has something to say? King used an interesting approach to his story here. A resurrected thug from the past showed up whenever someone died in the present. That idea telegraphed the finale as I was fully expecting Jim's (Tim Matheson) brother Wayne (Chris Demetral) to show up for the final confrontation. The kicker had to do with the car key, it didn't make any difference that it got dropped during the scuffle the first time around, the hoods were goners anyway. The real puzzler is how they managed to resurrect the 1955 Chevy.
callanvass
Jim Norman witnesses his older brother Wayne being murdered by a group of bullies as a young kid. Jim has never fully recovered from this tragedy and decides to take his family back to where it all began for a fresh start. Jim's students start dying and The Bullies come back from the dead for revenge. I loved this movie growing up. I watched it quite a few times. I'm sad to say that it doesn't have anywhere near the impact that it used to. I realize that it is a television movie, but it is only slightly above average. There isn't anything that stands out about it, really. It also has some major plot holes. It isn't fully explained, about how they have managed to suddenly appear after being dead for 27 years. We aren't given any inkling what so ever on how they have been able to return from the dead. Why did they wait 27 years to seek vengeance on Jimmy? Wouldn't they have done it far sooner? Also, why does Jim have visions in a telepathic sort of way with the hoods? It is script contrivances like that, which make me shake my head. Nothing is explained fully as I would have liked. There are plenty of flashback scenes involving the incident with Jimmy as a child, but they are delivered as mundanely as possible. The storyline could have been something riveting and chilling, but it ended up going the routine route in every way. Tim Matheson is very solid as the lead. He conveys the proper emotions when needed and I liked him a lot. Too bad he didn't have much to work with. Brooke Adams is OK as the wife, not great. Robert Rusler is a favorite character actor of mine. He's good for the most part and rather bad-ass. My only gripes is the maniacal laughter and the way he taps his unlit cigarette on his hand. They were pet peeves that irked me. The rest of the cast are decent. The finale is probably my favorite part of the movie. It is emotionally well done. Final Thoughts: I didn't dislike this movie or anything, it just doesn't hold up nearly as well from my childhood. It is a forgettable film for the most part. It is worth a look, just don't expect much5.4/10
Cujo108
Along with his wife and son, a man reluctantly returns to his hometown years later to take a teaching job. It isn't long before ghosts from his past come back to haunt him and do much worse. Tom McLoughlin, director of the most overrated film in the "Friday the 13th" franchise, directed this made for TV adaptation of the Stephen King short story.Tim Matheson stars as the man tortured by memories of his brother's death and the men responsible. The film is strong on mood, successfully bringing to life that sense of time, place and small town atmosphere that King's stories thrive on. The film's best quality is it's villains. Robert Rusler is particularly intimidating as leather-clad gang leader, Lawson. The scene where Matheson first sees him again, posing as a student in his class, makes for a potent moment. Another great scene takes place in the gang's phantom car as they show their true forms to a jock victim.Unfortunately, the film doesn't keep it's momentum going as we head toward the finale. The climax is a bit of a mess, and the ending gets overly schmaltzy. The ending to King's original tale would have worked a lot better than what we get here. As it is, this is worth seeing for the villains and overall mood, but it's definitely flawed. Brooke Adams doesn't get a lot to do as Matheson's wife.
AD
