Desesperación

So I am a big fan of Stephen King novels and movies alike and there is rarely a time i argue about a movie that deviates from a book. I haven't read the book before I watched the movie and still there was something very off about it. I should have been aware that Stephen King movies like to keep a low profile on the movie synopsis and it was a treat to see how well this movie started off. It was good... till the lead up to the conclusion. I couldn't help but comment on Ron Pearlman's character (and obviously the actors acting that brought the character to life. Had a good suspense and definitely an attention grabbing flow to the movie. But the ending... it seemed rushed.. there was too many questions and there was never a proper explanation (hell there was no explanation) for this... this... weird phenomena. Of course considering its something like another portal and supernatural but there was never really a very good connection between the questioning of faith in God and this bizarre incident. The ending was waay too rushed and the cool setup of "Tack" by Pearlman suddenly became a big time wuss... this movie would have made it to a 5 had it not disappointed me so much with the conclusion... Still its a movie anyone can enjoy and of course not all would find it as disappointing as I did.

Well-done television adaptation of the Stephen King horror novel proves not only to be quite faithful to the novel, but an enjoyable treat for any horror fan.

Folks driving through rural Nevada are being captured by a crazed policeman, but something far more evil is at work in the town of Desperation.

Director Mick Garris is no stranger to the works of author Stephen King, in fact I believe this is his sixth film adaptation of one of King's stories. Between Garris directing and King himself having written the screenplay, Desperation comes off as a very faith adaptation that also keeps the same sense of suspense and bizarre atmosphere of the novel. It's a completely gripping tale that benefits from a mysterious set-up and some likable characters. The filming locations, music, and special FX (which are occasionally gory) are all excellent.

The cast is also quite good. Tom Skerritt, Annabeth Gish, and Steven Weber turn in good performances as some unlikely heroes. Ron Perlman is terrifically creepy as our warped villain. However the greatest performance of all is that of young Shane Haboucha as a spiritually-guided young victim.

All-around, Desperation is a solidly done horror-thriller that delivers on all fronts. A must-see for Stephen King fans.

*** out of ****

"Desperation" was premiered in Tucson at the newly- restored Fox Theater, a great Art Deco movie house. After the showing, the cast and director held an interesting question- and- answer session, somewhat marred by a few long- winded local politicos.

The movie was filmed in Bisbee, in the now- closed Lavender Pit copper mine, an imposing location. Other open- highway scenes were filmed on Sierrita Mountain Road and Sasabe Road. The filming shut down the highways for periods of time but it was interesting watching what was going on. The film crew also accidentally set the Tucson Community Center on fire.

As far as rating the movie, it's simply a "made for TV" production and you get pretty much what you might expect. It's no "Sunset Boulevard" but it's watchable.

I seen the commercial for this movie off of a rental I had and had gotten excited because from the looks of it, it was not bad. Then I had to rent it and my thoughts are that for a desolate setting for a mid-western town was creepy enough for evil to go around fulfilling its vices. You have a great cast, full of veteran actors who all played their parts well. Many reviewers have commented on the boy characters nauseating faith in "god" and the nature of what god is. Some others have also commented that the usual King treat is depicted of a good ol' moral spar between good and evil but I don't see it as such. It was noted many of times that King had either begun this story while he had substance problems and or finished the book (story) in rehab. If this is true, then it's possible that the authors own bouts with the man upstairs became apparent in this film. Either way, I can see why the complaints but personally the kid and his faith didn't bother me. What bothered me was for a King film this ended too fast and no scary, slimy monsters to swat back into the darkness. But due to the villain mainly being bodiless is a new approach and was executed rather well. Another film (for TV) before this (I forget the names) wasn't all too great either. To be honest, I've lost track of his catalog but the last movie that I'd seen that left me satisfy was "Rose Red". I say rent it, be the judge and see if you like it or not.

I bought this movie out of the bargain bin at wal-mart the other day. It isn't something that would normally catch my interest, but I remember reading the book many years ago, and although I didn't remember a lot of details of the book, I remember enjoying it, and figured if I got even a fraction of the entertainment out of the movie as I did the book I would be satisfied. There are a few plot holes, but nothing too dramatic. The movie was thoroughly creepy. Connie was a convincing villain, and it was well cast. I think the kid was a bit on the quiet side for what I had always pictured him to be, but He still did a decent job. I bought this movie for 5 bucks, and it was well worth that. I would recommend this for renting, but paying much more than say 10 bucks to purchase it would be foolish. All in all a good movie although would have been much better as a feature film.