After having a near death experience Joanna finds her life in constant danger. She begins to believe that certain forces are trying to bring her back into the world of the dead. Her boyfrien... Read allAfter having a near death experience Joanna finds her life in constant danger. She begins to believe that certain forces are trying to bring her back into the world of the dead. Her boyfriend Glen thinks she's crazy so Joanna turns to her ex-boyfriend, Peter. It just so happens t... Read allAfter having a near death experience Joanna finds her life in constant danger. She begins to believe that certain forces are trying to bring her back into the world of the dead. Her boyfriend Glen thinks she's crazy so Joanna turns to her ex-boyfriend, Peter. It just so happens that Peter is a strong believer in the supernatural and even teaches a course on it at a lo... Read all
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I had remembered it being a mini series but it may have just been a two- part TV movie. It definitely wasn't the length of a normal TV movie as it had more than one part on different days when viewing.
I think it is a good film and well worth viewing if you are interested in the subject matter. I think they left in parts that would seem stretched at the time length of an ordinary TV movie.
It basically deals with Johanna's attempt to save her own life because of the length of time lapsed in her death experience and how she solves the issue of not being killed to bring her back to the light. Remember this was done in 1989 prior to a lot of movies that have since been released in theaters on this topic and it was for TV viewing audiences. They did an excellent job considering the time frame it was shown and the topic. I have never found it boring at any time and this is the reason I purchased it when I discovered it was on DVD. It was adapted from a 1980 novel called "Walkers" by Gary Brandner who also wrote "The Howling." Someone mentioned Flatliners which came out the next year but it doesn't remotely have anything in common with this movie other than the life after death theme which is explored differently and came from a screenplay. "Watchers" is much older than this. So there is no comparison whatsoever between these two movies. I liked them both but "From the Dead of Night" was a unique idea and I have never seen any movies quite like this one other than the subject of Near Death Experience. It is more suspenseful than scary in my opinion but individual viewers will vary on how it impacts them.
The movie itself wasn't bad, but it bothered me that they felt the need to make the character of Joanna a fashion designer living in (if I remember correctly) a loft, instead of an employee of a magazine living in a small house as she was in the book. I guest the makers of this film felt that an average person wasn't glamorous enough to be the main character. Where-as the Joanna in the book comes across as the kind of person you might actually know, the Joanna of the film seems more like she stepped out of a typical prime time soap opera like the recently cancelled Titans.
Of course the changes don't end there. For some reason the filmmakers also decided to change the names of all the major characters. Peter Landau becomes Peter Langford, Glen Early becomes Glen Eastman, Dr. Warren Hovde becomes Dr. Walter Hovde. I forget what Joanna's last name was in the movie, but they probably changed that too.
If I hadn't read the book first, none of these things would matter to me, but since I did, I couldn't help wondering why they felt they needed to make so many changes to what was already a fine story.
Title (Brazil): "Nos Braços da Morte" ("In the Rams of the Death")
Did you know
- TriviaThis was Merritt Butrick's final television acting role before his death on March 17, 1989 at the age of 29. The film aired only 19 days before he died.