Les tommyknockers

For some reason I always avoided this movie, despite enjoying most of the Stephen King movie adaptations as a teenager. It was simply because of the horrible title that I stayed clear of it. But having a chance to have seen it in 2015, after all these years, I finally got around to watching it.

The idea behind "The Tommyknockers" was adequate; a buried alien spacecraft holds some extraterrestrial force that invades the minds of the residents of a small rural community. Personally, then I didn't fully understand the thing with the missing teeth. And the thing that the people were unearthing just didn't appear extraterrestrial at all.

Now, I say mediocre Sci-Fi horror because it just didn't manage to step beyond and become interesting.

As for the acting, well they had some good talents on the cast list, with a number of familiar faces. The actors and actresses did good jobs with their roles, despite having storyboard limitations working against them.

The special effects in "The Tommyknockers" weren't impressive, not even by the standards back in 1993. However, I will say that the inside of the alien spacecraft was actually quite good. And the creature design of the alien creatures was good as well, it was the typical "grey one" design, but buffed up with a pinch of horror. And it worked out quite well.

"The Tommyknockers" isn't the best of Stephen King movie adaptations, but it is adequate enough for a single viewing.

One of King's lesser novels is transformed into one of the worst adaptations of his work so far. King's incredible imagination has always proved difficult to translate to the screen, which seems too small to contain everything on the page. There have been, literally, a handful of decent adaptations of his work, but it is usually the less graphic stories, or those dealing with a psychological horror rather than a physical presence that transfer best.

'The Tommyknockers' treads familiar King ground, and is very reminiscent if 'Needful Things', with an unknown force entering the lives of the community and turning one against the other for it's own end. There is a tormented and fallible hero, innocence is lost and found, there's an old codger with tales to scare the kids, and strange goings-on down at the old Indian burial ground. All par for the course then. The version I've seen was a shortened video version, which made no sense at all. Characters and events seemed to materialise without warning and act without any compulsion at all. It appears that most of the plot development has been removed too, but, to be honest, sitting through another 60 minutes would've only induced more boredom, not enlightenment. The result is an amateurish, uninteresting, and frightless mess.

Aside from the odd exception, Stephen King has rarely transfered well to the big or small screen, and along comes this little mini-series which is a by-numbers example of what actually gets lost in translation. Firstly: when these novels are adapted for the screen, fundamental elements of the plot are excised or replaced, and this is true of even the better King-flicks ("The Shining" and "Carrie" are just as guilty as pulp trash like "Needful Things" and "Cujo"). "The Tommyknockers" begins as if it's going to buck the trend, establishing the majority of the usual King misfits early on, and actually adds a little suspense by not showing its hand too early - for example, this adaptation does not make clear what's buried out back in Bobbie's farm straight away. But as the town begins to be affected by said item, it's off into it's own world, and toss the novel out the window. Granted, some of the more imaginative gimmicks the township dreams up cannot be translated to screen with the appropriate panache, especially with the meagre budget allocated to this project - but does everything need to look so cheap? Much of the dialogue at best doesn't ring true, at worse stinks. Witness the actually quite good Marg Helgenberger delivering some awful lines ("Gard, let's experience it together!") but in an offhand way that suggests that she's really aware that she's not in a Mamet play, but, Hell, let's make the best of it anyway. Any good points? Well, Joanna Cassidy is always worth watching, but an actress of her class still can't make a thrown together middle-age romance look realistic. Helgenberger and Allyce Beasley come out of it with the least mud sticking. Worst crimes? Jimmy Smits completely miscast, terrible dialogue, cheap effects, complete massacre of the source material, Traci Lords all at sea outside of a John Waters movie or skinflick ... the list goes on.

This is how movies were done in the 90's. Good and solid story behind, actors not too famous not newbees, some old veteran and low budget. These movies were meant to be aired on tv, not blockbuster movies so what do you expect? It, The Stand, Red Rose.... always the same format. It's horror/sci-fi , not mainstream. And if you do it 30 years after with more money and some well paid actors (look at It) the outcome is still the same if not worse. If you like these movies, cheap and cheesy, watch them and enjoy them considering the time they were made at.... or else ignore them and watch Money Heist as you probably more that kind of person

The novel Tommyknockers was one of Steve King's earlier attempts to do sci-Fi, and it was only moderately successful. King fused his usual horror plot structure formula to a basic alien possession plot and added his standard strong character development. The characters were, in this case, better than the plot deserved. John Power's three-hour TV adaptation leaves most of the story intact, but drops some of the crazier and more absurd elements of the original work. Even without reading the original, those familiar with King's work will notice the restrained manner in which the climax takes place.

In the woods behind Bobbie Anderson's (Marg Helgerson) house, something is buried. Some say it is an Indian curse, some say it's a holy place, but in general, the members of the little New England town of Derry don't go there. But one day, while her recovering alcoholic boyfriend Jim Gardner (Jimmy Smits) is out doing a poetry reading, Bobbie and her dog Pete start digging. Before long, Derry starts experiencing miracles, accompanied by green glowing lights.

The casting is superb, and with the exception of an overcooked performance by Traci Lords, the acting is fairly good. Smits and Helgerberger are very good. The characterizations in this three hour long film fairly represent the original work, but the script lacks some of the original's punch. The cinematography is solid for a TV movie and the special effects are good. Tommyknockers is well edited, competently directed and fairly entertaining, but, like the original novel, it is not one of King's better works.

Recommended for King fans. Weakly recommended for Sci-Fi fans.