The small town of Haven becomes a hot-bed of inventions all run by a strange green power device. The whole town is digging something up in the woods, and only an alcoholic poet can discover ... Read allThe small town of Haven becomes a hot-bed of inventions all run by a strange green power device. The whole town is digging something up in the woods, and only an alcoholic poet can discover the secret of the Tommyknockers.The small town of Haven becomes a hot-bed of inventions all run by a strange green power device. The whole town is digging something up in the woods, and only an alcoholic poet can discover the secret of the Tommyknockers.
- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
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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.
'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.
decent flick is well made and creepy but suffers from a plodding pace and overacting and weak production values for a TV movie this is pretty good and very watchable and mildly entertaining worth the look although it's nothing special
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
Why on Earth does this only have a 5.1? In my opinion, this was much better than Storm of the Century, which has a 7.1 (all ratings as of 5/30/08).
The plot is very well written. A buried alien craft slowly turns the citizens of a small town into mind-reading, odd-gizmo-inventing slaves.
The acting was excellent. Great performances by Jimmy Smits, Marg Helgenberger, John Ashton, Robert Carrdine, Joanna Cassidy, and Allyce Beasley.
The music was very creepy, and very fitting.
The CGI was very good also, especially for a 1993 TV movie/series.
There were some very shocking scenes, and a lot of interesting little plots here and there. All of these together make a King Classic, but it doesn't seem to get the recognition it deserves. 8/10.
The plot is very well written. A buried alien craft slowly turns the citizens of a small town into mind-reading, odd-gizmo-inventing slaves.
The acting was excellent. Great performances by Jimmy Smits, Marg Helgenberger, John Ashton, Robert Carrdine, Joanna Cassidy, and Allyce Beasley.
The music was very creepy, and very fitting.
The CGI was very good also, especially for a 1993 TV movie/series.
There were some very shocking scenes, and a lot of interesting little plots here and there. All of these together make a King Classic, but it doesn't seem to get the recognition it deserves. 8/10.
First part of it seemed promising then it all fizzled away. The movie is very chopped up and at times makes no sense or the drama and horror that needs to be there is just not there...poor job all around with acting, directing, editing, etc
Believe me, if you want to know what its all about, read the book by King instead..don't waste 4hrs on the SciFi channel watching this garbage
Believe me, if you want to know what its all about, read the book by King instead..don't waste 4hrs on the SciFi channel watching this garbage
Did you know
- TriviaThe character of Becka Paulson and her adulterous husband Joe were from an original short story by Stephen King called "The Revelations of Becka Paulson." King liked the story so much he wound up writing it into the novel The Tommyknockers. The short story itself would later be filmed for an episode of the 90's updating of The Outer Limits tv series with Catherine O'Hara in the role of Becka.
- GoofsThe Nutcracker doll's knife has blood on it before it stabs Ruth.
- Quotes
Roberta 'Bobbi' Anderson: [to Gard] It wasn't the plate that kept them out. It was you.
- Alternate versionsAfter the initial television broadcast, Vidmark released a cut version of the miniseries for home video. This version ran for 120 minutes, cutting out several characters and even a few sub-plots (including the romance between Ruth and Butch).
- ConnectionsFeatured in Biography: Stephen King: Fear, Fame and Fortune (2000)
- SoundtracksThe Star-Spangled Banner
(uncredited)
Music by John Stafford Smith
Lyrics by Francis Scott Key
Performed by Joanna Cassidy
- How many seasons does The Tommyknockers have?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 34m(94 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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