Traveling showman Aaron Quicksilver tells horror tales: a psychotic hitchhiker falls prey to a relentless dangerously-sharp set of chattering teeth, and a human hand that comes alive.Traveling showman Aaron Quicksilver tells horror tales: a psychotic hitchhiker falls prey to a relentless dangerously-sharp set of chattering teeth, and a human hand that comes alive.Traveling showman Aaron Quicksilver tells horror tales: a psychotic hitchhiker falls prey to a relentless dangerously-sharp set of chattering teeth, and a human hand that comes alive.
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- Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy
- 3 nominations total
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I'll start this review by saying that I've read neither of the short stories that this movie is based on, neither Stephen King's Chattery Teeth, nor Cliver Barker's The Body Politic, so I can't comment on whether or not they're accurate conversions of the stories. I will say, however, that based on my limited knowledge of King's work(and my even more limited knowledge of Barker's) that I do believe that they did a pretty good job on bringing the stories to life in this movie. The plot for both stories is good(yes, even the King story, I have to admit, though I despise his works), and it's both involving and interesting, for both segments. The acting ranges from made-for-TV standard, and slightly better; all four of the leads did a good job, as far as I'm concerned: Christopher Lloyd, Matt Frewer, Raphael Sbarge and Missy Crider. I especially enjoyed Lloyd, and his character, the storyteller, who is in both the prologue and the epilogue for both segments, and gives a further chill down the spine with his afterthoughts for both stories. The characters are well-written, credible and easy to relate to, which, I guess, can be credited almost as much to the original authors(King and Barker) as the script writer and director(who, incidentally, is the same person). Both segments are about equally chilling and horrifying, though the first has more buildup and the second has more actual action, which shows the difference in the authors' styles. The direction is pretty good, especially for a TV movie. The special effects are about as good as they get for a TV movie budget. The horror in both segments is fairly chilling and disturbing. They also both give you a little something to think about, once the story is over; this is also pushed a little further in the epilogue for both segments, by the storyteller, Lloyd, which obviously proves that the director/scriptwriter Mick Garris certainly understood both stories, as well as their underlying themes. All in all, a pretty good way to spend 90 minutes if it's on TV and you've got nothing spectacular to do, but not something you'll be watching over and over again. Good for one or two viewings, if you're into this type of horror. I recommend it to fans of King, Barker and Lloyd, and possibly also Garris. Good for spending 90 minutes watching if it's on, and you've got nothing better to do. 6/10
I'm sorry I had to spent my money on this movie, because this definitely has to be the worst movie I have ever seen in my life !!!
The reason I didn't like the movie is that the whole movie I was waiting for something to happen, but it just didn't !!
Also the whole idea of hands on the loose isn't quite what I expected from a Stephen King-based movie...
So my advice to you is : DON'T RENT IT !! it's a waiste of your precious dollars.
The reason I didn't like the movie is that the whole movie I was waiting for something to happen, but it just didn't !!
Also the whole idea of hands on the loose isn't quite what I expected from a Stephen King-based movie...
So my advice to you is : DON'T RENT IT !! it's a waiste of your precious dollars.
It`s misleading to describe QUICKSILVER HIGHWAY as a TV movie because it feels like two episodes of an anthology show like THE TWILIGHT ZONE stuck together . By that I mean Mr Quicksilver relates the stories at two different locations , a desert(ed ) highway and a funfair . Is there any reason for this apart from the denounements ?
As for the stories themselves CHATTERING TEETH is probably the better but only when it`s being played straight devoid of its silly supernatural tones. Giving a ride to a hitch hiker who seems to border on the psycotic , yeah a good premise that ends up being ignored which seems to have been a problem with Stephen King stories for many years
I did read Clive Barker`s THE BODY POLITIC many years ago . It`s an imaginative story and one which I couldn`t help admiring Barker`s writing skills . However it`s one of those fantasy tales that is unfilmable since a revolution involving hands will come across as totally bizarre and unintentionally funny when realized on screen . So I`ve got to disagree with the chap who said THE BODY POLITIC is both tongue in cheek and misunderstood - No it`s not , it only comes across that way down to using a different meduim to what Barker envisaged
And also got to repeat my criticism that this " TVM " feels like a failed anthology series with two episodes stuck together
As for the stories themselves CHATTERING TEETH is probably the better but only when it`s being played straight devoid of its silly supernatural tones. Giving a ride to a hitch hiker who seems to border on the psycotic , yeah a good premise that ends up being ignored which seems to have been a problem with Stephen King stories for many years
I did read Clive Barker`s THE BODY POLITIC many years ago . It`s an imaginative story and one which I couldn`t help admiring Barker`s writing skills . However it`s one of those fantasy tales that is unfilmable since a revolution involving hands will come across as totally bizarre and unintentionally funny when realized on screen . So I`ve got to disagree with the chap who said THE BODY POLITIC is both tongue in cheek and misunderstood - No it`s not , it only comes across that way down to using a different meduim to what Barker envisaged
And also got to repeat my criticism that this " TVM " feels like a failed anthology series with two episodes stuck together
At the time of this writing I'm a bit confused because the version I saw gave the "hand" story first followed by the "teeth" story, but comments here and on Amazon say the movie presents the two stories the other way around. And it should be noted that I haven't read the original stories; I judge the movie as a stand-alone form of entertainment.
So, imagine what would happen if your hands stopped responding to commands from your brain and began doing whatever *they* wanted to do. And what if your hands plotted a revolution requiring an army of hands from other people. If you happened to see the modern "Addams Family" remake then you can extrapolate: picture a bunch of "Thing" hands running around free. I thought the army, and how they got that way, were very funny. OK, there is a rather serious horror story going on in the background, and Matt Frewer does some excellent hand-acting.
As for the second story, well, I can't say much without giving too much away. But I was blown away by my favorite character, the wind-up teeth. I have a small collection of similar wind-ups, similar in that they walk or play instruments, but I never saw anything like these teeth. I felt totally torn between the seriousness of a hitchhiker-horror story and the humor of a wind-up character. Enjoy, just for fun.
So, imagine what would happen if your hands stopped responding to commands from your brain and began doing whatever *they* wanted to do. And what if your hands plotted a revolution requiring an army of hands from other people. If you happened to see the modern "Addams Family" remake then you can extrapolate: picture a bunch of "Thing" hands running around free. I thought the army, and how they got that way, were very funny. OK, there is a rather serious horror story going on in the background, and Matt Frewer does some excellent hand-acting.
As for the second story, well, I can't say much without giving too much away. But I was blown away by my favorite character, the wind-up teeth. I have a small collection of similar wind-ups, similar in that they walk or play instruments, but I never saw anything like these teeth. I felt totally torn between the seriousness of a hitchhiker-horror story and the humor of a wind-up character. Enjoy, just for fun.
What drove the needs for this movie is anybody's guess. They're based on boring stories from King and Barker. Christopher Lloyd does nothing as the sinister Quicksilver and generally the whole thing is a bore. Yes, there are a few chilling moments but basically I wouldn't waste your time.
Did you know
- TriviaMatt Frewer didn't have to audition for his two roles in this film. Writer and Director Mick Garris simply called Frewer on the phone and asked him if he wanted to be in the movie.
- Quotes
Aaron Quicksilver: You might say I'm a collector of rare objects
- ConnectionsFeatured in Quicksilver Highway: An Interview with Matt Frewer (2005)
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
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- Also known as
- Stephen King & Clive Barker's Quicksilver Highway
- Filming locations
- Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California, USA(carnival scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
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