Storm of the Century

First, I like long movies, second, I've never expected much from King's movies. This is best movie I've seen and it's strange, because this movie isn't like you would expect to be your favorite movie. Reserve one night to this film and watch it without interruptions, enjoy and let movie carry you along. Not like Indiana Jones, not like Hitchcock, but tense with horrible ending.

Sad. Sick. Twisted. Not anything unusual for Stephen King. This is the story of on 99% honest and 100% good man's struggle to save his town and their children. Mike Anderson (Timothy Daly) is the constable of a small town on an island off the coast of Maine. This movie is the story of his attempt to save the town from a mysterious and supernatural stranger who appears in their midst in the middle of the "Storm of the Century". Sadly, the town is full of corrupt, cowardly, and weak-willed people, making the task that much more daunting and impossible. You will watch as Mike Anderson throughout the movie tries to do that which is right and proves that he was the only strong willed and honest person within that town. But it is to no avail, as in the end Mike Anderson loses that which matters to him most as the town caves in to the strangers demands and intimidation. Its a well produced, yet horrible story, with a very dark and sad feeling that makes your blood boil in the end, because the people of this town are so astoundingly pathetic, corrupt, and pitiful.

No Spoilers here. One of my favorite 10 movies, and easily the best made for TV movie ever. Storm of the Century reaches the highest level of suspense of any movie I have ever seen. I have watched it 5 times now, and am amazed at how linear it is for its length. Not a minute is wasted.

As with every great film it is not for everyone, but keep in mind that no movie is rated above 9.0 here, and that some people will not like it because it was made for TV, is Stephen King, is long, isn't packed with CGI or gore, or isn't a comfortably predictable Hollywood story. Don't let the fact it isn't rated 8.0+ fool you-this is an outstanding movie.

Absolutely anti-Hollywood (I love it for that as well), this is much more like an independent film not trying to be artsy. Few big name stars, no wasted sub-plots to draw in general audiences, no special effects wedged awkwardly in, not packed with pretty people who cannot act or out-of-place one-liners. This is a pure horror/suspense movie.

If you want a movie you can predict the ending to within 10 minutes, or settle down comfortably to another familiar rehashed horror story, pass on this one-it is original, chilling, and as gripping and memorable as any movie you will see. Like any horror suspense movie, you won't get the full effect if you have it on at noon while surfing the net and chatting on the phone. I most closely would compare it to Silence of the Lambs or The Ring in tension and flow, but without the shock value. The tension and eeriness this movie creates is palpable.

This is not a slasher/gore movie, and you will get a chance to know the main characters of Little Tall Island, as well as see an original portrayal of antagonist Colm Feore (who perfectly nailed his role). Yes, Anthony Hopkins would have ALSO been great for this role, but I don't think better. If you are chilled by hearing "I'm a Little Teapot, short and stout..." afterwards, you'll be here posting great reviews as well.

"Give me what I want and I'll go away," demands the black-eyed, stocking-capped stranger Linoge (Colm Feore), who appears in a quiet island community on the verge of the worst storm in decades and brutally bludgeons an old lady to death. Tim Daly, the town sheriff and voice of reason and moral strength, locks up the quiet madman, but the deaths pile up as Linoge acts them out from his cell like a murderous mime pulling psychic strings. Stephen King, whose original teleplay is his best work for the screen since The Stand, transforms the sleepy burg into a Peyton Place of guilty secrets and criminal activity ripped from under a blanket of small town normality while the white-out of the snowstorm completely cuts them off from civilization. Director Craig R. Baxley nicely maintains an icy tension while the waiting game goes on, perhaps a little too long, before Linoge finally reveals "what he wants" and the drama turns into a struggle for man's soul in miniature. The more ambitious special effects and set pieces sometimes disappoint but are more than made up for in King's knack for turning the mundane into the macabre (the children's song "I'm a Little Teapot" has never sounded more sinister) and a few brilliantly realized sequences, the best of which occurs when townspeople are literally yanked out of existence while watching the storm. Storm of the Century is one of the most successful translations of King's brand of horror to the screen.

Castle Rock, a recent series also by Stephen King, also has a stranger in town/trouble premise, though not the only one. There's something about both shows that really makes one think, as if such horror was not quite as far away as other horror movies you might have seen, sort of eerily familiar. Anyway, that's how it bites me. Nuts and bolts is easier. The acting holds this piece above many others. It's very very good. And it's a very large cast, so hats off to casting as well. There are so many (necessary) close-ups that any hint of wooden or uncommitted performance would be tagged straight away. As that never happens, hats off to the director too, it must have been gruelling. I could only get hold of the second half, and I thought that was too long. In the third quarter the effects are brilliant, and nicely edited as well, particularly where two timelines needed to be related. The last quarter is where I docked a point. There were effects that simply did not need to exist, as if the director had an incurable soft spot for old theatre pulley effects. If ever this movie is redone that needs to be thought about. It didn't spoil the ending in any intellectual way, I enjoyed the ending, but I thought it noticeably old-fashioned. On the plus side, the storm itself is a marvel of cinematography. All up this is classic horror from a very inventive mind, and, if you are lucky enough to run across it, well worth chasing.