Stephen King's Desperation [2006] - DVD (Ron Perlman, Tom Skerritt, Steven Weber, Annabeth Gish, Charles Durning - Dir: Mick Garris)

Director Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), also recruited by Stephen King to remake The Shining, knows how to capture King's horror aesthetic on film. Desperation, based on a more recent King novel, is a pastiche of earlier King novelties, such as the psycho in uniform, this time Sheriff Collie Entragian (Ron Perlman), and dogs summoned by the devil, this time by TAK, an ancient Chinese demon. A town called Desperation in Nevada has a collapsed mine full of Chinese immigrant ghosts, whose spirits are trapped with TAK until they're accidentally unleashed. The TAK-possessed local sheriff is killing everyone, save a few travelers who stumble through on road trips. In the opening scene, Mary (Annabeth Gish) and her beau are pulled over by Sheriff Entragian, framed by his placing of marijuana in their trunk, then read their rights with a Satanic "I will kill you" thrown in. Later, Steve (Steven Weber), Cynthia (Kelly Overton), and Vietnam vet John Marinville (Tom Skerrit), ride into town, and they too encounter the evil policeman's wrath. They all meet a brave, imprisoned boy, David (Shane Haboucha), with whom they team up to end the mayhem. Desperation uses blue and green lighting to embrace the funhouse look, and camera shots highlighting the Sheriff's deranged face make the film occasionally spooky. But the rehashed plot detracts from the fear-factor, leaving one to pine for earlier King story adaptations, such as Misery or Cujo. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews of Stephen King's Desperation [2006]

Guvnor
UK
15th July 2008

A pleasant surprise
Having recently read and quite enjoyed King's novels Desperation and Dreamacatcher, I thought I would check out the films of the books. While Dreamcatcher was a big budget (almost $70 million) mess, with unbelievably misjudged casting and abysmally wooden acting, this TV movie gets most things right. Tom Skerritt and, especially Ron Perlman, put in good performances which gel together a solid cast.

The movie is a sensible, well written and streamlined adaptation of King's novel, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying it. While it is no Misery, Shawshank or Green Mile, it is still entertaining in a way that the disasterous Dreamcatcher could only dream of.

Having said all that, it's still a country mile from being a genuinely good film. I give it three stars because it does many things I was pleased about such as failing to make my toes curl, not boring me or irritating me, nor making me switch off before it had finished. The whole religious vibe was a bit preachy in a "good old God" Little House On The Prairie manner, but I can forgive that.

Concluding, I'd say that fans of the book would probably enjoy the film, and those who haven't read it will have a pretty jolly couple of hours, too.

Now if only I could erase Dreamcatcher (the film) from my memory...

aj
surrey United Kingdom
12th April 2008

PRETTY GOOD

GOOD BUT MAYBE TOO LONG AT 2 HOURS

THE STORY GOES IN A DIRECTION I DID NOT SEE COMING

WORTH WATCHING

THE SHERIFF IS VERY SCARY

John in Cornwall
UK
22nd February 2008

Not a great Stephen King book
Disappointing. The story line is not up to Stephen King's normal standard. I'd say only buy it if you've nothing else to hand.

R. Wallace-taylor

31st January 2008

Not very good at all.
I rented this film without having read the book. Basically, most of the acting was bad, the props (dead people etc) didn't look real, the body double was not! I was expecting the TV commercials to come on every 15 minutes. It reminded me of an episode of Tales from the Krypt. I was so bored I was nearly dropping off! I do not recommend this film.

green-man-music
United Kingdom
17th January 2008

I Just Wish Tak Had Won
Unusually with Stephen King Films, I found myself liking about the film exactly what I liked about the book. I found myself equally irritated by things that I disliked about the book - which the film really could have taken the opportunity to address.

Set in a former mining colony in the desert, the best part of the film (and book) is the first part. Here we have plenty of weirdness and tension as a sinister (and huge) cop, excellently realised by Ron Perlman, patrols the outskirts of town hauling in travellers and visitors on trumped-up charges and displaying a marvelously acted mania, jumping from easy chat to screaming insanity and back again as he grills his victims on just what exactly they are doing in town.

The second part of the film deals with what this cop actually is, and why the town's population lie butchered and strewn around (in scenes slightly reminiscent of the 1980s Stephen King film "Children Of The Corn").
But my major gripe, notwithstanding the excuse that someone was trying to keep close to the original story, is the heavily layered preaching from the smart-arse boy. It became pretty wearying pretty quickly. Despite the survivors having lost wives, husbands, baby daughters within the last 12 hours, the boy's frequent reminders about why it's ok for a loving wonderful God to be so cruel (Conclusion: it's because he's God - well, that's alright, then) someone should have kicked him up the arse and straight down the mine shaft.