Stephen King seems to be the proverbial limitless well of creativity, a modern- day Edgar Allan Poe/O.Henry with his twisted, original and ultimately unsettling tales of the human condition basted with science fiction, terror and eerie horror that has no equal with his contemporaries, often putting him in a class by himself. And that is also a conundrum since variably the adaptations of his works are often hit-and-miss with few classic exceptions in film ("The Shining" , "The Dead Zone"), television mini-series ("The Stand"), and now in the retro- anthology ala classics like "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents
" with his compendium of 8 tales with his unique blend of blatant uneasiness and sprinklings of gallows humor.
The eight include:
DISC ONE: "BATTLEGROUND" - One of the series better offerings featuring William Hurt in a dialogue-less interpretation about a professional assassin whose latest victim, a toy magnate, gets his revenge in the unlikely form of a package including a set of Army toy soldiers which come to life and wreck unholy havoc in his cold, efficient apartment in a battle to the death. The shrewd teleplay by Richard Christian Matheson (the son of legendary genre master, Richard Matheson - "The Incredible Shrinking Man") eschews chatter for chills (and a nice nod to his pop's most famous monster, the Zuni fetish doll from the TV movie classic, "Trilogy of Terror", makes a cameo (!) ) Directed by Brian Henson (son of Muppeteer Jim) employs CGI and green screen effect economically building enough tension in a familiar tale (I recall a similar effort in the '80s short-lived anthology series on ABC, "DarkRoom" with host James Coburn, featuring Ronny Cox as a Vietnam vet facing his ghosts in the form of tiny attackers).
"CROUCH END" - A so-so adaptation about an American couple (Eion Bailey - best known for HBO's "Band of Brothers" and "CSI: NY"s Claire Forlani) abroad in England for a new job perspective who unknowingly wander into an odd, out- of-the-way town where things are not as they appear in this decidedly HP Lovecraftian twister. Kim Le Master's adaptation isn't bad but not very terrifying and director Mark Haber does his best with the limits of the plot.
"Umney's Last Case" - William H. Macy has a field day in a dual role as a '30s era LA gumshoe named Umney who suddenly faces the fact that he is the imagined character of an author (also played by Macy) who decides to change his life for his creation's to escape his painful life. April Smith adds some fun to the mix in her take on the affectionate ode to pulp fiction while veteran director Rob Bowman ("The X-Files") gives the outing a polished look overall.
DISC TWO: "THE END OF THE WHOLE MESS" - Arguably the best of the bunch, and one of my favorite unnerving King treats, about two brothers (Ron Livingston and Henry Thomas) who concoct a method of wiping out mankind's proclivities to violence with devastating results in a sharply skewed take on the old chestnut of messing with Mother Nature. Penned by frequent King adapter Lawrence D. Cohen ("It", "Carrie") and directed by Miakael Salomon (who helmed the second go-around TV mini-series of King's "'Salem's Lot", also for TNT), the chapter is a tight, nerve-shattering fix that Rod Serling would've gladly called his own.
"THE ROAD VIRUS HEADS NORTH" - Tom Berenger gives a mannered yet thoughtful turn as a King-like author who acquires a disturbing painting on a pit- stop during a road-trip and discovers its unearthly power : it's frequent changing of its portrait into a horrific prophecy. Peter Filardi (who wrote the aforementioned ""Salem's Lot" mini-series) manages to make things quite unpleasant and director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (tv's "Prison Break") keeps things at a pulse-quickening pace.
"THE FIFTH QUARTER" - Jeremy Sisto plays a recently paroled con who desperately wants to go straight but finds himself immersed in a treasure-hunt of deadly intentions while his girlfriend Samantha Mathis tries to make sense of the whole damn thing for her man. Played as a morality play by Alan Sharp ("Rob Roy") and Bowman directing again making the proceedings a noose- tightening fable of a criminal's mind.
DISC THREE: "AUTOPSY ROOM FOUR" - Classic ala Hitchcock offering Richard Thomas as a golfer bitten by a poisonous snake during a game and assumed to be dead, depicts his plight on the morgue table with his fate in the hands of his would be coroners. Well-acted by Thomas, who literally remains motionless in fear for an hour - no-easy feat- and enough taut, tension thanks to Smith and Salomon's expert teaming here.
"YOU KNOW THEY GOT A HELL OF A BAND" - The weakest of the series with Steven Weber ("Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip") and Kim Delaney (late of "CSI: Miami") as a couple on a road trip detouring into a "Twilight Zone" slice of Americana: a town inhabited by nefarious deceased rock-and-roll gods whose idea of heaven is really a living hell for its inhabitants. Quaint King and listless adaptation by Mark Robe make for a forgettable exercise in the cult of personality.
The eight include:
DISC ONE: "BATTLEGROUND" - One of the series better offerings featuring William Hurt in a dialogue-less interpretation about a professional assassin whose latest victim, a toy magnate, gets his revenge in the unlikely form of a package including a set of Army toy soldiers which come to life and wreck unholy havoc in his cold, efficient apartment in a battle to the death. The shrewd teleplay by Richard Christian Matheson (the son of legendary genre master, Richard Matheson - "The Incredible Shrinking Man") eschews chatter for chills (and a nice nod to his pop's most famous monster, the Zuni fetish doll from the TV movie classic, "Trilogy of Terror", makes a cameo (!) ) Directed by Brian Henson (son of Muppeteer Jim) employs CGI and green screen effect economically building enough tension in a familiar tale (I recall a similar effort in the '80s short-lived anthology series on ABC, "DarkRoom" with host James Coburn, featuring Ronny Cox as a Vietnam vet facing his ghosts in the form of tiny attackers).
"CROUCH END" - A so-so adaptation about an American couple (Eion Bailey - best known for HBO's "Band of Brothers" and "CSI: NY"s Claire Forlani) abroad in England for a new job perspective who unknowingly wander into an odd, out- of-the-way town where things are not as they appear in this decidedly HP Lovecraftian twister. Kim Le Master's adaptation isn't bad but not very terrifying and director Mark Haber does his best with the limits of the plot.
"Umney's Last Case" - William H. Macy has a field day in a dual role as a '30s era LA gumshoe named Umney who suddenly faces the fact that he is the imagined character of an author (also played by Macy) who decides to change his life for his creation's to escape his painful life. April Smith adds some fun to the mix in her take on the affectionate ode to pulp fiction while veteran director Rob Bowman ("The X-Files") gives the outing a polished look overall.
DISC TWO: "THE END OF THE WHOLE MESS" - Arguably the best of the bunch, and one of my favorite unnerving King treats, about two brothers (Ron Livingston and Henry Thomas) who concoct a method of wiping out mankind's proclivities to violence with devastating results in a sharply skewed take on the old chestnut of messing with Mother Nature. Penned by frequent King adapter Lawrence D. Cohen ("It", "Carrie") and directed by Miakael Salomon (who helmed the second go-around TV mini-series of King's "'Salem's Lot", also for TNT), the chapter is a tight, nerve-shattering fix that Rod Serling would've gladly called his own.
"THE ROAD VIRUS HEADS NORTH" - Tom Berenger gives a mannered yet thoughtful turn as a King-like author who acquires a disturbing painting on a pit- stop during a road-trip and discovers its unearthly power : it's frequent changing of its portrait into a horrific prophecy. Peter Filardi (who wrote the aforementioned ""Salem's Lot" mini-series) manages to make things quite unpleasant and director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (tv's "Prison Break") keeps things at a pulse-quickening pace.
"THE FIFTH QUARTER" - Jeremy Sisto plays a recently paroled con who desperately wants to go straight but finds himself immersed in a treasure-hunt of deadly intentions while his girlfriend Samantha Mathis tries to make sense of the whole damn thing for her man. Played as a morality play by Alan Sharp ("Rob Roy") and Bowman directing again making the proceedings a noose- tightening fable of a criminal's mind.
DISC THREE: "AUTOPSY ROOM FOUR" - Classic ala Hitchcock offering Richard Thomas as a golfer bitten by a poisonous snake during a game and assumed to be dead, depicts his plight on the morgue table with his fate in the hands of his would be coroners. Well-acted by Thomas, who literally remains motionless in fear for an hour - no-easy feat- and enough taut, tension thanks to Smith and Salomon's expert teaming here.
"YOU KNOW THEY GOT A HELL OF A BAND" - The weakest of the series with Steven Weber ("Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip") and Kim Delaney (late of "CSI: Miami") as a couple on a road trip detouring into a "Twilight Zone" slice of Americana: a town inhabited by nefarious deceased rock-and-roll gods whose idea of heaven is really a living hell for its inhabitants. Quaint King and listless adaptation by Mark Robe make for a forgettable exercise in the cult of personality.