The Keep (1983)

P

petlover014

New member
Michael Mann's forgotten film: a big-budget tale of terror in which a bunch of Nazi soldiers accidentally unleash a (rather impressive) monster whilst occupying an ancient keep in a remote part of Rumania (called Wales).
Loaded with atmosphere, marred only by an unfortunate 80s synth soundtrack and a "how-thick-should-I-slice-the-ham" performance from Ian Mckellen, this movie doesn't really deserve its non-DVD twilight existence.
It's the model for all the other "soldiers vs the unknown" movies which have emerged in recent years and better than most of them.
Why it's been unavailable for so long is a mystery.:confused:
 
I've never read F. Paul Wilson's novel but the movie leaves me with the impression that there's rather more to the story than actually made it on to the screen.
 
quite unbelievable that films like this aren't even given a vanilla release ..... far too long overdue IMO

should have KEEPed the bbc2 recording of it

sorry :D
 
It's an abortion from start to finish but that was due to studio interference - the full movie is over three hours long and fills in the back story about where Molasar and Glen come from but has never been given a director's cut.

It's very uneven because many of the scenes are actually different shots from different scenes pasted together, and the general quality of the sound and image on all releases is pretty appalling.

The score, by Tangerine Dream, is excellent although very little of what they composed ended up in the finished 96 minute version.
 
It's not surprising it's a bit uneven if there's so much missing.
I think the music is appalling and totally out of place.
Tangerine Dream in a World War 2 movie is like having an obvious helicopter shot in a Western.:)
 
You are absoluetly right there. I read the book long before the movie came out & I was really disapointed as so much was missing from the film. So much so that even Scott Glen couldn't save it.
 
Back
Top