The Keep

[Foxbat]

Hmm. Where do I start with this one?

Directed by Michael Mann way back in ’83, I picked up this film at a video rental shop clearance about 15 years ago on VHS. Apparently, it’s a bit of a rarity in the UK (it is available, however, on NTSC VHS).

The film has a pretty decent cast (the always excellent) Jurgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne, Scott Glenn and (pre Sir) Ian Mckellen.

The score is by Tangerine Dream.

Set in 1941 in the Carpathians. Prochnow and his men are sent to guard an ancient keep squatting next to a village deep in the mountains of Rumania. It does not take long for Prochnow to discover that the Keep is built to hold something in rather than to keep invaders out. Then his men start to die…one by one.

Byrne appears all dressed up in his nazi uniform and proceeds to shoot a few villagers. Then McKellen (a jewish historian) arrives on the scene to lend a hand.

They discover something ancient, something evil residing within the walls of the Keep and, as the film progresses through almost every type of camera shot in the ‘Bumper Book Of Camera Angles’ we uncover an analogy. The evil within and spreading throughout the walls of this fortress becomes almost a mirror of the evil of fascism spreading through Europe.

Tangerine Dream’s score is at times out of place and over powering. Much of the acting is good but not enough to save this one. Mann must have hired a bucketload of smoke generators and lighting as we are treated to an almost disco-like show of special effects.
Scott Glenn’s role in this is almost oncomprehensible – a kind of ‘Avenging Angel With A Big Laser’ sort of guy – who seems to know everything but ain’t telling anybody else (including the audience).

The ending is an anticlimax – leaving much unexplained and an unsatisfied viewer.

Mann’s direction sometimes remind me of Ridley Scott in the sense that quite a few of their films are very stylish but with very little substance and – in some ways – reveals their origins (Mann – Miami Vice, Ridley Scott –advertisements). Thankfully, both men have gone on to make very good pictures as well as a bit of dross now and then.

The Keep – a film that starts off in a dark mood with something to say about the nature of evil – but ends up as a Mature Cheddar of a film. Not one of Mann’s better efforts.

I’m not surprised that it’s still not available on DVD.
Only for collectors if fine fromage.

[Esioul]

Hmm, sounds good, if a bit scary. And It's nice that it's not on DVD, for me anyway, as then I can't feel so old-fashioned for not having DVD.

[Cuddles]

A disappointing version of a truly excellent horror novel by F. Paul Wilson and a less than flattering example of Michael Man's talent, which thankfully has surpassed this lame movie. I remember seeing this at the cinema and feeling quite cheated. Thank goodness everyone concerned achieved so much more later on...

[LauraJUnderwood]

F. Paul Wilson stated more than once that he disliked the film as Mann rewrote and scrubbed it around. The ending is indeed anticlimactic in the film, which is sad because in the book, it's quite good.

Laura J. Underwood
Author of DRAGON'S TONGUE

[j. d. worthington]

I'm afraid I'd have to concur. While the film begins well, it becomes wobbly fairly early on, and the last half-hour of the film was simply gobbledegook, a waste of all concerned. Perhaps because Mann was still feeling his way around a bit with a bigger canvas, and perhaps because no one quite knew what to make of the Lovecraftian connections at this point -- whatever the reason, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be as charitable as Foxbat on this, unless we were leaving out the last 25 minutes or so of film ... then I'd tend to agree.

[susanna]

I agree with all the previous comments...and yet I have to admit, for all its faults...the film haunts me... I still find it quite scary....though I have to admit...knowing the films location probably heightened my senses...in fact, I vaguely remember the making of the film, as I was visiting friends of mine who live there at the time....(a location which has its own horror stories). However, after reading the previous comments...I will now read the book.

[oddhero]

It's rare? And there's me only yesterday handed a box of old vids including The Keep to a charity shop. It's worth watching just for the lunatic score and the scene where the unfortunate guard's being dangled through the hole by his ankles. Um - that sounds nuts but you know the one. Had it stayed low-key it coulda been a classic. Well, a BETTER sort of classic. Book's a treat though.

[Tim Riggers]

Wilson himself said he hated the movie. In a short story compilation called "Soft and Others" Wilson wrote a short story titled "Cuts" which was based on Wilson's perceived treatment of "The Keep". It is a very interesting story.
This movie is also one of the major reasons why Repairman Jack has not yet made his screen debut.

By the way, "The Keep" is in my opinion one of the greatest science fiction/fantasy novels of the late 20th century.

TR

[Steffi]

This is a great book....it's been on my shelf for years....I still pick it up and read it again...I remember seeing the film....it could have been better!!