ORBzine - Movie Reviews

This is yet another adaption of a Stephen King novel. This time the director is Fraser Heston , son of Charlton.

Ed Harris is sheriff of Castle Rock, a small town in Maine. The Mayor is JT Walsh ( Dark Skies ), the Baptist minister is Don S. Davis ( Stargate SG-1 ) and the RC Priest is W. Morgan Sheppard ( SeaQuest DSV ).

Max Von Sydow ( Flash Gordon ) moves into town, and opens up a shop that gives people their heart's desire. A bit like Juliette Binoche in Chocolat, but with a dark twist. Von Sydow is actually the devil, and those who fall victim to his temptations must make a bargain, to comit a practical joke. The jokes begin a spiral downward into murder, as the town is torn apart. Can Sheriff Ed uncover Satan and save the day?

A couple of young Americans go hiking on the Yorkshire moors. However, it is the night of the full moon and they are attacked by a ferocious beast. When the protagonist wakes up he is in a London hospital, being nursed by Jenny Agutter . He has visions of his friend, now a mutilated ghost, who tells him that he is now a werewolf.

Brian Glover ( Alien 3 ) pops up as a Yorkshireman who knows more about werewolves than he admits.

Yes, the old werewolf has been a standard ingredient in horror films for years. What sets this film apart is its utterly amazing transformation scene. Also, the script is far superior to the other werewolf flick of the period - The Howling .

This was the first major film by John Landis . A pity, when you consider how poor his other efforts have been. Innocent Blood was especially dire, particularly in comparison with this.

Watch out for the cameo by Frank Oz (the voice of Yoda) as the American Embassy official who pays the protagonist a visit in hospital.

William Katt ( Greatest American Hero ) and Sean Young play a young American married couple, a reporter and a paleontologist, working somewhere up the Congo. They discover a colony of Brontosauruses - animatronic, not claymation.

However, they are dogged by Young's evil boss, Patrick McGoohan ( The Prisoner ). He epitomises both the dedicated scientist and the cold-blooded killer. To help his cause he enlists a platoon of the country's soldiers, including Hugh Quarshie ( Highlander, Phantom Menace ).