The Keep (1983)

Director:

Michael Mann

Writers:

F. Paul Wilson (novel)
Michael Mann (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

THEY WERE ALL DRAWN TO THE KEEP. The soldiers who brought death. The father and daughter fighting for life. The people who have always feared it. And the one man who knows its secret... THE KEEP Tonight, they will all face the evil.

Plot:

Nazis guard a citadel that harbors a dangerous force that starts wreaking havoc and death upon them, forcing an uneasy alliance with a Jewish professional who can stop it.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | SS | Death | Fortress | Cult Favorite

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Scott Glenn	...	Glaeken Trismegestus
Alberta Watson	...	Eva Cuza
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Captain Klaus Woermann
Robert Prosky	...	Father Mihail Fonescu
Gabriel Byrne	...	Major Kaempffer
Ian McKellen	...	Dr. Theodore Cuza
William Morgan Sheppard	...	Alexandru (as Morgan Sheppard)
Royston Tickner	...	Tomescu
Phillip Joseph	...	Sergeant Oster
Michael Carter	...	Molasar
John Vine	...	Lutz
Jona Jones	...	Otto
Wolf Kahler	...	S.S. Adjutant
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Josefia
Frederick Warder	...	Border Guard #1

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Germany:16 | Brazil:14 | Australia:M | France:-12 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales, UK

Company:

Associated Capital

Trivia:

The film is dedicated to the memory of visual effects supervisor Wally Veevers.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Camera assistant visible directing a camera pan when the German soldiers are firing into the air when the evil force is released.

Quotes:

Alexandru: No-one's ever died here.
Captain Klaus Woermann: Then what drives people out, in the middle of a rainy night?
Alexandru: Dreams?
Captain Klaus Woermann: Nightmares? Look, man, the real nightmares man has made upon other men in this war. The bad dreams of your Keep are nursery rhymes by comparison.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Directors: The Films of Michael Mann (#2.1)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Gloria

The many woes of a director...

I don't have to go into the history of this film and the events that transpired both during and after filming, as they are readily available elsewhere and in both the comments and forums here. But this is one movie for which it is apparent that the director was forced into some choices that did not turn out well.

Like most fans, I found the book to be great (though Wilson, once he came up with this mythos, went on to milk it dry in both succeeding stories and in his Repairman Jack series) and the movie to be a pale imitation.

The loss of Veever basically plunged this movie into a hole from which it could not pull itself out. Many of the special effects are perfect, while others (like the "Michelin Man") are awful.

It is apparent that much of the film was either not shot or edited out. I have no way to know which parts never made it to film, but it can't be bad editing alone that makes the progression of the film so spasmodic and the absence of critical bridging scenes so apparent. Backstory is completely absent.

Absent to are some of my favorite scenes from the book...for example, the scenes where dead soldiers dig for the talisman under the reanimation of Molasar.

The score is also highly variable, ranging from perfectly dreamy and ethereal to just loud cacophony. It seems perfectly plausible that Mann (or someone) re-edited TD's score to fit what he had available for a final cut, as there is little continuity or segue from one musical passage to the next.

On the other hand, Mann himself made some bad decisions: Changing the sword/blade to some kind of "magic staff" was both unnecessary and incongruous. The ending is not appropriate to the story and completely different from the that in the book. The nature of Glaaken (as opposed to the true nature of Molasar/Rasalom) is also critical to the story and is much missed in the movie.

BUUUT...it's still a very interesting and entertaining movie. Some of the minor touches work extremely well. (The beginning credits and end credits are just perfect...subtle and without any musical score whatsoever.) The keep itself and the ravine are just as I always imagined them to be, as are the crosses and the stonework. Veever's work on the early Molasar is very imaginative and evocative.

I recommend this movie, especially if you can find a widescreen version, though it is not up to Mann's later standards.