Sometimes They Come Back (1991)

A man and his family return to his hometown, where he is then harassed by teenagers that died when he was a kid.

Director:

Tom McLoughlin

Writers:

Stephen King (short story), Lawrence Konner (teleplay)

Stars:

Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams, Robert Rusler

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Matheson	...	Jim Norman
Brooke Adams	...	Sally Norman
Robert Rusler	...	Richard Lawson
Chris Demetral	...	Wayne Norman
Robert Hy Gorman	...	Scott Norman
William Sanderson	...	Carl Mueller (age 44)
Nicholas Sadler	...	Vinnie Vincent
Bentley Mitchum	...	David North
Matt Nolan	...	Billy Sterns
Tasia Valenza	...	Kate
Chadd Nyerges	...	Chip
T. Max Graham	...	Chief Pappas
William Kuhlke	...	Principal Simmons
Duncan McLeod	...	Old Officer Neil
Nancy McLoughlin	...	Dr. Bernardi

Storyline

Desperate for a job to help him support his family, Jim Norman takes a position teaching high school in the town where his brother was murdered in front of him by teenage bullies twenty-seven years before. The teens who committed the crime are long dead, but now the kids in Jim's new class keep dying and being replaced by new students who look like the deceased hoodlums.

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Plot Keywords:

evil | cigarette smoking | child murder | four word title | murder suspect | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for terror violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sometimes They Come Back

Filming Locations:

Kansas CIty, Kansas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Come Back Productions, Dino de Laurentiis Communications, Paradise Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The locomotive that was used for the crash scenes that killed the greasers in the train tunnel scenes in the film, was the Southern Pacific 5021. A 4-10-2-type steam locomotive built by ALCO in 1926. It's currently on display at the RailGiants Train Museum in Fairplex, Pomona, California.

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Goofs

The train accident that killed the greasers happened in 1963. The train that hit their 1955 Chevy, killing them, was the Southern Pacific 5021. The Southern Pacific 5021 was retired in 1955 and was the only train of its kind preserved and donated to the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society on March 8, 1956. It's not possible for that train to have killed the gang in 1963.

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Quotes

Richard Lawson: You know I bet Vinnie here a whole nickel, that your old clunker wouldn't burn rubber Jimmy. But I was wrong, everything burns.

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Connections

Followed by Sometimes They Come Back... Again (1996)

User Reviews

Transferred From Milford, The Hoods From Hell

The film Sometimes They Come Back explores the proposition that if you got a big enough grudge against someone, especially if they helped aid your leaving this mortal coil rather abruptly, you can come back for payback. Doesn't matter if you've been good or if you've been bad and these three were definitely bad.

Tim Matheson comes back to his hometown with wife Brooke Adams and their son Robert Hy Gorman for a teaching job at the local high school. Tim's got some anger management issues which is why he left the last school he taught at in Chicago. He's got no great attachments to his hometown with his parents gone and his older brother killed back in 1963.

That's what this story is all about. He and his brother were stopped by some hoods in a train tunnel and the brother killed, but so were three of the hoods when young Matheson played by Zachary Ball stole their car keys as he ran. It's these three who kill three of Matheson's students with him having some peripheral involvement even if its premonitions and take their place. The three hoods from hell are malevolently played by Robert Rusler, Bentley Mitchum, and Nicholas Sadler. All transfered from Milford, Milford Cemetery that is.

Tim Matheson and the rest of the cast give good performances in this film adapted from a Stephen King short story. Fans of Stephen King and the horror genre should really like this one.