Written by Gabriel Serrano Dennis
master of horror Stephen King Ever since he penned his first words, he has been putting ordinary people into extraordinary situations. In his debut novel Carrie (1974), now immortalized on celluloid as a classic Brian De Palma In the film of the same name, the story follows an ostracized young girl who awakens her telekinetic powers as an adult, and the town that suffers her wrath. Salem Lot (1975) tells the story of a small group of people taking on a vampire who slowly takes over the titular town. and stands (1978), the fate of all of America hangs in the balance in an apocalyptic battle between good and evil. The stakes were always high, but the scale and influence grew in King’s imagination.
Although King has always been interested in full-throttle horror, he is also a keen observer of human behavior, especially under the pressure of tremendous biblical proportions. In 1999, King brought the sensibility of his novels to television, this time without adapting any of his material but instead providing the script for an original three-part miniseries that became Storm of the century. Although this isn’t the first time a screenwriter has been offered an original script to film (he wrote Mick Garris– Drama films directed by sleepwalker and created and co-wrote the science fiction miniseries golden years), Storm of the century will be the first of three television projects for the director Craig Baxley The Closest King has transplanted his themes and ambitions straight to the television screen.
The story takes place in the fictional Little High Island, Maine, in 1989. Storm of the century Island residents are found scrambling to make final preparations before a massive snowstorm makes landfall. What looks to be the region’s worst storm in years pales in comparison to the arrival of a stranger named André Linoge (Colm Feore), his first act of murder was just a prelude to the greater horrors he had in store for the people of the island. Captured by local police officer Mike Anderson (Tim Daly) and his deputy Hutch (Casey Simasco), but Linog appears to have the ability to influence and control people, forcing them to commit horrific acts of violence. Although Linog’s ending is deliberately vague at first, the townspeople soon realize they are dealing with a supernatural force as deadly as a violent storm.
The sense of community is evident from the beginning of the story, and King and director Baxley do a great job introducing the main and supporting characters and the minor tensions between them. king routine Jeffrey Demon Robbie Beals plays the neurotic, professional town manager; Debra Farentino Molly Anderson takes care of the town’s children in day care and worries about her husband and his responsibilities as a police officer. Ursula Goldso (Becky Ann Baker) headed to City Hall, where people slowly gathered to take shelter from the storm, Kat Withers (Julianne Nicholson) went to the supermarket to help out with her boyfriend Billy Soames (Jeremy Jordan). All of these characters seem ready to join forces, like any nice little town where everyone knows each other’s names, to take on the forces of nature and the supernatural, but once Linog begins to uncover the island’s buried and festering secrets, distrustful The seed begins to grow.
Storm of the century King’s work falls into the slow-burn horror category. It shares DNA with other small town terrorists, e.g. Salem Lot and fogThe story follows the true nature of ordinary people, both good and bad, who are forced to fight the forces of evil. However, what makes it unique is that Storm of the century The central mystery is how the suffering of the community is drawn out and held together. However short-lived it may be, for a time the whole town awaits Linog’s next move in equal measure. King and Baxley playfully and creepily set up horrific scenes that unsettle both the audience and the town’s residents. The seriousness of the matter is even more disturbing, as seemingly normal people turn into killers in the blink of an eye. Gone is the weirdness that characterized some of King’s own novels and film adaptations. This is a story about tough decisions and consequences, and King never shies away from putting his characters into the most horrific situations he can imagine.
The three episodes are 4.5 hours long, Storm of the century Giving you a feel for its running time without dragging down the story. The mystery and characterization are so strong that one can’t help but watch the entire series to figure out what’s going on. That’s exactly what happened to King. As community and moral obligations are put to the test, King and Baxley deliver one of the best television shows in horror history. It’s one of the strongest payoffs in King’s work, with a climactic sequence that brings all the tension and fear to a boil and brews a horrific moral dilemma that will have the people of “Salem’s Lot” shaking. With a harrowing and believable performance from Tim Daly (whose dramatic talents are never fully appreciated), the story’s final stroke is like a gust of wind in a blizzard. When the credits roll for the last time, one feels the satisfaction of having read a thick and rich novel, filled with unforgettable characters and themes that linger long in the psyche. But add in powerful performances, stunning practical effects and miniature work, surreal imagery and beautifully evocative cinematography, and you have something that rivals the best novels and films King has ever written or been a part of something.
