Customer Reviews

The Tommyknockers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

First of all let me say that I am a HUGE Stephen King fan. I love his books and some of his movies. But I don't love this movie. I don't know how someone could come up with this bad of a movie from a pretty good book. First of all, without giving too much of the movie away let me say this, in the book they uncover a flying saucer. Whatever the thing in the movie is, it isn't a flying saucer. It blows my mind that they would change something this central to the point. And as some other reviews have stated, by just watching the movie, you have no idea why some of the characters are not affected by the ship like the others. My recommendation would be to take a little more time and read the book. You will be better off if you did. If you want to watch a Stephen King movie watch It, The Shining, Pet Semetary, Storm of the Century or the Stand.

The book and the miniseries differ, but both are quite good. For the jaded veterans among you, it's essentially Five Million Years to Earth, served up a la King.

Marg Helgenberger trips over an ancient flying saucer in the woods one day while walking her dog, and decides it might make a nice private playground centerpiece if dug out and spiffied-up a bit. She starts experiencing a creative psychic brain-boost during the lengthy process, which is shared by a few of the nearby townsfolk. Her old lover, Jimmy Smits, however, an alcoholic poet of some former reputation with a metal plate in his skull, is left cold by Marg's new pet project - the saucer gives him a headache, literally.

Pretty soon, the nearby isolated small town begins splitting-up into two factions - those who are sympatico with the saucer's psychic space-vibes, and those who aren't. Those who are become inventive geniuses, and those who aren't start more and more looking like dinner. Only Jimmy Smits is sufficiently immune to the nasty thing to exercise his presence of mind, and somehow stop the saucer and its long-mummified occupants from revitalizing themselves off Marg and the other infected townsfolk.

This is a very handsomely produced piece, and sufficiently close to Stephen King's original novel that the changes made in the script - which are only done to simplify (and under-grue) the action, and allow a little alien activity - are more welcome than not. The cast are all terrific, especially leads Helgenberger and Smits. Helgenberger's transformation due to her dangerous alien exposure is nicely counterpointed with Smits' alcoholism, the saucer's influence acting like a drug to those who respond to its emanations. The special effects are great, and the inclusion of the revitalized aliens on the saucer in the finale is a nice touch - they're pretty cool, really. The suspense works well. The only real flaw with this piece is a bit too much padding, but the same can be said of most of Stephen King's work in general, and certainly this production has less of it than the novel on which it is based.

THE TOMMYKNOCKERS is one of the more unsuccessful of Stephen King adaptations to hit the screen. Originally a 1993 tv miniseries, the movie suffers from lackluster direction, mediocre performances and no sense of true suspense or horror. Typically set in a homey little New England town, the plot centers on the discovery of a mysterious object in the woods by a local writer (Marg Helgenberger) who along with her alcoholic poet boyfriend(a poorly cast Jimmy Smits) decides to keep it a secret until the whole thing is unearthed. Meanwhile, a ghostly green light emits from the object, causing the townspeople to go bonkers in one form or another, whether it be by inventing stupid gadgets or wandering around with glowing green eyes. At three hours, THE TOMMYKNOCKERS definitely overstays its welcome and that is one problem in watching a miniseries in one take; it can become redundant. Tighter direction and a more focused cast could have helped but aside from John Ashton, EG Marshall and Joanna Cassidy in supporting roles, most of the performances seem phone in, and Traci Lords is ridiculously hilarious as the postal slut. A real misfire.

I can't believe people who said they did not like this movie or the book. As usual, the book is much better but the movie is great. I thoroughly enjoyed both. This movie has suspense, a sci fi theme, lots of intersting charactrers, and lots of detail. AND Jimmy Smits is soooooooo hot! Anyone who is a sci-fi fan or Stephen King fan will like this movie.

Another disappointing Stephen King miniseries. For some reason, lately I've been rewatching some of the older Stephen King miniseries that I hadn't seen since they originally aired. Maybe I thought they'd be better without all the commercials to drag them on and on.

The cream of the crop is THE STAND. The dregs is THE LANGOLIERS, with the worst special effects ever...Ed Wood would have been proud. TOMMYKNOCKERS falls somewhere between.

Basically it tells the story of how one lady (Marg Helgenberger) stumbles across a mysterious little object in the woods, and is compelled to unearth it. Turns out its some sort of alien craft with the power to exert its "will" on the people of the little Maine town nearby. These people undergo gradual (or not so gradual) personality changes which allows them to "suddenly" invent impossible machines, read each others minds, and also to gleefully kill anyone who seeks to thwart them.

That's all well and good. Sounds like it could be good, clean, gory fun. Certainly, the book it's based on was. I know that King himself is not terribly fond of the book, mostly because he wrote it during the height of his drug and alcohol additions...but it contained some of his most disturbing scenes too, and a believable, ultimately heartbreaking romance between the two leads. I have always liked it myself. (To me, King's nadir was THE DARK HALF.)

Back to the "movie." Jimmy Smits plays Helgenberger's boyfriend, a formerly successful poet now awash in alcoholism...but trying to climb out of his hole. He's immune to the power of The Tommyknockers because of a steel plate in his head, but goes along for the ride for much of the story because of the guilt he feels over his own behavior. Eventually, things get bad enough that he finally musters up the courage to take matters into his own hands...with rather serious consequences for himself.

But the story is told in a plodding manner. For every compelling scene (for example, early on Smits is at a reception where he's been drinking too much, and has a gloriously over-the-top embarrassing moment) there's two clunkers (Cliff De Young and Traci Lords as two postal employees undergoing some serious hanky-panky in the sorting room!!) Helgenberger and Smits are fine, as are Joanna Cassidy as the local sheriff and E.G. Marshall as a kindly curmudgeon.

But the lengthy novel has been condensed so awkwardly, and the subplot with DeYoung and Lords given FAR, FAR too much time on screen (De Young is one of the worst actors EVER to get more than one role) to keep make even the gamest performances worthwhile. I guess the producers were so tickled to have former porn star Lords on their set, they just couldn't help coming up with more ridiculous things for her to do. Also, we are forced to see how far Robert Carradine (so good as the "head nerd" in REVENGE OF THE NERDS all those years ago) has fallen...he turns in a perfectly dreadful performance.

The special effects and makeup are quite cheesy. But many things could have been forgiven had a decent adaptation been managed. But THE TOMMYKNOCKERS was doomed from the start with a pitiful script, not helped by uninspired direction. If you're a big fan of Smits, Cassidy or Helgenberger, I guess you might want to take a gander. If you're a fan of Stephen King or horror/sci-fi...stay away!

Many years ago, I read the creative Stephen King book on which this movie is based and have always remembered it. King is a master at pacing, suspense and outright horror. This is one of his most unique plots, IMO. It kept me guessing...and reading long past my bedtime.

Now today was Stephen King Movie Day in my neck of the woods (no, not Maine, but Sunny Cali) and I just had to watch his Rose Red and The Tommyknockers. Both kept me on the edge of my seat, but I liked Tommyknockers best, so chose to review it first. I may review Red Rose later; it deserves it too.

I thought The Tommyknockers was a three-hour movie, but it lasted four hours. You can tell how much I was obsessed with it because nothing keeps me away from my computer for that length of time.

Of course, the movie was not as great as Stephen King's novel, but movies seldom live up to the books preceding them. I found The Tommyknockers very exciting, with so many twists and turns and "gory" visuals that it made me gasp over and over. Both Jimmy Smits and Marge Helgenberger were well-cast for their roles, making this science fiction adventure come to life for me. I couldn't believe what Helgenberger's character found in the woods and how it effected her and the entire Maine town where the action takes place.

I liked it so well, I went on Amazon.com and ordered a copy for a friend who was upset because she was out of town and missed this airing. When I like something well enough to put out hard-earned money, then that's a five-star recommendation to me.

If you decide to get your own copy of The Tommyknockers, be sure to lock your doors and keep some lights on. You will be THAT scared.

Reviewed by Betty Dravis, February 1, 2010
Author of "Dream Reachers" (with Chase Von) and other novels

Above-average Stephen King telechiller adapted from his novel by Lawrence D. Cohen, about a town whose people become alien mutates who are possessed by aliens still in a buried spaceship, who force the townspeople on a mission to uncover the ship from the ground in the woods surrounding the town. The acting in this film is excellent, most notably from Marg Helgenberger and Jimmy Smits. The special effects (for a TV movie) are superb and the aliens look unbelievably eerie, and the usage of the green light is often effective too. The plot is not exactly the most original, but the way it's captured in this miniseries is most refreshing and riveting. The music score is standard horror movie fare, but it is quite suitable for the film and adds tension and atmosphere. There isn't really anything wrong with this movie except that the story is, like I said, not the most highly original and the narrative is kind of slow. However, it is a spine-tingling tale of horror and shouldn't be missed by serious Stephen King fans, or sci-fi/horror fans for that matter. THE TOMMYKNOCKERS is also home to one of the most chilling shots in horror history (which plays just after the opening credits end) when Helgenberger turns around in the woods with the hood up and we see her as one of the mutates. *shivers*

This movie was very boring to watch, and I didn't care about any of the characters. I think I finished watching this movie just because I was too lazy to get up and take out the DVD. The special effects were really badly done--they used green light to excess, possibly just to cover up some of the worst "special effects". Lackluster story, characters with no chemistry, student-grade effects...pass on this one.

This is a favorite of mine, I loved the characters, the storyline, everything. The ending was sad though, Jimmy Smitts went thru all
that trouble to try and quit drinking and saving his girlfriend only
to end up sacrificing himself to rid the planet of the Tommyknockers.
Still,a very very good movie.

Brutal body-snatching alien mayhem,
green glowing force-fields
and Traci Lords with disintegrator death-ray lipstick.
What's not to like?
Worth watching once.