Tuchergson Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

mmundoiii I've wanted to write a review ever since this disaster came out, but that was years ago! Perfect example of how Hollywood wrecks an awesome book! I hope someday there will be another movie more true to the book, but I'm sure that's just wishful thinking! So much missing....Molasar's appearance, the climactic fight scene and Glaeken becoming mortal! I mean what the hell was Michael Mann thinking? No wonder this movie bombed when it was released! I read somewhere that F. Paul Wilson the author of the book hates this film and what was done to it. Now I know this review is about 32 or 33 years too late but now I can cross this off my list of stuff I meant to do a long long long time ago! Whew! I feel better now! LOL!

brchthethird THE KEEP is an interesting, but frustrating, early film by Michael Mann. It features some good performances by Sir Ian McKellen, Gabriel Byrne and Scott Glenn, but they are all in service of a confusing, half-baked plot. The story set during WWII in Nazi-occupied Romania, where a malevolent force is wreaking havoc in a keep. Ian McKellen plays a Jewish scholar who is brought in to try and figure out what the entity is, and Scott Glenn plays a mysterious stranger who arrives and tries to keep the scholar from releasing the entity on the world. None of it really makes too much sense, and the version I watched on Netflix didn't help. The pan-and-scan framing took away from what was actually some stunning visuals, and it seemed like there was some material edited out at various points in the film. However, the real standout element was the soundtrack/score by Tangerine Dream. Combined with Mann's often hallucinatory images, it gave off the vibe of a quintessential 80's music video. And while the story was lacking, the hypnotic music was able to keep me interested in what the movie was doing visually. Overall, there's not quite enough here to recommend for everyone. It should be an interesting watch for die-hard Michael Mann fans, though.

Rueiro After reading Paul Wilson's excellent suspenseful novel (which I picked at a second-hand book stall in a remote Welsh village) I couldn't wait to watch the film adaptation… And what a disappointment!! The only thing worth mentioning is the beautiful cinematography. As for the rest, the script is laughable at times, the main actors are totally miscast and the score is totally out of place… An electronic soundtrack on a horror story set in World War II??... The composer must have been high on weed. Jurgen Prochnow was cast because of his new international popularity after Das Boot. The girl (who is she?!) looks too much like a 1980s disco vamp, Ian McKellen seems like he happened to be passing by (Peter Cushing would have been great in the role!), Scott Glenn looks like a zombie in a cheap George Romero flick, and Robert Prosky's character was totally created by the screenwriter and is totally gratuitous, since he does nothing of any relevance to the plot. And the monster looks rather like Predator than a centuries old demon. And now I see where Mr Coppola got the armour suit design for Gary Oldman's Vlad Tepes in his infamous 1992 Dracula from… If you haven't read Wilson's novel, you won't understand half of what is going on: who is the demon, who is Glaeken, what links them to each other, who built the keep?… So many questions without an answer, so many loose ends. I understand the film originally ran for three hours but it was chopped down to 90 minutes by the studio against Mann's wishes. They totally ruined it. Don't waste your time on this mess. Go and read the book if you get a chance.

trickyw4 Quite a simple, strong concept let down by terrible execution. The music isn't just dated, it doesn't reflect the scenes, is completely mis-paced and sounds like one man with his synthesiser. The audio is a shocker. Someone decided that emulating tinnitus was the way to emphasise the finale. Many lines are completely inaudible and sound like they we're recorded in a wind tunnel. The effects are massively reliant on dry ice, with stagey set piece scenery straight out of bad rep theatre and severely dated special effects. Lots of people have written about the vicious editing but that doesn't excuse melodramatic, unmemorable lines straight out of second grade Hammer horror. A good cast delivers some pretty hammy performances, especially McClellan. And the direction seals the deal, reminding me of Ken Russell's worst excesses. Makes you wonder whether the production team were largely amateurs, or perhaps used to making music videos or ads. Needs to be remade