The Sunday Cult Film Corner: “The Keep (1983)”

Moooong….

Another lazy Sunday down at the farm. Last night was spent smashing my head away to some lovely banging beats over the Borg TV club night at Faktorý, which was rather pleasing and a little bit of a surprise in its quality. But as the Sunday night draws in and we need to keep the darkness at bay, what better than to cast our eyes on a strange little piece of ’80s cinema that had most of us scratching our heads at the time. So for the latest instalment of the Sunday Cult Film Corner, ladies and gentlemen, I give you THE KEEP.

Directed in 1983 by Michael Mann (Yes THAT Michael Mann), and based on the story by F. Paul Wilson, the action is set in the mountains of Romania during WWII. A remote citadel (The Keep of the title) is guarded by a group of German soldiers, led by Jürgen Prochnow. One night, one of the soldiers unwittingly releases an ancient evil entity trapped inside the citadel. As soldiers start to die, a crack German unit led by Gabriel Byrne is forced to enlist the help of a Jewish historian (Ian McKellen) to solve the mystery. But as the historian sides with the entity, a stranger (Scott Glenn) appears out of the blue to stop it being released into the world at all costs.

The Keep is a strange film for Michael Mann, better known for stylish taut thrillers such as Man Hunter, Collateral, Heat, and or course, Miami Vice. Part art-house fantasy horror, part action movie. It tries to meld the two formats together but it suffers from a disorganised script and some bad editing, as Mann seems more interested in visuals than in narrative. Which is a good thing because it certainly looks great. Lots of dreamy scenes and brilliant use of pacing and lighting in the night-time scenes. Some of the acting is really good, especially that of Gabriel Byrne, who is particularly chilling and menacing as the elite unit officer. Scott Glenn as the mysterious stranger is just silly though.

One final word on the Soundtrack by Tangerine Dream which is particularly chilling some real new age spooky shit that work incredibly well with the film and is probably the biggest plus point of the viewing experience itself.

So if you want to see some gothic horror scares… with Nazis, then turn the lights off, put on your New Age records and watch a classic slice of loopy ’80s films action.

 

The Sunday Cult film corner: “The Park Is Mine (1985)”

Ok so things have been quiet her on the farm over the last couple of days. Mainly because we spent the weekend at a REAL farm… out in the country and stuff. While friends of ours were having BBQ’s, free beer and fun sexy times in bars (note: all this actually happened!), we had clouds, rain, Icelandic scrabble (the 5th circle of hell in my book), and had the wonderous sight of seeing an adult sheep being dragged away by some malevolent birds.

I also saw a frankly ludicrous TV show last night titled Söngkeppni Framhaldsskólanna, the annual High School song competition. Man there was some right guff on it. If you don’t believe me,  then SEE IT FOR YOURSELF IN ALL IT’S GLORY. Look out for the school that does the Architecture In Helsinki cover dressed in some fucked Blue Man Group/Smurf hybrid look. Go on, i fucking dare you….

But that was last night and tonight is tonight. And that can mean only one thing. the SUUUUUUUUUUUNNNDAAAAAAAAAY CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULT FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILM CORNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! (cough).

And i have for you this week an interesting little made-for-TV curio that almost passed by unnoticed were it not for the fact that it starred an up and coming actor who would go on to be famous, playing many tough guy roles in his later years. Ladies and gentlemen, i give to you THE PARK IS MINE.

Directed by some guy named Steven Hillard Stern (who seems to have done a LOT of TV movies), the film starts with an incident where a Vietnam war veteran suffering from terminal cancer commits suicide by throwing himself of the roof of the local veterans hospital. His friend Mitch (played by Tommy Lee Jones) when going through his effects, finds out about his friend’s plan to make a “statement” highlighting the unfair treatment meted out to Vietnam war vets. a plan to forcibly take over New Yorks Central Park.

While most men would have simply gone “Woah, intense!”, Mitch decides to honour his friend’s wishes by taking a shitload of weapons and igniting a guerilla war campaign against the local police and the National Guard. will it all end well, or will he end up blowing most of New York sky-high?

Now for a TV movie, TPIM actually has a few good things going for it. One is Jones, who is pretty good, considering the script and pretty bog standard direction. the second is that it has Yaphet Kotto in it, and ANY movie with him in it worth watching. Period. And the OST is provided by none other than Tangerine Dream working those classic urban 80s synth sounds.

But the real talking point is the premise that in a way brings up certain questions about loyalty and what makes the difference between a terrorist and freedom fighter. TPIM was made at the same time as Rambo Pt.II, which  has Stallone ins a climax monologue saying that we should be honouring those guys who went to Vietnam. Indeed there seemed to be a lot of films at the time containing Vietnam vets taking the war back home with them in more ways that one.

But now times have changed, with 9/11, Timothy McVeigh and other acts of Domestic terrorism, Now it seems that someone doing this sort fo thing would be very unlikely to get much sympathy.

But this is not a blog for political and moral philosophy. I’ll let you make up your own minds, as you get you bottle of whisky, loaded gun and flashbacks of ‘nam as you settle in to watch THE PARK IS MINE…