Desperation (TV)
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Stephen King's favorite filmmaker, Mick Garris, is at it again with another great screen adaptation of the horror master's prose. The 1996 novel is several hundred pages long, and packed with horror, suspense, drama and mystery. At three hours, the ABC TV movie manages to capture much of the spirit of the book (the teleplay is penned by King himself).
Garris and King first collaborated in 1992 on the big screen release, Sleepwalkers. Since then, they've done several movies and miniseries, including The Stand and Riding the Bullet. They're a tried and true package, probably because Garris is one of the few directors who has been able to bring King's very internal stories to the fore and make them external in a visually pleasing way.
Desperation hits the highway running when we meet a young married couple (played by Henry Thomas and Annabeth Gish) driving across country. Smack in the middle of the hot, desolate desert, they're pulled over by a small town sheriff (Ron Perlman) who has big things in store for them. Big, very bad, things.
The first thing you'll notice is the caliber of acting, which is superb by all three players. Thomas and Gish are wholly believable as the unsuspecting travelers who get caught in the town of
As the story progresses, we're introduced to the rest of Desperation's citizens. Some of them are new, and completely unwilling, transplants. These include the Jack Kerouac-styled author, John Edward Marinville (Tom Skerritt) and his assistant, Steve Ames (Steven Weber); a saucy hitchhiker named Cynthia (Kelly Overton); and the Carver family. The parents, Ralph and Ellie (Matt Frewer, Sylva Kelegian), can barely contain their grief over the sheriff's brutal shooting of their little girl (Sammi Hanratty), but they have to hold it together for their 11-year-old son, David (Shane Haboucha). Or so they think; as it turns out, young David is stronger than any of them would have guessed.
While Entragian, seemingly possessed by an evil spirit, wreaks havoc and wantonly commits murder after murder, his desperate prisoners hatch a plan to escape the jail, and hopefully, Desperation. But it's not that easy to get away from the isolated mining town.
Filled with dark imagery that includes bedeviled dogs, undulating insects, cawing crows, ghost girls and predatory pumas, Desperation's mysteries unfold and ratchet up the suspense beautifully as the talented ensemble anchors the story, keeping it rooted in reality. Desperation is painstakingly lensed by Christian Sebaldt — the steep angles, deep shadows and glints of fear in the eyes are all captured brilliantly, bringing to mind the term "desert noir". The music score is grittily flawless.
Some might find the holier-than-thou character of David slightly grating, but fortunately for those of us who like our heroes a little edgier, we've got Marinville as our foil. The reason behind the sudden unleashing of the long-buried evil is a little too pat, as is the way our ragtag band of detainees finds out about it. It seems too convenient, and easily found. But you can only do so much within a few hours, and considering all the balls in Desperation's fetid air, it's forgivable.
Fans of the book will know how it all ends up, but you don't have to be a King devotee to enjoy this dark little supernatural thriller — it's an equal-opportunity frightener. (Tak!)
Be sure and read our exclusive interview with Mick Garris!
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
Originally screened: February 2006