TOMMYKNOCKERS - DVD review

Just what are Tommyknockers? Bogeymen in a children's nursery rhyme. And they're up to no good in a small New England town. Fans of the TV mini-series based on the Stephen King bestseller will enjoy this uninterrupted, three hour-plus DVD presentation. Fans of the book will enjoy it, too. For the rest of us, it will seem long-winded but almost worth the last hour.

Jimmy Smits and Marg Helgenberger star as Gard and Bobbi, a pair of washed-up writers living in pure Stephen King country--Haven Falls, Maine. Gard, an alcoholic poet, and Bobbi haven't written a book between them in years, but they seem to live comfortably in a large house on a huge property just outside of town.

Behind them, in a reputedly haunted wood, they discover what appears to be the top of an ancient marble temple that glows green when you touch it. They soon find that the mysterious green glow gives them a power, a gift that almost everyone in town eventually accepts, except Gard. A metal plate in his head prevents the force from getting through to him.

We soon realize, however, that the power is malevolent, and most of the town comes under its control. Well, not so soon, actually; this being a Stephen King story, it takes quite a while. Anyway, it's Smits's picture, he's the hero, and he's the only one who can stop the mischief.

The only serious drawback to the plot, besides its being too long, is that true to horror movie convention, apparently normal, intelligent people behave like idiots whenever strange stuff starts to happen. Like, if you found the tip of what looked like a buried temple in your backyard and it glowed green, wouldn't you think to call the police or the government or maybe just an archeologist from a nearby university? Nope.

And when a number of people start disappearing into thin air, literally, wouldn't the local police, all two of them, think maybe to call in help, like the FBI? Nope. And when Smits, the only person who isn't affected by the force, sees weird things happening all around him--people reading minds, building telepathic typewriters, creating mechanical marvels--wouldn't he at least consider telling somebody outside the community about it? Nope.

And, finally, when the entire town loses contact with the rest of the world, does anyone outside wonder why and come to investigate? Nope. Any of that might interfere with the ending.

Ultimately, what we have in "The Tommyknockers" is a good, inventive 90-minute horror story padded out to 180 minutes. But that's not television's fault. That's Stephen King. He is capable of some of the best supernatural fiction in all of literature ("Carrie," "The Shining"), and he is also capable of producing some of the most trite and overwritten prose around. But who am I to criticize? He's the multimillionaire writer.

Video:
Trimark Home Video present the film in its original full-frame television aspect ratio of 1.33.1. The color on my disc was good, the detail was reasonably well defined though not so crisp as on the best DVDs I've seen, and the picture was free of glitches or artifacts of any kind. It's good television broadcast-type picture quality.

Audio:
The two-channel stereo sound was OK when processed through my Dolby Pro Logic circuit, but don't expect any big surprises from the surround speakers. This was never meant to be a sound spectacular, and in that regard it succeeds admirably.

Extras:
The film is in two parts, as it was shown on TV, with each part on an opposite side of the disc. The turnover is a minor annoyance, but having to skip through a second set of opening credits on side two seems like something Trimark could have worked out. Oh, well. Beyond the customary chapter list, subtitles, and trailer, Trimark offer no other bonus items, so it isn't so much from television after all.

Parting Shots:
I mentioned the ending. I hope I'm not giving away too much to say it owes a lot to "Alien." I say this because it's worth getting there. "The Tommyknockers" is a pat, well-produced, well-acted TV movie, with a good cast that includes, besides Smits and Helgenberger, E.G. Marshall, John Ashton, Allyce Beasley, Robert Carradine, Joanna Cassidy, Annie Corley, Cliff DeYoung, and Traci Lords. In the years ahead I foresee more of these longer television ventures transferred to DVD, taking up less space on people's shelves. It's all a part of progress.