Michael Mann needs little introduction, but seeing this, his second feature is ridiculously hard. The Keep, is to get two rare screenings at London's BFI South Bank in August. It's a horror film set in World War 2, and pits a troop of Nazis against an ancient evil in a Transylvanian castle...
Mixing gothic horror with science fiction, using synthesiser band Tangerine Dream on a period film, and an extensive last-minute re-edit all lead to disfavour with critics and audiences alike. An unusual cast included Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Judge Dredd), Scott Glenn (The Right Stuff) and an early film role for Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings). But the rocky locations, gigantic sets and extensive special effects keep this unique film suspenseful, atmospheric and repeatedly eye-opening.
Mixing gothic horror with science fiction, using synthesiser band Tangerine Dream on a period film, and an extensive last-minute re-edit all lead to disfavour with critics and audiences alike. An unusual cast included Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Judge Dredd), Scott Glenn (The Right Stuff) and an early film role for Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings). But the rocky locations, gigantic sets and extensive special effects keep this unique film suspenseful, atmospheric and repeatedly eye-opening.
I saw it first time around on a limited UK cinema release, and expected it would always be around on home video. But the 2.35 widescreen cinematography (a Michael Mann trademark) has only been seen on the laserdisc release. Hopefully, one day, he'll have to time to remaster this for DVD. But in the meantime...
There will be two screenings in NFT3 on August 4th and 9th. For more details, keep your eyes peeled on the BFI website. I'll do a full Black
Hole review after seeing it again.
For a heap more info on The Keep, there's this extensive fansite, which is still promoting the aborted London screening of January 2008, which was hoped would prompt a debut on DVD.
There's more here on the Michael Mann fansite, Manhunter.net.
Here's a very cramped-looking full-frame trailer...
3 comments:
You forgot a young Gabriel Byrne as the Nazi officer!
I actually saw this one in the theater when it came out. Parts of it are very beautiful and spooky, but overall it's kind of a mess. I suspect that somehow the editing/cutting is responsible. It's always a bad sign when there are scenes in the advertising or trailers that aren't in the finished product. I distinctly remember things in the trailer that didn't make it to the theatrical release.
By the way, this shows up on cable occasionally, so keep an eye open for it if you're interested.
I'm still holding out for it on DVD.. possibly when michael Mann has finished re-editing all his other movies...
This film would have been hailed as a classic, had the studio, not cut out an hour and a half of footage, from the film, and let Mann, finish the damn picture properly. Because we only have the 96minute version,(which we dont really have at all,even that abridged version is not officially available) the film flopped, and will probably never see the light of day again. What a loss!! I used to think there was some chance of a directors cut, which could somehow alleviate some of the damage done to the narrative of the film, which in the 96minute version is practically incoherent to most people who see it for the first time, but as time goes on, I see this becoming less, and less, likely. I think the suits at Paramount regard it as an "un-marketable" film, which means the kiss of death for any Picture, unfortunately. So, Untill the second coming of Jesus Christ manages to change all this, well just have to wait.
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