Stephen King’s Desperation, a made-for-television movie, is a faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s book, by the same name.
A group of diverse travelers across the Nevada desert, all end up being arrested by an enormous, seemingly-friendly sheriff named Collie Entragian. Some of the arrests have some validity, while others are outright frame-ups, including planting evidence.
As the prisoners congregate in the local jail, they begin to work together to figure out what the heck is going on.
As the story unfolds, we find out that the local pit-mining company unearthed a long-buried mine-shaft, and from the mine escaped an evil god or demon or spirit named “Tak”.
Tak inhabits or possesses people or animals and, through the possessed ones, Tak wreaks havoc, seemingly just to exact revenge for having been buried, or just because this spirit is mean-spirited.
Tak can control many animals, getting them to guide him and help him in his plan to cause as much damage and pain as possible. At the start of the movie, Tak has Deputy Sheriff Collie Entragian, causing Entragian to grow quite a bit and gradually be worn out.
The detainees include John Edward Marinville, once-famous author who is trying to re-capture his prime by traveling across the country on a big motorcycle, getting in touch with the “common folk”; Steve Ames, Marinville’s assistant on the cross-country trip; Cynthia Smith, a free-spirited hitchhiker picked by Ames; Peter and Mary Jackson, a young couple driving Peter’s sister’s car across country to get the car to Peter’s sister’s new home; and the Carver family, Ralph, Ellie, David, and Pie.
Some of these people will survive, and some will not. Some will be possessed by Tak, some will perish trying to oppose Tak, and some will end up mounting a very effective defense against the evil that Tak brings. One will try to turn away, trying to wash his hands of the whole mess.
The movie flows well, the musical score fits the picture and never overwhelms it, and the setting is perfect, with the horror of Desperation, Nevada being portrayed perfectly, as a ghost-town filled with the newly-dead.
The camera angles give everything a very personal feel to it, while capturing the wide-open nature of the desert. The special effects are generally good, especially with the portrayal of the animals controlled by Tak. The special effects do slip a bit, though, with the portrayal of Pirin Nor, the Well of the Worlds, where Tak really lives. The painted, glowing rocks look very fabricated, instead of supernatural and steeped in evil and hatred.
The acting is what makes the movie. Steven Weber is perfect as Steve Ames, a basically good guy who has not achieved much in life, but is fairly comfortable with who he is. Matt Frewer is Ralph Carver, the father of the Carver family, and he is a good guy, if not a particularly courageous guy. Sylva Kelegian is Ellie Carver, the Carver mother, and she is caring but also a tough lady, who is not to be taken lightly. Sammi Hanratty is young Pie Carver, the little girl who plays a big role throughout the movie. Charles Durning is Tom Billingsley, the town veterinarian and good old boy, who drinks a bit too much.
That leaves the three big stars of the film. Tom Skerritt is great as the jaded, arrogant, know-it-all, don’t-give-a-damn John Edward Marinville, who has seen too much, done too much, failed too much, and wants to hide every weakness.
Ron Perlman seems to be having a great time as the hulking, possessed, nice-guy-gone-crazy Collie Entragian. He is outrageous in his behavior, and makes you believe that Tak might just win, and might have a lot of fun destroying everything and everyone in his way.
And then there’s the best performance of the movie: Shane Haboucha as David Carver. David is a twelve- or thirteen-year-old normal boy, who has recently found God, after his best friend was almost killed in a car accident, and should not have survived, but David prayed and promised to do God’s will, if God would save his friend. Well, David’s friend lived, and now God is ready to collect on that promise.
Shane Haboucha portrays David as intelligent, a bit defiant, wanting to be respectful, wanting to prove himself as an individual, occasionally sarcastic, and very much a realistic pre-teen or early teenager, who just happens to have found God, not in a memorize-the-words way, but in a I-am-here-to-do-His-will way. Shane Haboucha nails this portrayal perfectly, and I look forward to his work in the future.
Conclusion: As with many works of Stephen King, this is a classic Good-versus-Evil showdown, with the religious and the supernatural invading the real lives of some very realistic characters. We saw this in The Stand and in The Green Mile, and we see it done beautifully here. We get to know these characters, and we get to like or dislike them, and we get to cheer them on toward some form of triumph.
Over all, this movie, like only a few others, was true to the original novel.
Buy your copy of Stephen King’s Desperation now.
