1941年のルーマニア。ボーマン大尉率いるドイツ国防軍の小隊は、山道を守る任務に就くため、広大なキープ（城塞）を拠点にしようとする。先祖代々キープの番人を務める老人は退去を忠告するが、ボーマンはその忠告を聞き流して部隊を入れる。その夜、壁に埋め込まれていた十字架を抜き取った見張りの兵士が謎の死を遂げてしまう。事態の解明を依頼された考古学者クザ教授の前に、キープに封印されていた魔物が姿を現す。
AIが作品の魅力を深く読み解いています
製作費: $6,000,000 (9億円)
興行収入: $3,661,757 (5億円)
推定収支: $-2,338,243 (-4億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
**_Arty fantasy/horror taking place at a citadel in Romania during WW2_** In late 1941, a motorized German infantry unit holds a pass in the Carpathian Mountains by occupying a strange fortress that’s “built backwards,” as the captain observes (Jürgen Prochnow). When soldiers start mysteriously dying, it draws a ruthless Nazi commander into the fray (Gabriel Byrne), as well as a Hebrew professor and his daughter (Ian McKellen & Alberta Watson). A strange nomad is also attracted to the proceedings (Scott Glenn). Based on the 1981 book of the same name, "The Keep" (1983) is a supernatural thriller set in WW2, one of director Michael Mann’s early flicks before his great success with films like “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992). While this was a flop at the box office, it has since developed a cult following. It was no cheapo movie, costing a whopping $11 million at the time and hence has quality production values, especially for an early 80’s horror flick. It’s comparable to a late-era Hammer movie, just made on a huge budget and without Cushing or Lee. There are elements of “Altered States” (1980), “The Formula” (1980), “The Seventh Sign” (1988) and “Howling V: The Rebirth” (1989) so, if you like those films, check it out (and, yes, I realize those last two came out 5-6 years later). The production was troubled with Mann’s original edit being 3.5 hours, which is well over TWICE as long as the version released to theaters (!). This has caused critics to denounce “The Keep” as a jaggedly-edited outlandish mess that attempts to be an art film, a horror flick and a WW2 movie without really succeeding at any. The film’s peculiarity is augmented by a dream-like score by Tangerine Dream. Nevertheless, there’s enough good here to entertain open-minded viewers. While there are obvious cut parts, the story isn’t hard to fill-in the blanks. There is a creature and it’s easily the most intriguing part (in later scenes it sorta rips-off of Jack Kirby’s Darkseid). Yet I found the characters played by Prochnow, Byrne and McKellen interesting too. Scott Glenn’s role would’ve been better if he was fleshed out more. He was the protagonist of the book, but his scenes were cut. What we are left with is an enigmatic traveler with glowing eyeballs and a magic stick who has no qualms about jumping into bed with a woman he barely knows (in defense of this sequence, he instinctively KNOWS her and vice versa to a degree). The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Blaenau Ffestiniog & Llanberis in northwestern Wales, as well as England at Shepperton Studios, just west of London, and Kent (the concentration camp); with Spain standing in for Greece in one scene. GRADE: B-
