- Actors: Ron Perlman, Tom Skerritt, Steven Weber, Annabeth Gish, Charles Durning
- Directors: Mick Garris
- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- DVD Release Date: 22 Oct 2007
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000K7LQQ0
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 43,779 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Director Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), also recruited by Stephen King to remake The Shining, knows how to capture King's horror aesthetic on film. Desperation, based on a more recent King novel, is a pastiche of earlier King novelties, such as the psycho in uniform, this time Sheriff Collie Entragian (Ron Perlman), and dogs summoned by the devil, this time by TAK, an ancient Chinese demon. A town called Desperation in Nevada has a collapsed mine full of Chinese immigrant ghosts, whose spirits are trapped with TAK until they're accidentally unleashed. The TAK-possessed local sheriff is killing everyone, save a few travelers who stumble through on road trips. In the opening scene, Mary (Annabeth Gish) and her beau are pulled over by Sheriff Entragian, framed by his placing of marijuana in their trunk, then read their rights with a Satanic "I will kill you" thrown in. Later, Steve (Steven Weber), Cynthia (Kelly Overton), and Vietnam vet John Marinville (Tom Skerrit), ride into town, and they too encounter the evil policeman's wrath. They all meet a brave, imprisoned boy, David (Shane Haboucha), with whom they team up to end the mayhem. Desperation uses blue and green lighting to embrace the funhouse look, and camera shots highlighting the Sheriff's deranged face make the film occasionally spooky. But the rehashed plot detracts from the fear-factor, leaving one to pine for earlier King story adaptations, such as Misery or Cujo. --Trinie Dalton
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Having recently read and quite enjoyed King's novels Desperation and Dreamacatcher, I thought I would check out the films of the books. While Dreamcatcher was a big budget (almost $70 million) mess, with unbelievably misjudged casting and abysmally wooden acting, this TV movie gets most things right. Tom Skerritt and, especially Ron Perlman, put in good performances which gel together a solid cast.
The movie is a sensible, well written and streamlined adaptation of King's novel, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying it. While it is no Misery, Shawshank or Green Mile, it is still entertaining in a way that the disasterous Dreamcatcher could only dream of.
Having said all that, it's still a country mile from being a genuinely good film. I give it three stars because it does many things I was pleased about such as failing to make my toes curl, not boring me or irritating me, nor making me switch off before it had finished. The whole religious vibe was a bit preachy in a "good old God" Little House On The Prairie manner, but I can forgive that.
Concluding, I'd say that fans of the book would probably enjoy the film, and those who haven't read it will have a pretty jolly couple of hours, too.
Now if only I could erase Dreamcatcher (the film) from my memory...
The movie is a sensible, well written and streamlined adaptation of King's novel, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying it. While it is no Misery, Shawshank or Green Mile, it is still entertaining in a way that the disasterous Dreamcatcher could only dream of.
Having said all that, it's still a country mile from being a genuinely good film. I give it three stars because it does many things I was pleased about such as failing to make my toes curl, not boring me or irritating me, nor making me switch off before it had finished. The whole religious vibe was a bit preachy in a "good old God" Little House On The Prairie manner, but I can forgive that.
Concluding, I'd say that fans of the book would probably enjoy the film, and those who haven't read it will have a pretty jolly couple of hours, too.
Now if only I could erase Dreamcatcher (the film) from my memory...
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
'Desperation' is one of the very few Stephen King books that I haven't read, so I didn't know what to expect when I watched this adaption, but thankfully I was surprisingly impressed. When first hearing this had been made with director Mick Garris behind it all, I was really put off seeing it as his last King adaption, Riding the Bullet, one of the worst films I've ever seen (King adaption or otherwise) although I did enjoy his version of The Shining, so I did give it the benefit of the doubt and was not disappointed in the slightest, with the turnout being one of the best thrillers I've seen this year.
The film begins when a couple driving through Nevada on their way to New York get pulled over by Collie Entragian, a strange police officer who arrests them after planting a bag of weed in their trunk. He then takes them to his town called Desperation where it would seem that everyone is dead...and the deaths seem to be at the hands of the cop. Other travellers have also been held captive at the police station including a family whose daughter has been already killed by Entragian, best-selling writer and Vietnam vet, John Edward Marinville and an older resident of Desperation, Tom Billingsley. Elsewhere, hitch-hiker Cynthia Smith gets picked up by Marinville's roadie, Steve Ames and after a distressed phone call from Marinville (made whilst being taken by Entragian), the couple head to Desperation to try and help him.
First of all the story is very good and although not that original, it gives a new twist on this type of genre (with films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Children of the Corn being pretty similar), and the screenplay is also written by King himself, so he really knew what he wanted from this movie, with the outcome being a creepy and exciting thriller that would be worthy of the big screen if it was ever given the chance. There's enough tension and suspense to keep you interest thoughout the whole two hours and the acting is also above the quality you'd normally expect from a TV movie (and a King adaption on top of that!). Ron Perlman's performance as Entragian is truly scary and unnerving.
Overall this is a great horror flick that fans of the genre should love and isn't too wierd to put off viewers who are not too familiar with other works from Mr King (which can be quite strange and an acquired taste). I thorughly enjoyed it and now look forward to reading the novel, as King's books are usually better than his films, so going on the quality of this film I know it should be good!
The film begins when a couple driving through Nevada on their way to New York get pulled over by Collie Entragian, a strange police officer who arrests them after planting a bag of weed in their trunk. He then takes them to his town called Desperation where it would seem that everyone is dead...and the deaths seem to be at the hands of the cop. Other travellers have also been held captive at the police station including a family whose daughter has been already killed by Entragian, best-selling writer and Vietnam vet, John Edward Marinville and an older resident of Desperation, Tom Billingsley. Elsewhere, hitch-hiker Cynthia Smith gets picked up by Marinville's roadie, Steve Ames and after a distressed phone call from Marinville (made whilst being taken by Entragian), the couple head to Desperation to try and help him.
First of all the story is very good and although not that original, it gives a new twist on this type of genre (with films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Children of the Corn being pretty similar), and the screenplay is also written by King himself, so he really knew what he wanted from this movie, with the outcome being a creepy and exciting thriller that would be worthy of the big screen if it was ever given the chance. There's enough tension and suspense to keep you interest thoughout the whole two hours and the acting is also above the quality you'd normally expect from a TV movie (and a King adaption on top of that!). Ron Perlman's performance as Entragian is truly scary and unnerving.
Overall this is a great horror flick that fans of the genre should love and isn't too wierd to put off viewers who are not too familiar with other works from Mr King (which can be quite strange and an acquired taste). I thorughly enjoyed it and now look forward to reading the novel, as King's books are usually better than his films, so going on the quality of this film I know it should be good!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Without giving anything away, this is pretty much the norm for transfering book to screen regarding stephen king. The movie started off very well, but it is a film of two halves. All to often with kings writing to screen, we get something along the lines of; the wise old man, the dolly bird, the sceptic, the handsome hero, a female hitch hiker, the young child (with hysterical parents) all thrown into a situation they have to find a way out of.
Ron pearlman steals the show as Tak. The solution to good winning over evil at the end was all too easy to accomplish, however it's worth a view.
Ron pearlman steals the show as Tak. The solution to good winning over evil at the end was all too easy to accomplish, however it's worth a view.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Pretty Good
I read this book around 10 years ago and did enjoy the book after reading one or two weaker novels of Stephen King. Read more
Published 2 months ago by K. Lacey
Perlman,Skerrit, Garris and King!
The first 45 minutes are amazing. Ron Perlman is a truly scary rotting Sherriff seemingly pulling over and locking up(or killing) people passing by the town of Desperation. Read more
Published 12 months ago by j.r
I would pass on this.
Where do i start!, lots of important storyline missing, bad acting all round, some of the poorest camera work i've seen for a long time, in short, i would buy something else,... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr D
Worth a watch - Maybe rent it first ?
Hi All
Just so you know - my review doesn't contain any 'spoliers' or too much plot reveal. Read more
Just so you know - my review doesn't contain any 'spoliers' or too much plot reveal. Read more
Published 23 months ago by LeannetheFilmFan
Desperation
Another good Stephen King dvd to add to my collection.Although I prefer his earlier work I did enjoy this story.
Published on 16 May 2009 by Mrs. Bf Collins
PRETTY GOOD
GOOD BUT MAYBE TOO LONG AT 2 HOURS
THE STORY GOES IN A DIRECTION I DID NOT SEE COMING
WORTH WATCHING
THE SHERIFF IS VERY SCARY
THE STORY GOES IN A DIRECTION I DID NOT SEE COMING
WORTH WATCHING
THE SHERIFF IS VERY SCARY
Published on 12 April 2008 by A. Girvan
Not a great Stephen King book
Disappointing. The story line is not up to Stephen King's normal standard. I'd say only buy it if you've nothing else to hand.
Published on 22 Feb 2008 by John in Cornwall
Not very good at all.
I rented this film without having read the book. Basically, most of the acting was bad, the props (dead people etc) didn't look real, the body double was not! Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2008 by R. Wallace-taylor
I Just Wish Tak Had Won
Unusually with Stephen King Films, I found myself liking about the film exactly what I liked about the book. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2008 by Green Man Music
WHERE IS THE REST
Common problem with adapting Kings work is most of the good stuff is left out, the book is a wee bit smaller than The Stand and that book was huge as was the Mick Garris directed... Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2007 by Peter J. Hodgson
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