Storm of the Century Year: 1999 Director: Craig R. Baxley Written by: Stephen King Threat: Demon Weapon of Choice: Cane Based on: Original IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
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Rish Outfield's Reviews
A huge snowstorm hits Little Tall Island, cutting off its townspeople from the outside world and robbing them of their heat, power, and light. But among them comes a stranger . . . a mysterious, murderous man named Andre Linoge, who has a supernatural knowledge of people's secrets, as well as the ability to make them do what he wants. "Give me what I want and I'll go away," he says. But what could someone . . . something like Linoge want?
As the biggest Stephen King fan I know, there were a lot of things I loved about this 1999 mini-series. The special effects, though not up to ILM standards, were pretty great for a TV movie--you tend to believe in the snow and the island. I found interesting parallels to Salem's Lot, The Stand, and Needful Things throughout, and a cool reference to Dolores Claibourne. There were some spooky moments, such as the revelation about Linoge's name, the vision of Robbie's mother ("Hell is repetition"), and Mike's exploration of the old lady's house.
Tim Daly (of Wings and Spellbinder and the animated "Superman" fame) was earnest and believable as Mike Anderson, the much put-upon town constable. He's really good. Even better is Colm Feore, in a role that could be completely ridiculous (turns out it's only ten percent ridiculous). His Andre Linoge was a powerful, great villain--one I will not soon forget. Jeffrey DeMunn was also good, but I don't think I was supposed to like him. The last forty-five minutes of the mini-series are quite riveting, and the ending is a great one.
Still, I was left with some unanswered questions. Why did Linoge only shape-change to someone else when talking to Robbie? Where was the outspoken priest in the first two installments? Why did the characters have the annoying tendency of referring to each other by their full names ("What are you doing, Davey Hopewell?" and "You need to relax, Mike Anderson")?* Why did everyone forget that Cat had killed her boyfriend between the second and third chapters? Why were so many things set up in the first two episodes that were not followed up upon in the third?
Very slow at times, I think it might have been stronger if cut by an hour (I won't go as far as to say it would have been better in only two parts, but it's debatable). The TV-censorship aspect both helped and hindered the scares. The ending was both horrible and believable (tyranist and I discussed possible ways out during commercial breaks, and couldn't find a way), and left me fully satisfied. Without a doubt, though, this was the best King mini-series ever.
Best Scare: The nightmarish reunion at the end. Damn.
I'd Recommend It To: Patient King fans.
*I know you can say, "Well, that's how they talk in Maine," but as we say in Mel's Diner, "Kiss my grits."

The tyranist's thoughts
This is the first made for TV movie that we have reviewed. Of course, the fact that it was written by Stephen King carries a lot of clout around here. When we started the site, I wanted to set rules that we would never review anything that was made for TV or rated less than R. After watching this, I am totally willing to make all kinds of exceptions.
This was easily the best of the King mini-series thus far. Andre Linoge (Colm Feore) was menacing and had that classic almost reactionless demeanor. It was so easy to empathize with the characters and their situation. The storm was so threatening all by itself. Rish and I tried and tried to think of an alternate ending and couldn't do it. In short this movie was well-written and well-delivered. At times the pace seemed slow, but throughout the movie I never really wanted it to hurry.
Most of all I am looking forward to reading the screenplay. I love to find out how these things happen. I imagine that we will see this one on DVD relatively soon and highly recommend it to anyone who can give 5 hours of their life.

Total Skulls: 16

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?