Review of The Keep (1983) by Angelo C — 06 Jul 2012

Michael Mann's second film and one of his most interesting. It's definitely his only attempt at art house horror or period piece horror / mystery....are those genres?

What is done successfully here is making an interesting atmospheric film with decent acting on a low budget. The cinematography is worth the price of admission alone. It's just permeated by gorgeously framed shots. The acting was ok given the dialogue can be cliche, but by far the only stand out was Gabriel Byrne. Scott Glenn's Glaeken Trismegestus was mysterious for sure....a bit too mysterious..we never get an explanation as to why he is there at all besides to battle the nazi killing demon. It felt like a substantial part of the story was missing. Especially the final battle....which seems very underdeveloped.

Some of the special effects are really great though, and have an element of craftsmanship about them, which I'll attribute to the cinematographer. A plus for me was the score by Tangerine Dream. It dates the film but it's mood setting nevertheless.

One biiiig note, the sound editing on here is worse than a dubbed B-rated Kung-Fu movie from the 70's. The worst part is the contrast between sound effects and dialogue. At times some words will feel softer than a whisper and you will turn up the volume to hear the conversation and then BOOOM and creepy sound effect blows you ear drums. Oh you will be riding that volume button.