For tonight’s movie I’m looking at the 1983 supernatural WW2 horror “The Keep”. This is from Oscar Nominated director Michael Mann. He got his nomination for “The Insider” (1999), he also gave us “The Last of the Mohicans” (1992), “Thief” (1981) and was the first person to bring Hannibal Lecter to the big screen in “Manhunter” (1986.) The Keep is one of Mann’s lowest rated movies, so stands out as a bit of an anomaly in his filmography. It’s also one of the films from the 80’s to feature a Tangerine Dream soundtrack (There are about 20 in all). Mann ‘s screenplay is an adaptation of F. Paul Wilson’s novel by the same name . Alex Thomson provides cinematography and it’s worth mentioning this was made only a couple of years after he performed that role for “Excalibur” (1981). I can definitely recognise a similar style.
The Keep is set in 1941 in Romania following the commencement of Operation Barbarossa. Captain Woermann (Jürgen Prochnow), arrives at an uninhabited citadel known as ‘the Keep’ with the aim of taking control of the Dinu Pass in the Carpathian Mountains. The fortress isn’t quite what it seems and after some greed soldiers accidentally release an ancient evil the troops begin to get killed in horrible ways. Sturmbannführer Kaempffer (Gabriel Byrne) is sent in to get to the bottom of it, assuming rebellion by the locals. As the mystery thickens he is forced to bring in Dr. Cuza (Ian McKellen) a Jewish profess that has studied this structure. However, he has his own agenda, as does the creature that lurks within the Keep.
Tangerine Dream and the Dry Ice Machine
I can see why this film was poorly received. I can also see why it has become a cult favourite over time. It is a strange film, definitely lacking in places, but for the most part it looks and sounds great. I say “For the most part”, because there are definitely some very dated looking effects in here. But the cinematography is excellent and Thomson seems to excel with filming fog/smoke. The creature actually looks pretty cool in his various forms, perhaps most impressive earlier when he was largely smoke with a burning face. Meanwhile the Tangerine Dream soundtrack gives everything a dreamlike feel, something a lot of the cinematography leans into. The music doesn’t always fit though, but it’s always pushed to the forefront, like this is a music video.
Between the music taking center stage, the great, but somewhat surreal visuals, the over the top gore, the occasionally clunky dialogue/acting and the very weird plot this could almost be a Giallo horror. For those new to my horror reviews, that’s an Italian style horror. It was at its peak in the 1970’s and very likely Mann was influenced by it for this 1983 movie. Now, while I said the gore was over the top, there actually isn’t that much of it. It’s just when there is gore it is bodies cut in half and heads exploding. Those effects though are not quite up to it, so in some cases, frankly, it looks silly. Not a deal breaker though. At least, not if you’ve seen as much 80’s horror as I have.
Greatness Doesn’t Always Come Right Away
The Keep includes some very strong cast on paper. However, I can only really single out Gabriel Byrne for his flawless execution of Nazi villain Erich Kaempffer. That said, he actually only gets a handful of scenes and none asked too much of him. Ian McKellen on the other hand put in one of his worst performances (I’ve seen) as Dr. Cuza. It’s worth noting, this was only his second feature film (Though he had plenty of other acting credits) and his first “Priest of Love” (1981) also received criticism for his acting. It just goes to show, some of the best actors didn’t arrive on the scene ready for success. It took time. McKellen was already a successful stage actor, but it took a while to adjust to movies. By the mid 90’s he was nailing it.
But perhaps it’s not fair to blame McKellen. The dialogue here just wasn’t that great. The directing in a lot of the scenes didn’t get the most out of the actors either. But the plot too is an issue. When you have a slow, dream like aesthetic and an hour and a half run time it’s hard to fit a plot with any real complexity in and do it justice. Here we have many characters that could have been interesting, a mystery with it’s own backstory (None of which ever really gets explained) and a series of events that requires a lot of moving parts to get to the end. On top of that, you have an entire platoon of Nazi’s to kill off. As a result, despite the many slow paced scenes, the movie feels rushed. They should have either simplified or gone for a longer run time.
Conclusion
If I were making it, I would have tried to simplify things a little so the plot doesn’t trip over it’s own legs so much and the remaining characters got a bit more development. I can’t help but think John Carpenter would have nailed this story as a director. It’s almost like it was designed for him, but Michael Mann got it instead and it is what it is. Ultimately though, I did enjoy this movie. As it stands, this is more of a spectacle than a story. Your mileage may depend on how much you enjoy Tangerine Dream and dry ice machines. Apparently that is exactly what I enjoy and so I’m going to rate it at a slightly generous 6.5/10.
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