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THE KEEP (1983) dir. Michael Mann

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Fantasy Horror

Your halloween this year probably needs more dead nazis in it. What better way to kick things off then than Michael Mann's disavowed film The Keep?

The Keep joins David Lynch's 1984 Dune as movies by legendary directors that were mangled by the studio beyond recognition but still end up supremely compelling. To me specifically. And also the soundtracks absolutely rule.

While both The Keep and Dune feature glowing eye sfx and stacked casts, The Keep is a wholly different 1980s film, not about a Frank Herbert space novel, but about an eldritch horror awakened from its prison in Romania by occupying SS soldiers. It's also incredibly gorgeous, with Cinematography that's absolutely to die for.

Then the first half of the film ends and things begin to go a bit sideways. According to my sources, during and after production the studio execs began butchering the film as it sat, which in turn renders basically all the second half of the film a beautiful but unintelligible mess. Character motivations, interactions, and even some plot elements begin to feel completely random, and I don't think Mann is to blame for this. I respect his efforts to distance himself from the film, but you should know the film is still terribly beautiful the entire time. Well worth the watch no matter how good it could have been otherwise.

That said, there are quite a few elements that the film in its current state doesn't resolve. The priest's bit with the knife at the end, the German officer with a crisis of conscience, even the traveler with the mysterious case. All of these compelling elements of the film had clearly been fleshed out in the hour(s?) of missing footage, but this was all lost in the edit.

Never fear, this film still absolutely rules. "Eldritch horror vs nazis" is an evergreen genre, but even for how beat to death it's been in the years following Call of Duty zombies et al, this take still felt fresh. The VFX for the eldritch beast were amazing, especially in the early iterations before we're allowed to see it finalized. The soundtrack is to die for, once more provided for Mann by Tangerine Dream, who went crazy on the atmospheric synths. And of course the cinematography, especially the lighting, was top notch. This film oozes atmosphere.

Had Mann been able to deliver his vision, I cannot say if this would have been a commercial success, but I would've seen a Criterion 4k restoration by now. What a film.

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