Author F. Paul Wilson published his horror novel, THE KEEP, in 1981. I recall picking up a copy and absolutely loving it! The 1980s were a Golden Age for paperback horror novels and Wilson’s novel stands out as one of the best and earliest works in the cycle.
The pitch line for this one is a beauty and it’s what instantly sold me on the book. A company of Nazi soldiers occupy a mysterious castle, or “keep” in the Carpathian Mountains. The walls of the structure are studded with silver crosses and as the plot progresses, we learn that the crosses are there to keep something in, not to keep something out.
I’m telling you, that checks all of my boxes. Nazis. Vampires. WWII. How can you miss?
The book didn’t miss, thankfully. It’s been years since I originally read it and it’s due for a re-reading. Sales were clearly good enough to attract Hollywood and filmmaker Michael Mann. Mann had made a splash with his debut feature film, THIEF (1982), a stylish neo-noir starring James Caan as a professional thief out to make one last score.
So, Mann wrote his own screenplay based on Wilson’s book and took several liberties with the material. At the time I saw the film, I recall saying, more than once, that’s not in the book, that’s not in the book.
Perhaps the biggest change was the depiction of Molasar, the big bad vampire that the keep is designed to imprison. If I recall correctly, in the book, the character was more of a straightforward but powerful man-like creature. Think Jack Palance.
Molasar, as envisioned by Mann, looks like the Golem on steroids. He’s a great, hulking mass with bright red light pouring from both eye sockets and his mouth and his body is covered in thick, ropey strands of muscle and muscle tissue. It just doesn’t work.
You know what really doesn’t work? The score by Tangerine Dream, which is all 80s synth pop which constantly jars with the 1941 setting of the story. This isn’t music. It’s a computer program and the longer the film goes, the harder Mann leans into the sonic swill.
And fog machines. Good lord is there a lot of fog in this movie, both indoors and out and the interiors of the keep are dark and gloomy, which ultimately results in a film that’s hard to watch and tell just what it is you’re seeing.
Molasar starts killing Nazis which is a good thing, and he wants to escape the keep and wreak havoc in the world at large. Enter Scott Glenn, as a mystic warrior figure who has come to slay Molasar.
Suddenly, we’re in sword and sorcery territory with horrible 1980’s special effects of lots and lots of color light beams shooting across the screen.
And Glenn, whom I generally consider a competent actor, is absolutely horrible here. He’s stiff and wooden and has no depth.
I’ve been recently reading another F. Paul Wilson book, CONSPIRACIES, starring his trouble-shooting hero, Repairman Jack. Made me want to revisit THE KEEP. Found it on Pluto and watched it for free last night, “free” being a relative term. Boy, are there a lot of commercials on that channel!
Well, that itch has been scratched. I remember THE KEEP as being a bad movie and I was right. There’s no critical reassessment to be found here. It’s a bad film made by a young and ambitious filmmaker who, fortunately, went on to make many, many much better films.
Recommended only for hardcover 80s horror films and Michael Mann fans. the rest can just move along here.
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