Sometimes They Come Back (film)

Last updated
Sometimes They Come Back
Poster of the movie Sometimes They Come Back.jpg
GenreHorror
Thriller
Drama
Based on"Sometimes They Come Back"
by Stephen King
Written by Lawrence Konner
Teleplay by Mark Rosenthal
Directed by Tom McLoughlin
Starring
Theme music composer Terry Plumeri
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers
Production locations Kansas City, Kansas
Liberty, Missouri
Rocheport, Missouri
CinematographyBryan England
EditorCharles Bornstein
Running time97 minutes
Production companiesCome Back Productions
Dino de Laurentiis Communications
Paradise Films
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseMay 7, 1991 (1991-05-07)
Related
Sometimes They Come Back... Again

Sometimes They Come Back is a 1991 American made-for-television horror film based on the 1974 short story of the same name by Stephen King. Originally optioned as a segment of the 1985 feature film Stephen King's Cat's Eye , it was developed into a separate feature by producer Dino De Laurentiis. [1]

Contents

Plot

Jim Norman returns to his old hometown of Liberty, Missouri after accepting a teaching job there. He moves back along with his wife, Sally, and their son, Scott.

When Jim was nine, he had moved away from the small town with his parents after he had witnessed his older brother, Wayne, being murdered by a gang of greasers during a mugging in a train tunnel in 1963. Three of the murderers — Richard, Vinnie, and David — were killed shortly afterwards by an oncoming train, having parked their 1955 Chevrolet One-Fifty on the tracks. The fourth member, Carl, survived.

After returning to his hometown, Jim starts having nightmares about his brother's murder. Soon afterwards, three of his students are killed by the ghosts of his brother's murderers and, their killers, Richard, Vinnie and David return from the dead as students in Jim's class. The police are suspicious of Jim's proximity to the dead students.

The revived killers challenge Jim to a confrontation and make an attempt on his son's life with their car on the 27th anniversary of Wayne's murder. Jim discovers Wayne's spirit is stuck in limbo while the matter of his murder is unsettled.

Jim goes to the Cemetery and finds the graves of the greasers who say the wreck survivor Carl must complete their revenge. It is revealed that when Jim was a boy, he had taken the murderers' car keys which led to their deaths.

Jim returns to his abandoned childhood home and finds the old car keys that he took during the night of his brother's murder. Carl apologizes for Wayne's death and leaves with the gang. The greasers take Jim's family prisoner.

Jim returns to the train tunnel in which Wayne's murder took place. The greasers plan to kill Jim the same way they murdered Wayne and take Jim with them, but Carl is killed by Lawson after interfering. This opens the door allowing Wayne to return, and the brothers rescue Jim's family and manage to send the gang back to Hell. Wayne is finally at peace and moves on to the afterlife and Jim and his family go home.

Cast

Production notes

The original short story, "Sometimes They Come Back", is set in Stratford High School in Stratford, Connecticut. The film adaptation was filmed in Kansas City, Kansas, and Liberty, Missouri. [2]

The car used by the greasers was a 1955 Chevrolet One-Fifty.

The film is based on a short story by Stephen King that was first published in the March 1974 issue of Cavalier , and later collected in King's 1978 collection Night Shift .

The steam locomotive used in the film was Southern Pacific 5021 using Norfolk and Western 1218's whistle.

Reception

The film received an approval rating of 67% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on twelve reviews, its consensus reads: "Tim Matheson's gripping performance and a strong mood make Sometimes They Come Back an effective, if not wholly revelatory, Stephen King adaptation". [3]

Ray Loynd of the Los Angeles Times called it "a tight, moody work". [4] TV Guide rated it a two out of five stars and wrote that "the solid cast can't lift the material above the routine". [5]

Sequels

The TV film was followed by two straight-to-video sequels in 1996 ( Sometimes They Come Back... Again ) and 1998 ( Sometimes They Come Back... for More ).

Home media

Sometimes They Come Back was originally released on VHS by Vidmark Entertainment, and later on DVD in 1999 by Trimark Home Video. On September 11, 2007, a new DVD edition of the film was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment through the film's current owner, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Olive Films released the film on Blu-Ray in October 2015. [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Bates, Mark (10 May 2023). "10 Stephen King Movie Adaptations That Deserve A Remake". WhatCulture . Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  2. ↑ Wixson, Heather (2015-10-24). "Stephen King Week: Robert Rusler Reflects on SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK". Daily Dead. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  3. ↑ "Sometimes They Come Back". Rotten Tomatoes .
  4. ↑ Loynd, Ray (1991-05-07). "TV Reviews: Teen-Agers Come Back From the Dead to Torment History Teacher". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  5. ↑ "Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back". TV Guide . Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  6. ↑ Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back Blu-ray Release Date October 27, 2015 , retrieved 2020-04-24
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