Michael Mann directed The Keep, a disappointing supernatural horror tale, starring Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson, and Ian McKellen.
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Original theatrical release poster
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Set in Romania during World War II, it follows a group of Nazi soldiers who unleash malevolent supernatural force after setting up camp in ancient stone fortress in the Carpathian Mountains.
Mann also wrote the script, an adaptation of American writer F. Paul Wilson’s 1981 novel of the same title.
In 1941 in Romania, after Operation Barbarossa, a motorized Gebirgsjäger unit of the Wehrmacht, under the command of Captain Klaus Woermann, arrives at an uninhabited citadel–known as “the Keep.'”
Its aim is taking control of the Dinu Pass in the Carpathian Mountains.
Two soldiers, privates Lutz and Anton, attempt to loot metallic icon within the keep, but they accidentally unleash a spectral entity which kills them.
The being, known as Radu Molasar, kills five more soldiers and begins to take corporeal form.
A detachment of SS Einsatzkommandos, under the command of sadistic SD Sturmbannführer Erich Kaempffer, arrives to deal with what is thought to be Soviet activity. He executes three civilians as punishment and takes another five as hostages, despite Woermann’s protests.
At the instigation of local village priestFather Mihail Fonescu, the Germans retrieve an ailing Jewish historian, Theodore Cuza, from a concentration camp.
Cuza deciphers a mysterious message written in Old Slavonic using the Glagolitic alphabet emblazoned on a wall of the citadel. Molasar saves the professor’s daughter Eva from sexual assault and cures Cuza of his debilitating scleroderma by touch.
Cuza becomes indebted to the entity, who demands that Cuza remove a talisman from the keep so that Molasar can escape its confines.
Shot in Wales and at Shepperton Studios in 1982, The Keep suffered post-production issues, such as the death of special effects supervisor Wally Veevers before completing his work.
Running Time: From 210 to 96 minutes
The film was also subject to editing troubles, as Mann’s original cut ran 210 minutes, which distributor Paramount cut to 120 minutes. After test screenings of the 120-minute version received unfavorable response, the film was further truncated to 96-minute cut, which was released theatrically in December 1983.
The musical score was composed by Tangerine Dream.
Upon release, The Keep received mixed to negative reviews from film critics due to its intangible narrative, though it received some praise for visual elements.
It performed poorly at the U.S. box office, even failing to recoup its budget of $6 million.
However, Mann’s next film, the 1986 Manhunter, would put him back on the map as a director.
The film was not released on DVD until 2020, when Australian media company Via Vision released a remastered DVD edition.
Credits
Directed by Michael Mann
Screenplay by Michael Mann, based on The Keep by F. Paul Wilson
Produced by Gene Kirkwood, Howard W. Koch, Jr.
Cinematography Alex Thomson
Edited by Dov Hoenig
Music by Tangerine Dream
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date: December 16, 1983 (U.S.)
Running time: 96 minutes
Budget $6 million
Box office $4.2 million
