The KeepSome are so desperate to see one evil vanquished that they would unleash another in its stead. The Keep is a sci-fi/horror movie written and directed by Michael Mann, and is adapted from the novel of the same name by F. Paul Wilson. It is about a group of Nazi soldiers who come to a remote Romanian village that is built in the shadow of an ominous black keep of unknown origin. Despite the warnings, the soldiers camp within its black walls, and begin getting picked off one by one. Their hunter is a mysterious, supernatural entity that has one all-consuming desire: escape.
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The Keep had a troubled development. It was originally intended to be upwards of three and a half hours long, and filled with far more stellar special effects. But it experienced a series of setbacks, ranging from the passing of its special effects supervisor to constantly going over budget, which pressured the studio to chop it to shreds. What remains is a film that feels like the ghost of something that might have been, often incoherent and intangible due to significant plot gaps and even serious audio issues. The former is mitigated to an extent by scenes that embody the director's characteristic dreamlike style, beginning from the opening credits as Capt. Klaus Woermann (Jürgen Prochnow) drives his troops into the remote Dinlu Pass, and stares out at the people of the world his army has subjugated. Although unwelcome, Woermann at least makes the effort to be civil to his hosts, including the caretaker of the keep, an elderly man named Alexandru (W. Morgan Sheppard), who cryptically warns the Nazis to avoid staying there and not to mess with the 108 nickel crosses affixed to the keep's interior. Yet some of Woermann's troops suspect that the keep hides treasure, and in their foolish pursuit of it, they unleash an ancient being--called Radu Molasar (Michael Carter)--who violently slaughters the Nazis. After seeking aid from his superiors, Woermann is instead visited by the sadistic Sturmbannführer Erich Kaempffer (Gabriel Byrne), who is all too quick to open fire on innocent villagers in retaliation, whom he accuses of being "partisans". This immediately sets him at odds with Woermann, who turns to a local priest, Father Fonescu (Robert Prosky), about some mysterious writing left behind by Molasar. Fonescu in turn suggests bringing in Dr. Theodore Cuza (Ian McKellen), who is reclaimed from a concentration camp and brought to Romania along with his lovely daughter, Eva (Alberta Watson). As the only woman in the keep, she becomes a target for a couple of would-be rapists among the soldiers, who are slain by Molasar, who in turn rescues Eva and delivers her to Dr. Cuza. Molasar subsequently cures Dr. Cuza of his scleroderma, and makes a pact with him. He will slay all of the Nazis if Dr. Cuza will retrieve a "talisman" from within the keep and take it away from the village, which will allow him to leave the keep. Both indebted to the extraplanar being and thrilled with the prospect of seeing the Nazis wiped from the Earth, Dr. Cuza agrees to help, despite having no true understanding of this inscrutable being's true motives. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger named Glaeken Trismegestus (Scott Glenn) travels great distances to get to the keep as soon as possible, employing his own mysterious powers to do so--his motivations equally unclear.
The Keep plays on its audience's expectations about just what Molasar is and whether he is good or evil. Consider the way he inflicts violence on the Nazis, and how no one really feels bad when Nazis are slaughtered in movies. Yet running counter to that, Woermann becomes increasingly sympathetic and disillusioned with his comrades after Kaempffer shows up. At one point, he even appears to befriend Dr. Cuza and shows kindness to Eva by trying to extricate her from the keep after she is sexually assaulted. And consider that the first Nazi to die at Molasar's hand is greedy and ignorant of Woermann's orders to avoid vandalizing the nickel crosses, simply because he is convinced that at least one of them is actually made of silver. Molasar first appears like an amorphous being made of wind and light, and because he saves Eva by killing her attackers, The Keep begins laying the subconscious groundwork for the audience to consider that not everything is what it seems, and that despite Molasar's fearsome countenance, he might actually be some kind of avenging angel instead. Conversely, Glaeken uses his powers to make a beeline to the keep, and has a flat, stoic appearance that doesn't lend him any sense of humanity, making the audience doubt whether he is coming to help or hinder things. And perhaps owing to the significant cuts made to The Keep, his seduction of Eva seems abrupt and of questionable motivation. After all, he shows up in the village, and tries to get a room in the only place that was renting, just to find she took it moments ago. He "offers" to stay with her, and they are literally naked together in the next scene. The ambiguity of The Keep is made literal by the ever-increasing amount of fog that starts occupying the keep along with the Nazi soldiers. Dr. Cuza has suffered greatly under Nazi tyranny, and so when Molasar offers to kill Hitler, Dr. Cuza is willing to take the chance and trust what he believes is the lesser of the two evils. But morality play enthusiasts will no doubt see the "two wrongs don't make a right" lesson creeping up here. Molasar is devastating in his killing of the Nazis, cementing The Keep as a horror movie--faces explode on multiple occasions, and many soldiers appear to be immolated and/or fused with their artillery after he's done with them. And after each murder, Molasar becomes more "complete", transforming from a skeletal figure and into a towering, muscular being with glowing red eyes and a mouth--hardly the typical image of a benevolent angel. The Keep has become a cult classic, despite being considered a critical and commercial failure. This is likely because of just how much is absent from the film, which invites audiences to fill in some of the blanks for themselves, not to mention the moody score by Tangerine Dream and striking imagery. People have long wondered what ever became of the three and a half hour cut of The Keep...perhaps we will never know, and can only imagine what could have been.
Recommended for: Fans of a mysterious (and, in truth, incoherent) sci-fi/horror movie about enigmatic entities offing Nazis, and a secret war between forces beyond our comprehension. The Keep is a strange movie that doesn't always make sense, but for audiences who are drawn to the kind of stylized fare Michael Mann was best known for in the Eighties, there's plenty to soak in here.
The Keep plays on its audience's expectations about just what Molasar is and whether he is good or evil. Consider the way he inflicts violence on the Nazis, and how no one really feels bad when Nazis are slaughtered in movies. Yet running counter to that, Woermann becomes increasingly sympathetic and disillusioned with his comrades after Kaempffer shows up. At one point, he even appears to befriend Dr. Cuza and shows kindness to Eva by trying to extricate her from the keep after she is sexually assaulted. And consider that the first Nazi to die at Molasar's hand is greedy and ignorant of Woermann's orders to avoid vandalizing the nickel crosses, simply because he is convinced that at least one of them is actually made of silver. Molasar first appears like an amorphous being made of wind and light, and because he saves Eva by killing her attackers, The Keep begins laying the subconscious groundwork for the audience to consider that not everything is what it seems, and that despite Molasar's fearsome countenance, he might actually be some kind of avenging angel instead. Conversely, Glaeken uses his powers to make a beeline to the keep, and has a flat, stoic appearance that doesn't lend him any sense of humanity, making the audience doubt whether he is coming to help or hinder things. And perhaps owing to the significant cuts made to The Keep, his seduction of Eva seems abrupt and of questionable motivation. After all, he shows up in the village, and tries to get a room in the only place that was renting, just to find she took it moments ago. He "offers" to stay with her, and they are literally naked together in the next scene. The ambiguity of The Keep is made literal by the ever-increasing amount of fog that starts occupying the keep along with the Nazi soldiers. Dr. Cuza has suffered greatly under Nazi tyranny, and so when Molasar offers to kill Hitler, Dr. Cuza is willing to take the chance and trust what he believes is the lesser of the two evils. But morality play enthusiasts will no doubt see the "two wrongs don't make a right" lesson creeping up here. Molasar is devastating in his killing of the Nazis, cementing The Keep as a horror movie--faces explode on multiple occasions, and many soldiers appear to be immolated and/or fused with their artillery after he's done with them. And after each murder, Molasar becomes more "complete", transforming from a skeletal figure and into a towering, muscular being with glowing red eyes and a mouth--hardly the typical image of a benevolent angel. The Keep has become a cult classic, despite being considered a critical and commercial failure. This is likely because of just how much is absent from the film, which invites audiences to fill in some of the blanks for themselves, not to mention the moody score by Tangerine Dream and striking imagery. People have long wondered what ever became of the three and a half hour cut of The Keep...perhaps we will never know, and can only imagine what could have been.
Recommended for: Fans of a mysterious (and, in truth, incoherent) sci-fi/horror movie about enigmatic entities offing Nazis, and a secret war between forces beyond our comprehension. The Keep is a strange movie that doesn't always make sense, but for audiences who are drawn to the kind of stylized fare Michael Mann was best known for in the Eighties, there's plenty to soak in here.