Cult Movie Theatre: Michael Mann's "The Keep"

Evil lurks within the walls of The Keep.

It's always fun to speculate on "what might have been" for a film that was tampered with after it was completed. The classic example is The Magnificent Ambersons, in which RKO trimmed 50 minutes and reshot the ending after Orson Welles turned in his final cut. Even in its current version, Ambersons is a fine film. One can't say that about Michael Mann's The Keep (1983). Still, Mann's picture has acquired a legion of devoted fans over the years and that was enough to convince me to watch it again.

Prochnow starred in 1981's Das Boot.

The premise is certainly intriguing. In 1941, a German army unit arrives in a small town in the Carpathian Alps in Romania. Its mission is to guard a tactically significant mountain pass. Captain Woermann (Jürgen Prochnow) discovers an old keep near the village, which seems ideal for basing his unit's camp. An elderly man and his sons, who serve as the keep's caretakers ("We do what needs doing"), warns the captain ominously: "You cannot stay here."

Of course, that doesn't dissuade the Germans, who take over the keep. That night, two guards ignore orders and try to steal one of the 108 silver crosses embedded in the stone walls. This act awakens a demon named Molasar and all hell breaks loose. The Germans free a Jewish scholar (Ian McKellen) from a concentration camp, hoping that he can deal with Molasar. Concurrently, the demon's sudden appearance is "sensed" by a mysterious stranger (Scott Glenn) whose eyes glow eerily.

The creepy Molasar.

Director Michael Mann's original cut of The Keep ran 210 minutes, hardly a realistic running time for a horror film in the 1980s. He subsequently re-edited the movie to a more reasonable two hours. Unfortunately, after unenthusiastic audience screenings, Paramount trimmed an additional 24 minutes. The result is a choppy film with a handful of effective sequences negated by long, talky passages and an over-the-top, special effects-filled climax. To the film's defense, the final showdown with Molasar was surely impacted by the death of special effects wizard Wally Veevers (Curse of the Demon) during the production. 

Michael Mann, the creative mind behind Thief (1981), Manhunter (1986), and the Miami Vice TV series (1984-90), has a reputation as a visual stylist who knows how to fuse images and music. He creates a dark, dense, oppressive atmosphere in The Keep. The opening scenes in the pouring rain establish the mood from the onset. However, I'm not a fan of the electronic score composed by the German group Tangerine Dream. While it was responsible for some memorable music in Risky Business (1984) and Sorcerer (1977), those were contemporary-set films. I found the fusion of contemporary music and a World War II setting in The Keep to be more distracting than interesting.

McKellen as Dr. Cuza.

It's hard to evaluate the film's performances given that so much of the acting was deleted! Judging solely from the 96-minute version, none of the actors make an impression--even the typically excellent McKellen.

There are interesting ideas in The Keep. The way that Molasar masks its evil and manipulates McKellen's character has almost biblical connotations. Still, there's just not enough substance to make it a good movie. Perhaps, one day Mann will put together a "director's cut" and we can assess The Keep as he envisioned it. For now, it's an oddity from a fine filmmaker and nothing more than a cult film.

James Caan and Michael Mann Team Up for "Thief"

James Cann as Frank.

Michael Mann makes a remarkably self-assured debut as feature film director with his sleek 1981 drama Thief. After graduating from the London Film School in the 1960s, Mann gained experienced on television, working on crime dramas such as Starsky and Hutch and Joseph Wambaugh's Police Story. He won an an Emmy for writing and a DGA award for directing the made-for-TV film The Jericho Mile. Thus, Mann already had an impressive pedigree when he turned his sights on writing and directing Thief, an adaptation of a book written by real-life jewel thief John Seybold.

Caan and Tuesday Weld.

James Caan stars as Frank, an ex-convict who, by day, runs Rocket Motor Sales and the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge. By night, though, Frank stages elaborate heists with the help of a couple of cronies. Frank's dream is for a normal life with a loving wife, a baby boy, and a home in the suburbs. Anxious to make it a reality--especially after meeting a pretty cashier (Tuesday Weld)--Frank agrees to work for a mob boss named Leo (Robert Prosky). Frank's plan is to complete one last big job and then retire to the idyllic life. Unfortunately, Leo has other plans for the thief.

Thief provides James Caan with a rare juicy role, one which highlights the actor's likability and his explosiveness. In the film's best scene, Frank recounts the horrors of prison life to his girlfriend over a cup of coffee in a restaurant. It's a revealing conversation that explains his paternal feelings toward an old master thief (Willie Nelson), who is dying in prison. More importantly, Frank explains that he survived by learning not to feel anymore. He stores his dreams on a postcard-size photo collage in his wallet, thus making them dreams that he can literally tear up and cast aside if necessary.

Yet, while Frank exhibits a handful of redeeming qualities, there is raw violence always simmering just beneath the surface. He doesn't hesitate to threaten innocent people or yell abusively at a social worker because he can't understand why an ex-con isn't considered a suitable parent for an adopted child.

Robert Prosky as Leo.

The supporting cast includes a number of effective performances, some of them delivered by first-time performers. John Santucci, a former jewel thief initially hired as a technical consultant, is pitch-perfect as a dirty cop. Dennis Farina, a real-life former cop, also made his film debut in Thief (as a villain). However, supporting acting honors go to Robert Prosky, who got his first major film role in Thief  at the age of 51. Prosky plays a mob kingpin who admires Frank's work and wants to make him part of his "family"--not understanding Frank's obsession with individualism.

While Thief is visually interesting, especially Mann's use of bold colors mixed with black, it lacks the style of the director's later work, such as Manhunter (1986) and the Miami Vice TV series. While the heist scenes are compelling, don't expect dripping suspense along the lines of Rififi (1955). The big safe-cracking sequence lasts a mere ten minutes.

Thief works best as an engrossing character study. And while it's clear from the outset that Frank will fail to achieve his unrealistic dream of a perfect family life, the closing shot is surprisingly optimistic--in its own downbeat kind of way.