The Keep (1983)

[Belisarius]

Alrighty, I know this is a "love it or hate it" movie. Nor do I claim it as a masterpiece. But I know I can't be the only fan of this flick that Mann's worked hard to sweep under the rug (it's never been released on DVD; my own copy is a battered recording from cable).

 

[L2R]

i don't know about this one. tell us more smelly belly.

 

[Belisarius]

Thanks for adding the poll.

Loosely based on the F. Paul Wilson novel: Nazis in Romania occupy old keep for fort, a keep with an inside lined with dozens of (silver?) crosses. They are warned not to touch them, but being Nazis they decide to steal one and release an evil entity that was being trapped inside by said crosses. Then Scott Glenn plays a good entity that awakens to stop the evil one...and...uh, there's a subplot with Ian McKellan and Gabriel Byrne...and...all right, I said it wasn't masterpiece. I just love the soundtrack, cinematography, and Faustian plot elements.

Here's the cross-stealing scene (hopefully not already deleted, as Youtube has turned into a real Hun at deleting copyrighted content):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORMj0c5nAGo&feature=related

As an interesting aside, I say the "Silver! It's more silver!" line to myself in a British accent all the time, much to puzzlement of my friends and coworkers. :D

 

[Mazey]

i rented it way back when, but don't remember much about it .

 

[brokenbrain]

Its cut to shreds,thats why Michael Mann pretty much disowned it.Its original cut was close to 4 hours,but the studio raped it down to 93mins thus making it non-sensical idiocy.The same way that ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA was cut in half for its US release.But since that is an acknowleged classic it was restored to an acceptable length,although still not its full version.
There are fans of THE KEEP online who of course want the full version out,restored etc.But who knows if anyone can ever be bothered to put it together?