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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 15440
Released: August 29, 2006 |
| Our Price: $5.94 |
| Used Price: $2.37 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Cross-country travelers on an isolated highway are arrested by a corrupt sheriff and jailed in a desolate town whose streets are littered with the dead bodies of local residents. The captives manage to escape, only to discover that Desperation, Nevada, is more than just a town gone wrong—it’s the terrifying source of unbridled evil.
Description of Stephen King's Desperation:
Director Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), also recruited by Stephen King to remake The Shining, knows how to capture King's horror aesthetic on film. Desperation, based on a more recent King novel, is a pastiche of earlier King novelties, such as the psycho in uniform, this time Sheriff Collie Entragian (Ron Perlman), and dogs summoned by the devil, this time by TAK, an ancient Chinese demon. Desperation, Nevada has a collapsed mine full of Chinese immigrant ghosts, whose spirits are trapped with TAK until they're accidentally unleashed. The TAK-possessed local sheriff is killing everyone, save a few travelers who stumble through on road trips. In the opening scene, Mary (Annabeth Gish) and her beau are pulled over by Sheriff Entragian, framed by his placing of marijuana in their trunk, then read their rights with a Satanic "I will kill you" thrown in. Later, Steve (Steven Weber), Cynthia (Kelly Overton), and Vietnam vet John Marinville (Tom Skerrit), ride into town, and they too encounter the evil policeman's wrath. They all meet a brave, imprisoned boy, David (Shane Haboucha), with whom they team up to end the mayhem. Desperation uses blue and green lighting to embrace the funhouse look, and camera shots highlighting the Sheriff's deranged face make the film occasionally spooky. But the rehashed plot detracts from the fear-factor, leaving one to pine for earlier King story adaptations, like Misery, or Cujo.--Trinie Dalton
Stephen King's Desperation Reviews:
Constant, cloying, religious gobbledygook 
2009-12-01 - What would otherwise have been a pretty darn creepy movie is ruined almost instantly by the presense of an over-brainwashed, hideously annoying little boy who spends the entire film vomiting forth blase, pathetic, semi-Christian witnessing. There simply is not a scene where he isn't praying, reminding everyone that god is to be served or just generally mewling about his creator.
Whatever your view of religion, be it positive or negative, I can't imagine ANYONE could stomach this endless barrage of sickening idolatry. It's like watching a Beatles or Elvis fan prattle on about their favorite singer.
Ignoring that, the film is still loaded with re-hashed horror and King stereotypes: creepy little girl, check, ex-alchoholic hero writer, check, drunk old know it all townie, check, corrupt person in power, check... the list goes on and on.
It had some good points but I just can't reccommend the thing at all.
Stephen King's Desperation (2006)-Very weak screen adaptation.
2009-07-08 - Stephen King's Desperation (2006) was a poor two star film adaptation. I was only able to enjoy the first twenty minutes or so of Ron Perlman's work playing a Desperation road cop and then the movie turned to complete ka ka. This film was supposedly a mini "Stand", but I didn't see any comparison. It appeared to be a flimsy excuse for showing some very warped screen images that will stay in memory and make the audience never trust a police officer again! The on location scenery was very nice and was scoped out by King himself.
Could have been much worse, but could have been better. 
2009-06-28 - Desperation (Mick Garris, 2006)
Ron Perlman is an actor who isn't afraid to take chances, and in general, the more risks he takes, the better the resulting character. Consider his work in such classics as Cronos and City of Lost Children, for example. On the other hand, here you've got an adaptation of a Stephen King novel; it's pretty much a guaranteed shot out of the park, but there's not a great deal of room for Perlman to play with character, given that King is a master of characterization. Still, it's Ron Perlman; you've got a 90% chance of a fantastic performance. (The other 10% was Blade II.)
Perlman plays Collie Entragian, the sheriff of the town of Desperation, NV, where something very odd is going on. Collie is rounding up people just passing through and tossing them into jail; there's a renegade writer (Tom Skerritt) and his assistant (Steven Weber, who's done some King TV adaptations in the past, including The Shining miniseries and an episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes); a family; a hitchhiker. And there's something wrong with Collie, though we can't really tell what, at first. He's got some odd twitches, and he's sunburned, but you kind of expect that from a guy who polices out in the middle of nowhere. It becomes obvious, though, that there's a lot more going on with him. And the town itself looks pretty darned deserted, as folks are rolling through it in the back of the police car. The prisoners have to figure out what's going on, and quick.
I tend to slot Stephen King novels into three categories. There are the brilliant novels where there's not a thing wrong with the finished product ('Salem's Lot, The Stand, Misery, etc.), the mediocre novels I can take or leave (The Regulators, Bag of Bones, Needful Things, etc.), and the flat-out awful ones I'll never consider reading again (The Tommyknockers, Insomnia, etc.). Desperation is one of the mediocre ones, and I kind of avoided watching this for a couple of years because the mediocre novels, when they're adapted, tend toward mediocre movies. But, man, Ron Perlman. I'm not sure how much of a stretch this really was for him; it's certainly not as amazing a character as he played in City of Lost Children. But he brings something to the role nonetheless, and it's Perlman who's really going to hook the viewer here. The supporting cast isn't exactly full of slouches, either; Weber and Skeritt are joined by Charles Durning, Annabeth Gish, the woefully underrated Matt Frewer, Kelly Overton, Henry Thomas, and many more, all of whom bring, if not their A games, at least the top level of their B games. Garris, in his sixth partnership with King, keeps the pace fast and hard, though he does sacrifice some of the novel's character development in the process, and because of that the film is not all it could be. But then it's a TV movie, and so there were time constraints one wouldn't find in a feature film; still, it clocks in at over two hours, and to keep a movie this fast-paced for this long requires a good deal of artistry.
Very good work indeed; probably my favorite TV adaptation of King since Tobe Hooper adapted 'Salem's Lot over thirty years before. Not great, but well worth watching. *** ½
disappointing....
2009-05-13 - ....here's why: The book itself is excellent- one of King's best books (and I've read many, although not all, of his).
the problem is that this was broadcast on network television. King is a "R" rated writer- so the version you see on television is a "watered-down" version of the book- consequently, what you SEE on screen isn't nearly as scary or horrifying as what you READ in the book.
the actors were great- don't blame them. This would have been better if presented on HBO or Showtime where the director doesn't have to edit out so much material.
** read the book instead **
Amazon refuses a zero star review... 
2009-05-04 - Simple. This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. This isn't to say that there isn't some good acting in it (there is a little). However, the script is awful, the production is jumbled, and the storyline is inane. If you have two hours (and a few bucks) to waste, help yourself.
It's interesting to note that I've heard of people laughing through horror movies before, but had never done so myself before now.
I haven't read the book, but being a long time King fan, I imagine the book is good -- but the movie is the pits.
