Leofwine_draca A very below average adaptation of a Stephen King short story, hindered by being a TV movie. Unfortunately, after an interesting first hour, the film begins to fall apart in the second half. The best moments in the film are when the gang begins to appear in Matheson's class and he can't believe it. The thugs aren't really very scary and don't do much, apart from killing some extras.The 'exciting' ending occurs when Norman is forced to re-live that fateful night which occurred 27 years earlier. The acting is nothing to write home about and there are hardly any special effects. The trouble is that it's very, very mundane and we've seen it all before, this film offers nothing new. Some parts of it are silly, very silly indeed. Now I like a laugh as much as the next person...but not at the expense of this boring, stupid movie!

Finfrosk86 Here's that Stephen King-feeling! I typically love Stephen Kings work. I am also of those who think several of the movies based on his stuff, are pretty good. Some film makers manage to get that feeling, that Stephen King-feeling across very well. Others don't.This is clearly a TV movie, but that doesn't mean it can't be good! I really like this story, I haven't read it so I don't know if the movie differs a lot from Kings original story, but that doesn't matter, because this is a movie!The story is cool, like I said, I really like the setting and some of the performances from some of the actors. Some slick teens. Very neatly done. It's an eeriness, and a am-I-dreaming?-kind of feeling. I loved that.I didn't find it very scary, but it was entertaining, and the King-feel really shone through.

Dean Ashworth One of them perfect late 80's/ early 90's horror films set in small town America, great story, great acting from the main cast, great pacing and tension, effortlessly cool, there aren't really many special effects to speak of, apart from when the bad guys show their demon faces, the bad guys are cool thou, the epitome of a 50's greaser, complete with flick knife and Johnny Cash hair, and their car is cool as anything, a hot rod with flames roaring out the back of it, the ending is a bit rushed and a bit schmaltzy but it made me cry (because I could identify with it) and is another great King adaption, which is saying a lot as most King adaptions are a bit hit and miss, and the endings always seem rushed, just like his books, definitely a must see if you like small town American horror type films.

BaronBl00d Hey, I thought this was generally a well-executed film in terms of direction and acting. The story is very strong in the first half but falters a bit in the last half, but as a complete unit is overall fairly decent. Tim Matheson plays a man with wife and child who returns to his hometown where years ago his brother was killed by a gang of 50's style hoodlums. He takes a teaching job and begins having nightmarish dreams about the incident from his past and starts to see people killed before they actually are. Several of his students disappear and "new" students from Milford(cannot tell you where or what that is) start appearing in his class. They are the very embodiment of the dead hoodlums he saw in his childhood. They start giving Teach problems and soon we have an intensive thriller where the anniversary of the date where they and he once met years ago is arriving. Now, yes, much of this is contrived and predictable, but the effects and acting are strong enough to carry out some of the corny proceedings. Matheson is always good in these Everyman type roles which we are able to identify with. The hoodlums led by Robert Rusler and Nicolas Sadler are real creepy. William Sanderson is always good in just about anything. Brooke Adams is okay as Matheson's concerned wife. The best thing about this film is the atmosphere of small-town, middle America that director Tom McLoughlin is able to create. It is almost like it comes out of a Ray Bradbury tale. It definitely has Stephen King's stamp. The end does get a bit out of control and really suspends that disbelief too much, but generally I found this made-for-television film to be a pretty good little thriller. My favorite scene of all is when the thugs have Chip in their car and how they "dispose " of him. He certainly went to pieces in a crisis!