FilmRDemonic & Possession Supernatural Gothic

The Keep1983

Name: The Keep
Genre: Demonic & Possession, Supernatural, Gothic, Cosmic & Lovecraftian
Released: 1983-12-16
Rating: 5.4

“They were all drawn to the keep. Tonight, they will all face the evil.”

Directed by Michael Mann

5.4

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 5.7Rotten Tomatoes 42%Metacritic 34TMDB 5.6

✍ Review

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Year

1983

Runtime

96 min

Box Office

Budget

$6,000,000

Revenue (worldwide)

$3,661,757

Domestic

$4,218,594

🏆 1 nomination total

The premise

Set during World War II, a German army garrison is sent to guard a mountain pass in a village in Romania's Carpathian mountains and sets up barracks in an ancient stone fortress. Two of the soldiers unwittingly release a mysterious entity that kills or corrupts those within its influence, drawing the attention of a Gestapo commander, a Jewish scholar, and a mysterious traveller.

Horror Vault's take

Deep in Romania's Carpathian Mountains, a Nazi garrison occupies a centuries-old fortress — and two soldiers make a catastrophic mistake that awakens something ancient and merciless within its walls. As the body count rises, a Gestapo officer, a Jewish scholar, and an enigmatic stranger are each drawn to the keep for very different reasons. Michael Mann's visually hypnotic adaptation of F. Paul Wilson's novel blurs the line between the monstrous and the human against the backdrop of World War II occupation. Rich with fog-drenched atmosphere and a pulsing Tangerine Dream score, it is a singular, deeply strange artifact of 1980s horror fantasy.

Content: Violence, Disturbing Imagery, Wartime Atrocity Themes