"Firestarter" is the film version of the Stephen King novel about Charlene "Charlie" McGee (Drew Barrymore). Her parents, Andy (David Keith) and Vicky (Heather Locklear) participated in a drug experiment while college students, and now Andy has strange mental powers, and Charlie has similarly been cursed with the ability to start fires through the power of her own mind. Naturally, this makes them targets for "The Shop", one of those shadowy government organizations common in movies.
Designed by movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis as a vehicle for young Barrymore, who was still basically learning how to act at this point. She was just a kid, so she can be forgiven, but out of all the solid actors assembled here (Martin Sheen, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher, Moses Gunn, George C. Scott, Freddie Jones), only some of them don't seem to be having off days. Scott has the most interesting role in the picture, a cold, calculating and creepy "exterminator" who earns Charlies' trust by endearing himself to her. (He's good, if undeniably miscast.)
The story is not a great one, but it is reasonably entertaining, and The Shop do make for perfectly despicable villains given their desire to thoroughly exploit this poor child. But don't fear: scores and scores of them get their just desserts by the time this is over. The stunt people and special effects technicians definitely earned their pay, giving us a plethora of fire gags and explosions. The finale is an over the top circus of horrors, and should entertain viewers quite nicely on a purely visceral level.
Give the filmmakers some credit for their opening: the story is already well under way as the movie opens, with Andy and Charlie on the run, and a couple of flashbacks along the way to show us how the characters got to this point. Overall, the movie is fairly slick, but its best asset may be the atmospheric Tangerine Dream soundtrack.
As buffs may already well know, this was originally supposed to be directed by John Carpenter and scripted by Bill Lancaster, but Universal dropped them like a hot potato when their previous collaboration "The Thing" was an underwhelming performer at the box office.
Followed by a TV movie, "Firestarter: Rekindled", in 2002.
Seven out of 10.
Designed by movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis as a vehicle for young Barrymore, who was still basically learning how to act at this point. She was just a kid, so she can be forgiven, but out of all the solid actors assembled here (Martin Sheen, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher, Moses Gunn, George C. Scott, Freddie Jones), only some of them don't seem to be having off days. Scott has the most interesting role in the picture, a cold, calculating and creepy "exterminator" who earns Charlies' trust by endearing himself to her. (He's good, if undeniably miscast.)
The story is not a great one, but it is reasonably entertaining, and The Shop do make for perfectly despicable villains given their desire to thoroughly exploit this poor child. But don't fear: scores and scores of them get their just desserts by the time this is over. The stunt people and special effects technicians definitely earned their pay, giving us a plethora of fire gags and explosions. The finale is an over the top circus of horrors, and should entertain viewers quite nicely on a purely visceral level.
Give the filmmakers some credit for their opening: the story is already well under way as the movie opens, with Andy and Charlie on the run, and a couple of flashbacks along the way to show us how the characters got to this point. Overall, the movie is fairly slick, but its best asset may be the atmospheric Tangerine Dream soundtrack.
As buffs may already well know, this was originally supposed to be directed by John Carpenter and scripted by Bill Lancaster, but Universal dropped them like a hot potato when their previous collaboration "The Thing" was an underwhelming performer at the box office.
Followed by a TV movie, "Firestarter: Rekindled", in 2002.
Seven out of 10.