The Tommyknockers Review

Tommyknockers, The
After a alien space-craft lands in the woods, the locals begin to turn into zombies with only alcoholic Jim (Smit) proving immune to their rays. Needless to say it's up to him to save the day.

by William Thomas |
Published on
Release Date:

01 Jan 1993

Running Time:

181 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Tommyknockers, The

Another TV miniseries based on a novel by Stephen King. The residents of the small New England town of Haven are being mysteriously transformed into toothless inventor-type zombies by a strange green light emanating from an object poking out of the ground in the woods near writer Marg Helgenberger's house. The source, it transpires, is a long-buried spaceship accountable for numerous locals going off the deep-end over the years, and only alcoholic poet Jimmy Smits — who for some undisclosed reason has not succumbed to the glow — stands between the alien invaders and planet earth.

A promising central idea is wasted by bog-standard direction and naff aliens though this does have moments of genuinely creepy terror and an able supporting cast that includes Traci Lords, Joanna Cassidy and John Ashton. Better than Sleepwalkers and nestling into Firestarter territory.

Considering it never made it to the multiplexes, The Tommyknockers is surprisingly good, scary even, and in some parts genuinely frightening. Although this isn't enough to carry it with the wooden acting and poor special effects, particularly where the aliens are concerned.
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