Tonight's movie. The Australian DVD release of Michael Mann's THE KEEP (1983) is, I believe, the first apperance of this movie on disc anywhere (other than from grey-market bootleg sellers). Unfortunately it is still just the original shorter theatrical cut, and the print sourced was sadly not good enough to warrant a Blu-ray release. But it's likely to be the best release we may ever see of this troubled film, since Mann seems to have pretty much disowned it and brushes off any suggestion of a restoration. It's clearly an ambitious film, with its mix of horror, sci-fi, Nazi cruelty (and compassion) and the mythology of the Golem.
Filmed in North Wales (doubling for Romania), the production of THE KEEP was long and troubled, with endless re-writes taking place during filming and special effects artist Wally Weevers dying half-way through. The narrative is an unholy mess, the result of the film being cut by the studio from 120 to 96 minutes against Mann's wishes (Mann's initial cut ran for 210 minutes). Still, this 96 minute version can still be appreciated and greatly enjoyed, especially if you just let it wash over you like some sort of surreal fever dream.
There are some special effects shots which are poorly realised (clearly the ones done by Mann himself after Weevers had died), but there are also some incredibly powerful visual moments, and the moody electronica score by Tangerine Dream heightens the film's dreamlike atmopshere. Some streaming versions of THE KEEP apparently have the Tangerine Dream soundtrack removed, due to rights issues, but fortunately it is present here on this DVD.
Interesting seeing a young Gabriel Byrne as a ruthless Nazi Sturmbannführer (assault unit leader) and Ian McKellen is terrific in a role that has interesting parallels to his later performances as Magneto in the X-MEN films. Like Magneto, McKellen's character here is also a concentration camp prisoner and victim of Nazi terror, who is driven to use supernatural (or just super) powers to destroy the enemies of his people (the jews in one case, mutants in another).
