Very good adaptation

This belongs in the middle-upper B-tier King adaptations. It can’t touch the A-team of Misery, Shining and Shawshank, but it sits somewhere below Salem’s Lot and just above It (1990).

It tells the story efficiently and has some standout performances, especially from Herman Munster himself Fred Gwynne, and the little kid who plays Gage who can’t be older than 2 - kudos to the director for eliciting such a great performance from a toddler.

The film is let down by a rather bland portrayal of the protagonist by Dale Midkiff. He’s not bad, and I prefer understatement to overacting, but he lacks charm and you empathise with him only to a point. The bummest note, though, is Pascow the friendly ghost, who is too goofy and funny for a story this grim. Humour is important in morbid tales but the tone is too jarring, it’s like he walked in from Sleepwalkers.

It’s also filmed in a very TV style, lots of close-ups and unambitious mise-en-scene and cinematography, plus the music is entirely forgettable. Compare to The Shining with its intoxicating images and sounds.

Fortunately it gets the important things right and tells the story effectively - and what a story. This must be King’s darkest novel. Usually there’s some warmth, hope and even a happy ending with King, not here - this goes from bad to worse as you watch a family slowly lowered into the meat grinder, cat first.

I’m actually haunted by the young daughter who survives the ordeal but has endured her entire family getting brutally murdered one by one… by each other. There’s a nasty, cruel edge to this King story, it’s truly unsettling, but I’m glad this adaptation kept it intact.