As adaptations go, this movie is standard bastardized adaptation fare. Having been adapted from one of the very best novels Dean Koontz has ever written, this movie is the epitome of putrid sludge.
I found the movie to be enjoyable. It isn't a bad movie really. I just can't figure out where, in this screen play, is Koontz's original literary work. Now, forgetting the teen-ager-oriented movies like Licensed to Drive, I typically like Corey Haim's movies. "the Lost Boys" and "Silver Bullet" were excellent movies, and so is this one. It wasn't his fault that the director, screen writer, and original author did not see eye to eye, and his performance in this movie was just as good as it was in the aforementioned movies I did like.
However, the story told in this movie is so far from Koontz's original work that I am amazed he let it ride with his name still attached. The book is a masterpiece, and while I did enjoy this movie immensely, it was nothing like the book.
The dog was genetically engineered to be the intelligence, and the monster was the genetic equivalent engineered to be the brawn. The monster will follow the dog relentlessly, wherever the dog goes, as it is not only trained to do so, but engineered to this task in order to allow the dog to lead it to its prey. The dog is the hunter, and the monster is the killer. They are a genetic assassination team, complete with an engineered psychic link, created by covert American underground government; one of those three-letter associations which "officially" do not exist.
The dog is freed and befriends Corey Haim's character. But since the government can't have the intelligence half of their prized assassination team loose like that, they loose the monster to find him, thereby endangering the boy, as well. But the dog, by this time, has developed a kinship with the boy, and must keep him safe, which means running from the monster each time he draws near.
This, of course, is the "Reader's Digest Condensed Version" of the movie, and just a drop in the sea to the deep richness and quality of the original literary novel by Koontz. If you rent this movie and enjoy it, I highly suggest reading the book, "The Watchers," by Dean R. Koontz.
It rates an 8.1/10 on the "B" scale.
That's about a 6.4/10 on the "A" scale, from...
the Fiend :.
I found the movie to be enjoyable. It isn't a bad movie really. I just can't figure out where, in this screen play, is Koontz's original literary work. Now, forgetting the teen-ager-oriented movies like Licensed to Drive, I typically like Corey Haim's movies. "the Lost Boys" and "Silver Bullet" were excellent movies, and so is this one. It wasn't his fault that the director, screen writer, and original author did not see eye to eye, and his performance in this movie was just as good as it was in the aforementioned movies I did like.
However, the story told in this movie is so far from Koontz's original work that I am amazed he let it ride with his name still attached. The book is a masterpiece, and while I did enjoy this movie immensely, it was nothing like the book.
The dog was genetically engineered to be the intelligence, and the monster was the genetic equivalent engineered to be the brawn. The monster will follow the dog relentlessly, wherever the dog goes, as it is not only trained to do so, but engineered to this task in order to allow the dog to lead it to its prey. The dog is the hunter, and the monster is the killer. They are a genetic assassination team, complete with an engineered psychic link, created by covert American underground government; one of those three-letter associations which "officially" do not exist.
The dog is freed and befriends Corey Haim's character. But since the government can't have the intelligence half of their prized assassination team loose like that, they loose the monster to find him, thereby endangering the boy, as well. But the dog, by this time, has developed a kinship with the boy, and must keep him safe, which means running from the monster each time he draws near.
This, of course, is the "Reader's Digest Condensed Version" of the movie, and just a drop in the sea to the deep richness and quality of the original literary novel by Koontz. If you rent this movie and enjoy it, I highly suggest reading the book, "The Watchers," by Dean R. Koontz.
It rates an 8.1/10 on the "B" scale.
That's about a 6.4/10 on the "A" scale, from...
the Fiend :.