Desperation: King's Overlooked Horror

0:00This is your entertainment update for March 7th. Stephen King released his novel Desperation Back in 1996, a thick horror tale about a demonic entity called Tak possessing a sheriff in a Nevada ghost town. The book hit bestseller lists right away, but like many of King's works, it faded from memory amid his non-stop output. Two years later, director Mick Garrus turned it into a TV movie starring Ron Perlman as the creepy Laman, with a solid cast including Annabeth Gish, Charles Durning, and Stephen Weber. The story kicks off with a couple pulled over in the desert, leading to a brutal arrest and a lockdown at the local station filled with terrified survivors. Take jumps, bodies, from people to animals, unleashing spiders, snakes, and scorpions on the escapees. Garrus delivers solid TV production values, with spooky desert shots and 10 set pieces, but the film cocks in at over two hours and feels padded, much like the 600-plus-page source material.

1:00Fans and critics noted the strong acting and King's signature mix of everyday folks facing supernatural evil, but many called it exhausting rather, then thrilling. Garrus, a King regular who also adapted the stand and the shining, brings book-white pacing to the screen, though his theatrical films like Critters, too, get higher praise for fun energy. The movie aired as a two-part event on ABC, but tough competition doomed in. It went head-to-head with the American Idol season finale, featuring Catherine McFee, pulling eyes away from the horror. King himself points to those ratings as the real killer for its legacy. Today, desperation sits as one of those overlooked King projects, overshadowed by his hits, but it highlights how even bestsellers can vanish when, timing and length don't align. D&N is brought to you by our sponsor. Your pillow just got smarter. It plays your podcast and music, S-O-L-I-S-O-L-Pillow.com.