In the evening there will be two King adaptations on free TV – one is really good, the other is pretty bad. Drew Barrymore plays leading roles in both. In addition to other stars, you can also marvel at very impressive special effects.
Sure, CGI technology has made enormous progress. Nevertheless, you can see (and above all feel!) almost every time that blockbuster special effects are simply fake. And if only because they often come across as so “over the top” that what is presented to us can no longer be believed. Not only older, but also an increasing number of younger cinema fans want more use of handmade effects. In the evening you can see two Stephen King adaptations from 1984 and 1985, in which there are, for example, real flames and not an artificial firestorm created on the PC.
Today, October 27, 2024, on Tele 5 at 8:15 p.m. “Cat’s eye“ and then from 10 p.m. “The fire devil“. There will be repeats on the night of the 28th and 29th at 12:35 a.m. and on the night of the 29th and 30th at 3:20 a.m. Attention: “Cat’s Eye” was shortened by a whopping six minutes (!) when it first aired. According to editing reports, mainly violent scenes, but also some foul words, a raised middle finger and the like were cut out in order to get the “12+” rating required for this broadcast time. The repeat, however, may run as the original FSK 16 version. “The Fire Devil” can be shown intact on both dates.
“Cat’s Eye” on Amazon*
“Cat’s Eye” is now available as a beautifully presented 4K Blu-ray as well as regular Blu-ray and DVD or paid video-on-demand – all “uncut”, of course. “Fire Devil” discs, however, are currently only available as antiques or as imports. There is no streaming offer here – neither in one of the usual subscriptions nor as VoD.
“The Fire Devil” at Amazon*
King Mania in the 1980s
Do you have the impression that a new Stephen King adaptation is currently coming to the cinema or streaming every few months? Then you are not wrong. The horror pope is probably one of the most filmed authors in literary history.
But this phenomenon is not new. Since Brian De Palma brought “Carrie,” the first film based on a King novel, to the screens in 1976 and it became a global hit, things have been going fast. “The Fire Devil” and “Cat’s Eye” are just two of the works from the first peak of “King Mania” in the 1980s. In the same decade there were also “Shining”, “Dead Zone”, “Cujo”, “Christine”, “Children of Wrath”, “Running Man” and “Cemetery of the Cuddly Toys” as well as the brilliant coming-of-age film. Adventure “Stand By Me” in cinemas.
Are “Cat’s Eye” & “The Fire Devil” worth seeing?
To put it bluntly: “Yes” or “conditionally”. The episodic film “Cat’s Eye,” directed by “The Woman in Red” director Lewis Teague, is really good. This is also due to the fact that the three stories it contains were not rolled out and artificially stretched out for ages like in some other film adaptations of King short stories such as “Children of Wrath” or “Rhea M”. The point here is pleasantly straightforward and the shocks are delivered decently.
The short stories “Quitters, Inc.” and “The Wall Projection,” both of which can be found in the book “Night Shift,” served as templates. “General,” the third of the stories loosely connected by a cat appearing in all three segments, was written exclusively for the film by the bestselling author. When it hit theaters in the US, the press was full of praise and called “Cat’s Eye” the best King adaptation since “Carrie”.
Apart from the special effects, “The Fire Devil” was not nearly as well received by critics. Rightly so, because Mark L. Lester’s (“The Phantom Commando”) directorial work contains a lot of idleness and at times strays very far away from the novel of the same name.
Because of the great flames and the great performances of George C. Scott (“Patton”), Martin Sheen (“The West Wing”) and the still very young Drew Barrymore (“ET”), you can still take a look. The film is definitely better than the poor remake from 2022.
That’s what “Cat’s Eye” & “The Fire Devil” are about
“Cat’s Eye”: A stray cat experiences real depths of human behavior in a very short time. In a special clinic he painfully witnesses how a doctor (Alan King) tries to stop his desperate patient (James Woods) from smoking using a truly foolproof method. He then meets a tennis instructor (Robert Hays) who is being punished by gangsters for starting an affair with their boss’s wife (Kenneth McMillan). And finally, it’s about a little girl (Barrymore) who is threatened by a vicious goblin (Daniel Rodgers) who lives between the walls of her house.
„The fire devil“: Eight-year-old Charlie (Barrymore) has an amazing gift: she can trigger a flaming inferno with the mere power of her mind. However, her fiery talent does not remain undiscovered for long. Unscrupulous secret agents kidnap the little girl in order to use her for government purposes. Charlie’s father (David Keith) manages to free her because he also has special powers. But the pursuers don’t let up and are soon on the duo’s heels again…
*The links to Amazon’s offerings are so-called affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we receive a commission. This has no effect on the price.
