Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62382 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-07-08
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 195 minutes

Amazon.com
And sometimes they come back... for the franchise! Aaaaaaaaargh! Though a TV movie franchise is a somewhat subliminal thing. This double-feature DVD contains one movie based on a story by Stephen King, and another movie based loosely on the first movie. More of a variations on a theme than a continuance. In Sometimes They Come Back, Tim Matheson is made to relive a boyhood tragedy that claimed the life of his brother when the group of bullies who waylaid him in a train tunnel way back when come back from the dead to settle an old score. Convincingly scary as this is, side B is even better, having upped the ante from the demonic bullies of the first movie to the satanic worshippers of the second. This time it's Michael Gross who needs to learn that you can't escape your past, having as a kid thwarted the satanists who claimed the life of his sister, and who lately have returned to kill his mother and are now after his daughter. The effects are great here, with a standout being the formation of a demon from a pool of blood. One of the Arquette clan, Alexis Arquette, as head of the satanic ritualists (Vinnie Barbarino meets Marilyn Manson), is a kind of special effect all by himself, grinning and mugging with uncontained glee at the most splatter-heavy moments. Followed by a sequel, Sometimes They Come Back... for More. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

Sometimes They Should Leave Well Enough Alone
I suppose there is no harm in ordering this two-movie set, since it seems to be the same price as the first movie alone, but it might be better not to bother, as the second movie kind of spoils the tighter plot line of the first. If I could I would give the first movie 4 stars (5 if you love the genre) and the second one star (zero if you like Stephen King).

The first movie is based on a King short story in the compilation "Night Shift." It is a nicely done tale in the vein of the revenge drama, where those who have a grudge against someone return to wear down and destroy their antagonist. In that sense, "Sometimes They Come Back" has a dramatic core familiar from "Kiss of Death" or "Cape Fear," both movies where a resentful and psychotic gangster returns to destroy the person who they blame for their imprisonment. In "Sometimes" three kids who harassed the protagonist as a child and killed his brother return from the dead to avenge themselves for their own deaths, which occurred accidentally in the old incident.

The movie interprets the King story quite nicely. The changes made to the last third of the short story don't take too much away from the original ending, and in some ways add to it.

But "Sometimes They Come Back Again" comes from the "we made money from the first, let's see if we can squeeze out a few extra nickels" school of film writing. The story tries to borrow the same three characters (or ones that look like them) with a different plot line. It brings in Satanism, a boring mysterious priest, a little satanic cheesecake, and a plot that might have made a 30-minute TV show. At the end it uses part of the ending of the original King story out of context, where it should have been left well enough alone. The most frightening part of the movie is where they leave room open at the end for another sequel. I shuddered.

My teenaged daughter, who likes both horror stories and Stephen King, turned it off midway through. "Don't you even want to see how it turns out?" I asked. "No." Enough said.

Sometimes they Come Back
The film is based on a short Stephen King story about a teacher who returns to his old home town to take up a job. The problem is, there is too much history there and bad memories. His brother was killed by hoodlums way back when they were younger, and the hoodlums were then hit by a train on the same day. Now the hoodlums have returned to finish off the brother. Sounds ridiculous but it works. Everybody can see these guys but nobody believes the teacher when he tries to convince them that they are very evil. It has a very eeery feeling to it, and remains one of my favs from the early 90's.

DVD - Has been released twice on DVD both with an average print quality. Looks more like video quality. The first DVD edition is just the film, while the second DVD release includes the dreadful sequel which has nothing to do with the original (look for a young Hilary Swank in it).

Ignore the sequel, and enjoy the first installment instead.

Milford Hi
Stephen King's: Sometimes They Come Back is very emotional, yet funny at the same time. Given, the movie doesn't come near the quality of the short story. However, it definitely puts SK's story to life. The acting is very good. In fact, for SK's Constant Readers, this appears a good deal in other of his novels & stories. Hearts in Atlantis for one. * That train that appears a # of times in the movie, I wonder if that is: Charlie The Choo-Choo from The Dark Tower saga.