Stephen King started writing Storm of the
Century as a novel, but it evolved into the
teleplay of an ABC TV miniseries. Set in Maine's
remote Little Tall Island, the tale is all about
vivid small-town characters, feuds,
infidelities, sordid secrets, kids in peril, and
gory portents in scrambled letters.
The calamitous snowstorm is nothing compared to
the mysterious mind-reading stranger Linoge, who
uses magic powers to turn people's guilt against
them--when he's not simply braining them with
his wolf-head-handled cane. Don't even glance at
that cane--it can bring out the devil in you.
Just as The Shining was concerned with marriage
and alcoholism as much as it was with bad
weather and worse spirits, Storm of the Century
is more than a horror story. It's creepy because
it's realistic. But it's also unusually visual.
Linoge's eyes ominously change color, wind and
sea wreak havoc, a basketball leaves blood
circles with each bounce.
The 100-year storm no doubt hits harder onscreen
than on the page, but the snow is a symbol of
the more disturbing emotional maelstrom that
words evoke perfectly. And the murders of folks
we've gotten to know is entirely terrifying in
print. The crisp discipline of the screenplay
format makes this book better than lots of
King's more sprawling novels--the end doesn't
wander and the dialogue crackles.
For the first time in Stephen King's remarkable
publishing history, the master storyteller
presents an all-new, original tale written
expressly for the television screen. They're
calling it the Storm of the Century, and it's
coming hard. The residents of Little Tall Island
have seen their share of nasty Maine
Nor'easters, but this one is different. Not only
is it packing hurricane-force winds and up to
five feet of snow, it's bringing something
worse. Something even the islanders have never
seen before. Something no one wants to see.
Just as the first flakes begin to fall, Martha
Clarendon, one of Little Tall Island's oldest
residents, suffers an unspeakably violent death.
While her blood dries, Andre Linoge, the man
responsible sits calmly in Martha's easy chair
holding his cane topped with a silver wolf's
head...waiting.
Linoge knows the townsfolk will come to arrest
him. He will let them. For he has come to the
island for one reason. And when he meets
Constable Mike Anderson, his beautiful wife and
child, and the rest of Little Tall's tight-knit
community, this stranger will make one simple
proposition to them all: "If you give me what I
want, I'll go away."
Directed by: Craig
R. Baxley
Written by: Stephen
King
Produced by: Thomas
H. Brodek, Mark Carliner, Stephen King, Robert
F. Phillips
Original music by:
Gary Chang
Cast:
Timothy Daly .... Mike
Anderson
Debrah Farentino .... Molly Anderson
Colm Feore .... Andre Linoge
Casey Siemaszko .... Alton 'Hatch' Hatcher
Jeffrey DeMunn .... Robbie Beals
Julianne Nicholson .... Cat Withers
Dyllan Christopher .... Ralph Anderson
Soo Garay .... Melinda Hatcher
Skye McCole .... Pippa Hatcher
Nada Despotovich .... Sandra Beals
Denis Forest .... Kirk Freeman
Nicky Guadagni .... Jenna Freeman
Christopher Marren .... Henry Bright
Jennifer Griffin .... Carla Bright
Tyler Bannerman .... Frank Bright
Steve Rankin .... Jack Carver
Torri Higginson .... Angela Carver
Stephen Joffe .... Buster Carver
Becky Ann Baker .... Ursula Godsoe
Richard Blackburn .... Andy Robichaux
Arlene Mazerolle .... Jill Robichaux
Rita Tuckett .... Martha Clarendon
Jeremy Jordan .... Billy
Stephen King .... Lawyer in ad (uncredited)
Adam Zolotin .... Davey Hopewell
