I adore this book, one of my favorite Dean Koontz novels, but I haven't seen the movie yet. is it as gripping as the book? I'm not a very big fan of Ben Affleck, but I'm still interested in watching it.
but don't go by me... I broke a shoelace this morning...
The movie is okay, probably the best Koontz movie out there, but it's far inferior to the book.
shareI dunno, everything I like about the movie Phantoms can't be done in written form. The sounds, the music, and the lighting most of all. So much of the movie is about visual atmosphere; it couldn't possibly have the nightmarish effect in written form, not a chance. And most of the books-are-better-than-movies crowd which bothers to attack the movie always bring up the stupidest points: "OMG THEY CUT THE COMIC RELIEF CHARACTER!!!#@!$?" Wonderful, it's a horror; GOOD RIDDANCE, there's enough amusing moments as is... I might have cut even more. "THE SHERIFF IS BLONDE WITH DIMPLES. IS BEN AFFLECK BLONDE? I DON'T THINK SO!!!" Shut up. Hearing these people whine has turned me off from reading the book entirely. Everything I hear that was "supposed to be included" would've made it a much less effective movie. Plus, Koontz himself wrote the movie script, so if anything, it seems he knew what to emphasize and what to cut to make the best film. It seems like he might have added filler to the book to compensate for what he knew wouldn't work in writing. And I have yet to see a horror movie with better pacing; this gets straight to the point and hardly lets up, but I have to admit the last minute of the film made me want to hang myself. Killer point for that. Should've ended with the shot looking up into the stars.
shareExcept you can do SO MUCH MORE in a book than you can in a movie. What you see in your imagination can be far creepier than a movie, especially one made as ineptly as Phantoms. The pacing was awful (Yes, awful. The beginning whips around so fast that you can't absorb anything, and then just jumps all over the damn place), the acting stank, and it simply wasn't scary or gripping at all. I have never, ever seen a film adaptation, no matter how good, that ever matched the book. Period. The book Phantoms is an excellent novel to read alone at night. There are some kinds of horror movies that wouldn't make good books. The Descent comes to mind. However, Phantoms was more a book that played with your mind as much as it freaks you out. There was a lot of mounting tension and a lot of buildup that really makes your skin crawl. The movie was just wretched. Don't even try saying that it couldn't match the movie, because the book was infinitely better in every way.
And Koontz writing the script means nothing. Take Stephen King, for example. He's written many screenplay adaptations of his stories...and they've all stank. King can write a fantastic book, but he can't write for screen at all.
It's bad. Mostly because of Assfleck, but pretty much everything else (except for Peter O'Toole) is lousy, too.
shareI thought the book was great, but the movie is pretty good too. The most effective parts are in the opening 30 minutes with the sisters wandering around the deserted town. The scene in the hotel is intense as hell too. It loses most of it's power once the military becomes involved. None the less it's still a good movie. And Ben Affleck isn't bad in his role at all.
shareThe book is very good. The movie sucks.
shareOh...no, no, no, no, no...
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I like to make fun of people who make fun of other people.
I quite liked both, the book obviously is better but I enjoyed the film. I took it in the context of a B-movie and got into it. Liev is the best thing in it, creepy yet funny. Ben is a bit out of his depth but I didn't think it was his worse part. (Ever see Armageddon!!) This is deffinatly one of those 'love it or hate it' movies. (My friends hated it and shunned me for a weekend for making them sit through it!!) But take it as B-movie and don't expect to much people will enjoy it. Put it this way, I spent £5 on the DvD, anymore and I wouldnt have bothered.
Leh...
"Your good baby I'll give you that, But me I'm magic".
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No, because some smartass thought it would be better to make it more Action than horror.
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Shadows is a great book, my favorite by Koontz. Sadly the movie is not that good. It is a okay movie, but do not compare it to the book.
The only person who is playing well in this movie(as always) is Peter O'toole.