FIRESTARTER (1984) - Movie Review

Director: Mark L. Lester
Starring: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller
Writer: Stanley Mann
Runtime: 114 min
Rated: R
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

Drew Barrymore heads up the cast in Firestarter, the suspense-filled film based on the best-selling Stephen King novel. After college sweethearts Andrew (David Keith) and Vicky McGee (Heather Locklear) participate in a mysterious psychic experiment, they have a child, Charlie (Barrymore), who is born with the ability to start fires with her mind. Her unique pyrokinetic talent soon comes to the attention of a covert government agency known as "The Shop." Now operatives from this sinister group (Martin Sheen and George C. Scott) are out to capture nine-year-old Charlie and control her supernatural powers at all costs.

Review:

The 1984 sci-fi thriller "Firestarter" is not one of the better Stephen King adaptations. But it's not quite a complete disaster, either. The film is directed by Mark L. Lester, best known as the director of cult classic schlockfests like "Class of 1984", "Commando" and "Showdown in Little Tokyo", and if there's one thing you can say about "Firestarter", it's that it's at least competently made when it sets things on fire. Not so much when it tries to tell its story.

The movie struggles to keep as much of the source material as possible, sometimes to a fault. It's not like the book is terribly complex, but there is way too much ground to cover in just 110 minutes, and the movie breezes through exposition and character development. Keith David and Drew Barrymore are effective together, which at least helps sell the father-daughter relationship, even though Lester ultimately fails to anchor the film's emotional core and the girl's supernatural coming-of-age arc is almost entirely absent.

Most of the casting is solid, but George C. Scott as John Rainbird is one of the film's standouts. Aside from the fact that Rainbird was Native American in the book, which the movie never makes a point of addressing, Scott is an excellent villain, and his performance is downright insidious in the film's second half. That helps a lot, because by that point, the pacing had slowed down to a halt. Having read the book, I can attest that the second part is the most problematic to translate into a thrilling cinematic experience because it leans more into tense psychological cat and mouse games. It would take a lot more time to properly flesh out the characters for that second half to work. Perhaps a miniseries would have been the better choice for this story.

At least there are some great pyrotechnics, practical effects and stunts to enjoy, particularly in the film's explosive (literally) climax. It's just too bad that the awesome finale is ruined by a lack of emotional engagement, which was the key to the entire experience. The original score by Tangerine Dream is also one of the film's highlights. Maybe it's not one of their best, but it gives the movie a terrific synthy creepiness, and it has a certain John Carpenter vibe. Funnily enough, the 2022 remake features a score composed by Carpenter, his son Cody and Daniel Davies. Carpenter was also originally set to direct the 1984 film from a script by "The Thing" screenwriter Bill Lancaster.

Unfortunately, this is one of those times when it's better to just read the novel. If, however, you don't really care about the source material, and just want to enjoy some cheesy thrills, this might just do the trick.

SCORE: 6/10