Firestarter (1984) ***
Firestarter (1984) is one of those 80s sci-fi/horror films that has managed to escape me all this time, but I've been slowly but surely remedying that, along with catching up on/revisiting Stephen King adaptations. Drew Barrymore is the titular starter of fires, Charlie, and a government agency known as The Shop wants to control her pyrokinetic powers to (what else?) use them as a weapon. Barrymore can be a bit saccharine at times, but she's so damn adorable that it's difficult not to love her. It also makes it easier to accept when she burns several people alive (although, let's be fair, most of them have it coming in this story). And Firestarter is chock-full of absolutely insane fire stunts that just don't occur in movies anymore.
David Keith is serviceable as Charlie's dad Andy—doing everything he can to protect her while father and daughter are on the run—but a stronger lead actor could have been chosen. George C. Scott is perhaps too convincing as a sinister hitman taking advantage of a child's trust for his nefarious ends. Martin Sheen had a slightly more fleshed out role when he appeared in another (superior) King adaptation a year earlier—David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone ("The ice is gonna BREAK!"). Sheen's father Kirk Douglas also starred six years prior in a better film with a similar premise, Brian De Palma's The Fury. Tangerine Dream's synth soundtrack is moody and memorable—I haven't heard a film score by them that I didn't like.
Fun fact: John Carpenter was originally on board to direct Firestarter but after The Thing (1982) (my review here) bombed at the box office Universal gave him the boot. Instead he delivered Starman the same year, setting out to prove (successfully, I think) that he could make a tender love story that didn't rely on graphic violence. Mark L. Lester took over directing duties for Firestarter and did a serviceable job. The film is a bit unfocused and a tad long, but the climax kind of makes up for it. The finale of Firestarter is off-the-wall insanity, featuring fireballs galore and mass wreckage. If you're a horse you have nothing to fear from Charlie but if you're an employee of The Shop, "Back off. Just back off!" 🔥
You can find my Stephen King Feature & Television Film Adaptations Ranked list here.
David Keith is serviceable as Charlie's dad Andy—doing everything he can to protect her while father and daughter are on the run—but a stronger lead actor could have been chosen. George C. Scott is perhaps too convincing as a sinister hitman taking advantage of a child's trust for his nefarious ends. Martin Sheen had a slightly more fleshed out role when he appeared in another (superior) King adaptation a year earlier—David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone ("The ice is gonna BREAK!"). Sheen's father Kirk Douglas also starred six years prior in a better film with a similar premise, Brian De Palma's The Fury. Tangerine Dream's synth soundtrack is moody and memorable—I haven't heard a film score by them that I didn't like.
Fun fact: John Carpenter was originally on board to direct Firestarter but after The Thing (1982) (my review here) bombed at the box office Universal gave him the boot. Instead he delivered Starman the same year, setting out to prove (successfully, I think) that he could make a tender love story that didn't rely on graphic violence. Mark L. Lester took over directing duties for Firestarter and did a serviceable job. The film is a bit unfocused and a tad long, but the climax kind of makes up for it. The finale of Firestarter is off-the-wall insanity, featuring fireballs galore and mass wreckage. If you're a horse you have nothing to fear from Charlie but if you're an employee of The Shop, "Back off. Just back off!" 🔥
You can find my Stephen King Feature & Television Film Adaptations Ranked list here.
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