Critic Reviews

I like The Tommyknockers...Written by Lawrence Cohen, whose adapations produced the best TV ("It") and movie ("Carrie") Kings, The Tommyknockers" gets special-effects, sci-fi silly on the second night. But King's ability to give us relationships-between Gard and Bobbi, between E.G. Marshall's character and his grandson, even between Bobbi and Gard and their dog-on which to hang our emotions provides a familiar and solid foundation for his effective scare tactics.

ABC really has done a fabulous job in the special effects department, though, particularly as the story reaches its messy, apocalyptic climax, complete with decapitations, oozing blood, stranglings and exploding monsters. Oh. Did I mention that there's quite a bit of violence? But the whole project, photographed in New Zealand (apparently the real Maine doesn't look enough like Maine), is gorgeous to look at and offers some excellent performances, particularly by Marg Helgenberger as Bobbi, the writer who uncovers the strange force, and Jimmy Smits as Gard, a poet and her live-in companion. [9 May 1993]

When Cohen taps into King’s greatest theme — families in peril from forces beyond their understanding — The Tommyknockers can be moving. The rest of the time, it’s never less than an entertaining goof.

Director John Power establishes good pacing, as the mounting suspense alternates with scenes of banal normalcy and campy humor. The action is spread around on a solid supporting cast that includes Joanna Cassidy, E.G. Marshall, Allyce Beasley, John Ashton, Cliff DeYoung, Robert Carradine and Traci Lords...The thriller is like an attenuated, more pastoral version of the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But once it gets its hooks in you, you’ll be back for the conclusion the following night.

We are in archetypal King territory. The formula is wearing thin, but this adaptation by Lawrence D. Cohen ("Carrie") manages to squeeze out a respectable quota of creepy chills. Heading a strong cast are Jimmy Smits and Marg Helgenberger as a man and wife heading for an explosive separation. She gets the dog.

When it comes to film and TV adaptations of Stephen King's works, the best thing to expect is not too much. However, this weekend's ABC miniseries, Stephen King's The Tommyknockers, defies those low expectations by being passably entertaining from start to finish.

A flawed but still above-average sci-fi thriller. [7 May 1993]

The Tommyknockers' biggest problem is that it's just too long. This would have been a much better movie if it had been cut by at least a quarter - and perhaps as much as a half.

It's tempting to laugh at King's transfixed New Englanders, submitting passively to mind control via sensory stimulation - until one realizes that millions of us will be glued to the tube for two nights, under the spell of a shamelessly contrived television program. [7 May 1993, p.65]

As chill-and-thrill programming goes, the two-evening "Tommy" is overextended and underdeveloped, a laughable, would-be scare-'em inspired by King's novel that has been distended over too long a time to meet the needs of TV's mini form. [7 May 1993]