The Keep is a 1983 horror film directed by Michael Mann and starring Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, and a dubbed Ian McKellen. It was released by Paramount Pictures. The story is based on the F. Paul Wilson novel of the same name, published in 1981 (1982 in the United Kingdom).
| The Keep | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Michael Mann |
| Written by | F. Paul Wilson (novel The Keep) Michael Mann (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Gene Kirkwood Howard W. Koch Jr. |
| Starring | Gabriel Byrne Jürgen Prochnow Ian McKellen Scott Glenn Alberta Watson |
| Cinematography | Alex Thomson |
| Music by | Tangerine Dream |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | December 16, 1983 (U.S. release) |
Running time | 96 min. |
| Language | English |
The video run time of 1:37 is thought to be a studio-ordered cut against the wishes of Michael Mann. His cut of choice is speculated to be in the three to four hour range.
Plot
Template:Spoiler The film focused on a deserted citadel (called the "Keep") in Romania within which lives a dangerous demon. When the German Wehrmacht occupies the castle as part of protecting a mountain pass, the demon is mistakenly unleashed from the walls of the citadel and begins killing German soldiers. At this point, the SS arrives to deal with what was thought to be partisan activity. The SS actions only fuel the demon's rage and soon SS troops begin to die in mysterious ways.
This results in the Germans locating a Jewish professor who had studied the Keep years before. The demon enlists the aid of the professor to escape from the Keep; however a mysterious stranger then arrives to stop the demon. The stranger confronts the professor and tells him the demon of the Keep is as evil as the Germans it is killing, and then the stranger and the demon do battle. The demon is destroyed, but the stranger (who is revealed to be a super-human creature who imprisoned the demon centuries before) is mortally wounded. Alternate versions of the film show the stranger coming back to life and leaving the keep with the professor's daughter, with whom a love interest had developed.
A board game based on the film was published by Mayfair Games. The game was designed by James D. Griffin.